Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Summary Of Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Scarlet Letter" - Papers Online

Summary Of Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Scarlet Letter"



The story takes place in the Puritan village of Boston, Massachusetts,
during the first half of the 17th Century. Several years before the novel
begins, Hester Prynne came to the New World to await the arrival of her
husband who had business to conclude in Europe. However, Hester's husband
was captured by Indians upon his arrival in New England and did not arrive
in Boston as Hester expected. While living alone in Boston and believing
her husband dead, Hester committed adultery and became pregnant. The
village magistrates imprisoned her for this sin and decreed she must wear a
scarlet "A" on the bodice of her dress for the rest of her life. While in
prison, Hester, highly skilled in ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

as much of
her story as is commonly known. When he asks the identity of the child's
father, he discovers Hester has refused to divulge this information. From
the balcony overlooking the scaffold, the young Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale
also asks for this information and eloquently appeals to Hester to publicly
name her partner in sin. She refuses.

Upon her return to prison, Hester is distraught, and Roger Chillingworth, a
self-proclaimed physician, comes to calm her and the babe. Chillingworth,
who is actually Hester's husband, refuses to publicly acknowledge her and
share in her shame. He makes Hester promise to keep his true identity
secret and vows to discover and avenge himself on the man who has wronged
him.

Hester and Pearl take up residence in a small cottage at the edge of the
village. Using her needlework skills, Hester supports herself and Pearl by
sewing for the magistrates and wealthy villagers. She also sews for the
poor as an act of charity. Although they live ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login

the
secret of the minister's heartÑthe Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is Hester
Prynne's partner in adultery and the father of little Pearl. Chillingworth
acknowledges Dimmesdale as his enemy and thus makes him the unsuspecting
victim of his malevolent revenge.

Although Dimmesdale lacks the courage to confess his sin publicly and risk
ruining his reputation as a man of God, he suffers privately. In addition
to his constant mental torment, he punishes himself physically with a
bloody scourge, fasts to the point of weakness, and keeps nightly vigils.
On one of these vigil nights, seven years after Hester stood in solitary
shame upon the scaffold, Dimmesdale, thinking the rest of the town ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.


CITE THIS PAGE:

Summary Of Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Scarlet Letter". (2008, January 17). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Scarlet-Letter/77604
"Summary Of Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Scarlet Letter"." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 17 Jan. 2008. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Scarlet-Letter/77604>
"Summary Of Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Scarlet Letter"." Essayworld.com. January 17, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Scarlet-Letter/77604.
"Summary Of Nathaniel Hawthornes "The Scarlet Letter"." Essayworld.com. January 17, 2008. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Summary-Of-Nathaniel-Hawthornes-Scarlet-Letter/77604.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 1/17/2008 09:49:33 AM
Category: Book Reports
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1386
Pages: 6

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Kurt Cobain: Biography
» Issues On Apocalypticism
» Robert Frost's Themes Of Isolat...
» Emmy Noether
» The Yanoman
» Corporate Control
» Hitler And The Nazi Party
» The Mystical Sea
» Outside
» The Chysanthemums - Feminism
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved