The Scarlet Letter: Guilt, Strength And Revenge
Guilt, strength, and revenge are three very important components of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This book tells of a woman's struggle to gain respect and mother the child which is the fruit of her sin after she commits adultery with the town's minister. The Scarlet Letter is a well written book that focuses on what symbolizes the main characters lives and what effect those symbols have on the characters. The Scarlet Letter is a book that contains and utilizes symbols within its characters and its setting. Nathaniel Hawthorne, a 19th century author, was a romantic writer whose works are respected today and will be for some time to come. Troubled with guilt and remorse, ...
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could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother's - a letter - the letter "A"... (Hawthorne 174) Later in the story Pearl refuses to acknowledge her mother because of the fact that she is not wearing the scarlet letter. "Seen in the brook, once more, was the shadowy wrath of Pearl's image, crowned and girdled with flowers, but stamping it's foot, wildly gesticulating, and, in the midst of all, still pointing it's small forefinger at Hester's bosom." (Hawthorne 206) Hester Prynne's connection with the minister is best symbolized by Pearl. Throughout the book, Pearl is fascinated by the fact that the minister is constantly placing his hand over his chest and this is before she has any idea that he is her father. "... and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?" (Hawthorne 175) At the second scene in which the characters are together again at the scaffold, Pearl is standing in between Hester and Dimmesdale which is very clearly a symbol ...
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Pearl would be visible in Dimmesdale and he would be discovered. In different ways and to different people, Pearl Prynne is an important symbol not only in the way she acts, but in her very existence.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, a 19th century author, was a romantic writer whose works are respected today and will be for some time to come. The Scarlet Letter, possibly Hawthorne's greatest work, was written during a very bright period of his life. He had recently quit his job at the Custom's house in Boston and moved away. He moved to the socialist community of Brook Farm where other great thinkers and writers, such as Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emmerson, also lived. Along with this he ...
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The Scarlet Letter: Guilt, Strength And Revenge. (2005, September 3). Retrieved December 23, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Scarlet-Letter-Guilt-Strength-Revenge/32697
"The Scarlet Letter: Guilt, Strength And Revenge." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 3 Sep. 2005. Web. 23 Dec. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Scarlet-Letter-Guilt-Strength-Revenge/32697>
"The Scarlet Letter: Guilt, Strength And Revenge." Essayworld.com. September 3, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Scarlet-Letter-Guilt-Strength-Revenge/32697.
"The Scarlet Letter: Guilt, Strength And Revenge." Essayworld.com. September 3, 2005. Accessed December 23, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/The-Scarlet-Letter-Guilt-Strength-Revenge/32697.
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