Essay on Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter - 1421 Words

In Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, the theme of sin viewed through the prism of many colors is the essence of the novel. The protagonist, Hester, her child, Pearl, and the Reverend Dimmesdale all live in a Puritanical society in Boston, and are subject to the Puritans strict religious beliefs and rigid attitudes. Exposed to sin and the temptation of its concealment in varying degrees, these characters evolve through the novel in different ways. Hawthorne brilliantly displays these differences by juxtaposing extreme and vivid colorsÂâ€"concealment is shown in dark, drab, and gloomy shades, while openness has a bright and colorful sheen. In this way, Hawthorne establishes a dichotomy between lack of color and color in order to show†¦show more content†¦Hawthorne creates a bleak setting with A throng of bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeplecrowned hats and a dark prison with a beetle-browed and gloomy front which was further shadowed by weather stains and ot her indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to the prison. From the darkness of this setting, a vividly contrasting images emerges of a wild rose bush that thrives with delicate gems and fragile beauty. Hawthorne sets this colorful bush near burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation which he describes as the black flowers. In this way, Hawthorne establishes the dichotomy between color and lack of color at the outset of the book, and relates it to the personalities of the main characters. The astonishing survival of a sole colorful rose bush amidst the dark weeds symbolizes the potential for Hester and Pearl to survive the cruel puritanical punishments of the dark Puritans. Just as the rose bush radiates colorfully from its surroundings, Hester gleams in contrast to the large shadow of the Puritans that falls over the scaffold area. The Puritans are dressed in dark suits, some wearing hoods and others bareheaded, and the hag-like women are gray and grungy with a coarse fibre and unembroidered attire. HesterShow MoreRelatedIn Nathaniel HawthorneS The Scarlet Letter, There Are948 Words   |  4 Pagess The Scarlet Letter, there are many important scenes. But there are five scenes that stood out and pushed the plot forward. This includes Hester walking out of the prison, Chillingworth finds out about Dimmesdale’s scarlet letter, and Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl. The final two being Hester meeting Dimmesdale in the forest and the Dimm esdale confessing his sin. These scenes are the key points in his novel. The first major scene in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is theRead MoreNathaniel Hawthorne’s Diction of the Scarlet Letter952 Words   |  4 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne’s Diction of The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the reader with the harsh, life changing conflicts of three Puritan characters during the 17th century. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Robert Chillingworth must endure their different, yet surprisingly similar struggles as the novel progresses. Despite their similarities, Hawthorne shows these individuals deal with their conflicts differently, and in the end, only one prevails. NathanielRead MoreFeminism in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essay551 Words   |  3 PagesWritten in 1850, The Scarlet Letter stood as a very progressive book. With new ideas about women, main characters’ stories intertwined, and many different themes, The Scarlet Letter remains today as a extremely popular novel about 17th century Boston, Massachusetts. Not only was the 19th century a time for the abolition of slavery movement but it was also the beginning of the first wave of feminism. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthon y, and Lucretia Mott catalyzed the women’sRead More Sinfulness of the Puritans in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter2040 Words   |  9 PagesSinfulness of the Puritans in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne brings to The Scarlet Letter a notion of sin and guilt that seems to stem from his experience and knowledge of Puritan theology and religious practice. In The Custom House Hawthorne communicates his apprehension for the persecutory impulses of his ancestors who have mingled their earthly substance with the soil, until no small portion of it must necessarily be akin to the moral frame wherewith, for a littleRead MoreEssay on Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter1158 Words   |  5 Pagesterm that the Oxford English Dictionary defines as â€Å"the practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one’s own behavior does not conform.† In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the characters’ hypocrisy represents the pervasiveness of hypocrisy in all people. Hypocrisy is evident in all of The Scarlet Letter’s main characters: Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, the town of Boston, and Pearl. One of the main characters in the novel, Hester, shows the pervasiveness ofRead More Morality in Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essay2124 Words   |  9 PagesMorality in The Scarlet Letter      Ã‚   ...pain is in itself an evil; and indeed, without exception, the only evil; or else the words good and evil have no meaning. (Chase 127) In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne presents a very clear view of his stand on morality, which he carefully cultivates through the course of the story. The moral, which is Be true! applies equally well to all of the characters in the novel. Though his view does seem to stand as true through the lengthRead MoreIndividualism In Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter And The Scrivener1699 Words   |  7 Pagesearly to mid-19th century, is characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism. Within this movement, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville’s Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street, the characters set at the center of their respective narratives both challenge societal prejudices through actions different from the social norm. Hawthorne’s protagonist, Hester Prynne , is met with disgust and disdain from the Puritan community after committing only one sin; contrarilyRead MoreNathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter Essays798 Words   |  4 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne was an American writer in the 1800s. He had many works of Romanticism, most being inspired by Puritan New England. One of these is The Scarlet Letter, which he wrote based on the Puritan era. Puritans had a series of beliefs including: the will of God explains all natural phenomena, God chooses who becomes one of the elect, and ministers and church members control and made up the government. Hawthorn does include examples of Romanticism as the story goes on, but this novelRead MoreA Perception of Sin: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter871 Words   |  4 Pageshistory, those who were considered sinners were often out casted from the society. This is much the case with Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After a public trial, Hester is co nsidered a sinner due to her birthing of a so called â€Å"devil child†. Hester is convicted to the life long bearing of a scarlet letter on her chest. The Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears symbolizes the change in perception of sin through out the novel. Due to the revelations of the governor WinthropRead More Justice Explored in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter1043 Words   |  5 Pages Justice Explored in The Scarlet Letter nbsp; Nathaniel Hawthorne created themes in The Scarlet Letter just as significant as the obvious ideas pertaining to sin and Puritan society. Roger Chillingworth is a character through which one of these themes resonates, and a character that is often underplayed in analysis. His weakness and path of destruction of himself and others are summed up in one of Chillingworths last sentences in the novel, to Arthur Dimmesdale: Hadst thou sought the whole