Preview

Puritan Ideals In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
383 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Puritan Ideals In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
The book begins when Hester is coming out of jail, holding pearl, and showing off her hand embodied A for the first time. The A is to represent her sin of adultery. Hester is proud of her A and how she made it herself until the towns people begin to criticize her and then she becomes self conscious of it and tries to hold Pearl in a way to hide the letter. “let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.” (Hawthorne 36). Hawthorne critiques the Puritan ideals by making you feel bad for Hester. Hester hadn’t been in contact with her husband, Chillingsworth, for almost 2 years when he disappeared. Chillingworht could have been dead, or he could have started a new life for himeself, yet the Puritian church deemed

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    The Puritan society was one in which religion and politics were inextricably intermingled; religion was law and vice versa. These individuals fervently believed that sin should be completely eschewed and that those brazen enough to perpetrate it ought to be punished severely, even to the point of death. Furthermore, they expected that these condemned persons should wear their shame with a constant expression of remorse. Puritans had strict laws and they believed that everyone should abide by them unquestionably. Hawthorne interestingly conveyed these ideals through the adept use of a variety of rhetorical strategies including symbolism, comparison, appeal to ethos and pathos, long sentences and diction.…

    • 1217 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    pointing out he beauty and "perfect elegance". He never once pointed out a flaw of…

    • 623 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nathaniel Hawthorne beautifully crafts his story by using symbolism to reveal details about the story and its characters. In The Scarlet Letter one of the most obvious and prominent symbols is the scarlet "A" placed on Hester. But many readers do not realize that to accompany the letter is Hester's daughter Pearl. Although they have the one similarity of having manifested themselves in a physical form they do evolve through the story into two completely different things. In the beginning the scarlet letter "A" represents Hester's adulterous sin. It is used against her to humiliate her and to persecute her. Through the story it slowly starts to become something more. The letter…

    • 868 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Puritan Era was the most religious time in American history; committing any sin was seen as an act of rebellion. In that time the sin of adultery was taken very literally to an extent where the women were forced to wear the letter “A” across their bosom to show the people of the town what they had committed. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s sin results in such a punishment, but as the reader gets deeper into the book, a prominent and more profound understanding of Hester can be reached. It is through her struggles that Hawthorne gets across his primary themes. Hawthorne illustrates his theme through Hester's struggles that becoming an outcast can help one achieve a profound grasp of who they truly…

    • 697 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    When The Scarlet Letter was written the Author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, discovered many ideas and facts about the Puritan community. Knowing this Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote about how women in the 17th century lived and how strict the society's rules can be, one major rule that was followed strictly phonate was “Actions spoke louder than words, so actions had to be constantly controlled.” (nd.edu). When the book begins it starts with introducing Hester and how she has done this huge violation according to the bible, maybe even causing the death penalty upon herself. As The Scarlet Letter goes through the timeline of how she is isolated and is shunned from the society; eventually, Hester slowly becomes part of the society by being the pure character she really was. This lets her take off the scarlet “A” and change the meaning of Adultery to the meaning of Able. Hawthorne decribes the climax of Hester’s story by expressing, “The letter was the symbol of her calling. such helpfulness…

    • 674 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As, Foster said in his novel, “the heart is…the symbolic repository of emotion”, therefore, Hester is constantly viewing the embroidered “A” as a look into herself. She believes the symbol, represents who she is and what she has become, rather than let the sign destroy her heart, she has allowed it to let her grow as a person. The author put in various heart related marks, such as when people stare at the sign on her bosom, Hester can feel her “chest burning” to show that by looking at the mark people are seeing into her heart, or truly seeing her for what she is. By including the “A” symbol directly on Hester’s heart as well as “burning” of the heart, Hawthorne, shows the importance of Hester’s adultery to the novel, similar to how he showed Dimmesdale’s.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    vestige of the white man's tread." (p. 187) If we look at the title of this…

    • 1065 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    During Hesters public punishment for the adultry she commits, the scarlet letter along with Pearl both prove to present shame in Hester for her actions. "She turned her eyes downward at the scarlet letter ... to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real" (41). Everytime Hester looks at her daughter, she is tortured by the shame she endures for her sin even many years later. Not only does Pearl provide as a symbol of sin in public but also when both Pearl and Hester are alone. Pearl continusously points at the letter A harassingly asking questions about it while making a game of it by throwing rocks at her mother's chest. When Pearl and her mother are in a field, Pearl asks " " which indicats Pearl is wanting her mother to live up to the sin shes committed. Hester renforces the idea that Pearl is the scarlet letter in flesh when Hester confesses to the pious community leaders that Pearl "is my happiness! - she is my torture...See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin." (Hawthorne 100) In this passage, Hawthorne is describing the power the lasting effect Hester's sin has has on her life as well as the shame that she now embodies as a result of her…

    • 1192 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter, Pearl undergoes a dramatic transformation from a devilish infant to a sagely child. Born into a society full of judgment and hypocrisy, Pearl, a bastard child, is unable to escape her predetermined role. Pearl lacks a traditional family; her mother is the sole provider, a direct attack on Puritan standards designating this young family as outsiders. Furthermore, Pearl, unlike her peers, establishes a reputation for being strange because she does not adhere to conventional norms. Despite her apparent shortcomings, Pearl is more perceptive and compassionate than members of her community. Predestined by stringent, oppressive Puritan standards, Pearl is outwardly…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hester Prynne, in the eyes of the Puritans violated her religion's principle: turning to sex for lust. By doing so, she defies “Puritanic code of law” (Hawthorne 50); therefore, as a punishment, she must wear an embroiled scarlet letter "A" on her bosom to mark her sin. However, Hawthorne contrasts the Puritan beliefs by using Romantic philosophy. Hester is portrayed as a young and beautiful woman who committed adultery but eventually earns the respect of most villagers. Not only Hester, but also the supposedly shameful scarlet letter- from “Adultery” to “Able”- is described as a majestic symbol when Hester wears it. A sinner is usually being viewed as a loathsome and ill-favored figure in society; however, Nathaniel Hawthorne contrasted the belief of Puritanism by showing how a sinner can earn back a place in society. Pearl, the child of sin is supposed to be ugly, evil, and shameful, but Hawthorne depicts her as a young, free-spirited child. Pearl's gentler action “here [the forest] than in the grassy-margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother’s cottage” (Hawthorne 194) shows Romanticism; Puritanism believes everything in the forest is wicked. In the “evil” forest, Hester is able to relax and escape her troublesome life. Hester and Pearl, even though both were Puritans, represent Romanticism through their actions and…

    • 1049 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In The Scarlet Letter, a novel by author Nathaniel Hawthorne, rugged individualism is a reoccurring theme with certain characters throughout the text. Rugged individualism expresses the idea of someone doing what is believed to be right for themselves despite the consequences that may be placed on the person or the people around this person. In The Scarlet Letter, there are multiple events in which rugged individualism takes place, but the two characters that show the most rugged individualism throughout the novel are the main character Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Religion plays an immense role in Hawthorne's novel. Hester Prynne wore the letter to remind her of the sin she had committed against God. The sentence pronounced on Hester was not given directly by God, but those who gave it to her felt that they were acting on His behalf. Instead of taking Pearl away the people wanted her to wear the sign of adultery for the rest of her life, singling her out as a sinner forever. Hester's whole lifestyle was altered. She obeyed everyone and for seven years was cursed…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In chapter two of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne as she stands on a pedestal in front of her community and gets publicly condemned for her adultery. Hawthorne shows the irony in the situation through the symbol of Pearl being just as sinful as the letter A embroidered on Hester’s clothing. He also irony irony in describing the A and how it is so similar to how Hester herself is portrayed. Lastly, Hawthorne describes Hester’s physical beauty and the irony of how the town doesn’t see her as someone who wasn’t a Puritan would be.…

    • 536 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Letter A is a mark of punishment and humiliation. However , Hester Prynne carries the symbol upon her with a very different out look than the puritans intended. Hester and the Puritans both have strong feelings for this Scarlet Letter but both will not come to terms and define a universal meaning for this strong symbol.…

    • 328 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    In the beginning of the novel, Hester’s community, specifically the goodwives, discuss how they are angry with Hester’s punishment because they think it is not severe enough. One of the goodwives says, “I’ll tell ye a piece of my mind. It would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church-members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips? If the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded? Marry, I trow not!” (46) This quote shows the community’s resentment of Hester near the beginning of the novel. However, later in the book, it is revealed that as the years have gone by, Hester gained much respect and love through the community because of her hard work and her charity services. Her symbol, the scarlet letter, has also changed in meaning over time. Now, it is not a symbol of sin and isolation, but instead a symbol of Hester’s strength and kindness. Hawthorne says, “Such helpfulness was found in her,--so much power to do, and power to sympathize,--that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They say that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays