The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an 1850 novel. The main character, Hester Prynne, has an adulterous affair with a minister and gives birth to their daughter Pearl. The Puritans in the Massachusetts colony sentence her to wear a scarlet letter “A” for adultery. As she struggles to raise her daughter alone while ostracized by the community, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism and sin. The novel was first published as The Scarlet Letter: The Custom-House Introduction (1850), The Scarlet Letter (1850), and The Scarlet Letter: A Romance (1857).
Analyzing The Scarlet Letter shows how Hawthorne’s actions of exploring adultery reflects the theme of sin throughout The Scarlet Letter. The novel begins with The Custom-House, where the narrator is analyzing old documents about Hester Prynne who was convicted of adultery and sentenced to stand on the scaffold for three hours while wearing a scarlet letter “A” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses The Custom-House to briefly foreshadow the actions of the novel through The Scarlet Letter.
The introduction explains that Nathaniel Hawthorne found new evidence about an adulteress in The Custom-House, which Hawthorne states is his inspiration for writing The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne). This gives readers their first glance into what Nathaniel Hawthorne’s view on adultery is. Nathaniel Hawthrone portrays himself as being against adultery, although most characters in The Scarlet Letter were unhappy with Hester Prynne’s adultery, Nathaniel Hawthrone somewhat defends her.
Nathaniel Hawthorne states ” The truth seems to be, however, that Hester Prynne was not a woman whose character required a strict inquisition before the public; or else she would have been keenly alive to its exposures” (Hawthorne). This quote shows how Nathaniel Hawthorne is trying his best to defend Hester Prynne from The Puritans who are constantly ostracizing her. The rest of The Custom-House introduction consists of The title The Scarlet Letter and an explanation about why it is named as such.
The novel The Scarlet Letter takes place in the New England colonies during the seventeenth century which was considered The Puritan Theocracy. The Theocracy consisted of The Massachusetts colony and The Plymouth colony, which were based more on religion than other colonies in The New World (The Scarlet Letter). The Puritan’s wanted their citizens to be righteous and follow the word of God, hence why adultery was considered a sin punishable by law. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses The Custom-House introduction show how his writing is inspired by Hester Prynne who was an adulteress in The Scarlet Letter.
The novel describes the story of Hester Prynne after she has been forced to stand on the scaffold with her baby daughter for committing adultery in seventeenth-century Boston. The Puritan community shamed and condemned her as an adulteress and the father of Pearl, but no one knows who he is. The main character, Hester Prynne has to fight against the evil forces that threaten her, such as social isolation and public humiliation. The protagonist must also struggle with guilt for what she did with Dimmesdale.
However, she never gives up on herself or her daughter because they mean everything to her. The birth of her daughter and the letter “A” that she wears on her chest remind Hester Prynne to never forget about her past. The story takes an unexpected turn when Roger Chillingworth, a man who was once married to Hester’s best friend appears in town. The stranger approaches the young girl under the disguise of being a doctor, but actually he came back to seek revenge for his wife’s death.
The novel is significant because it expresses Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism which can be seen throughout the story due to Hawthorne’s use of characterization, symbolism, foreshadowing, setting, etc. The main character struggles with being isolated socially, publicly humiliated, having guilt about what she did with Dimmesdale, and also having to fight against the evil forces that threaten her. The protagonist must struggle with all of these problems because she does not know who the father of her child is and Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his identity.
Hester Prynne’s daughter is a symbol that should remind Hester to never forget about the past, while the letter “A” on Hester’s chest represents adultery and sin. The story takes an unexpected turn when Roger Chillingworth appears and seeks revenge for his wife ‘ s death through Pearl. The stranger approaches young girl under the disguise of being a doctor but he actually came back to seek revenge for his wife ‘ s death. The novel expresses Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism which can be seen throughout the story due to Hawthorne’s use of characterization , symbolism, foreshadowing , setting etc .
The main character struggles with being isolated socially, publicly humiliated, having guilt what she did with Dimmesdale, and also having to fight against the evil forces that threaten her. The protagonist must struggle with all of these problems because she does not know who the father of her child is and Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his identity. Hester Prynne’s daughter is a symbol that should remind Hester to never forget about the past, while the letter “A” on Hester’s chest represents adultery and sin .
The story takes an unexpected turn when Roger Chillingworth appears and seeks revenge for his wife’s death through Pearl. The stranger approaches young girl under the disguise of being a doctor but he actually came back to seek revenge for his wife ‘ s death. The novel expresses Hawthorne ‘ s attitude towards Puritanism which can be seen throughout the story due to Hawthorne’s use of characterization, symbolism, foreshadowing, setting , etc. The main character struggles with being isolated socially, publicly humiliated, having guilt what she did with Dimmesdale, and also having to fight against the evil forces that threaten her.
The protagonist must struggle with all of these problems because she does not know who the father of her child is and Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his identity. Hester Prynne’s daughter is a symbol that should remind Hester to never forget about the past, while the letter “A” on Hester’s chest represents adultery and sin . The story takes an unexpected turn when Roger Chillingworth appears and seeks revenge for his wife ‘ s death through Pearl.
The stranger approaches young girl under the disguise of being a doctor but he actually came back to seek revenge for his wife’s death. The novel expresses Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism which can be seen throughout the story due to Hawthorne’s use of characterization, symbolism, foreshadowing, setting etc. The main character struggles with being isolated socially, publicly humiliated, having guilt about what she did with Dimmesdale, and also having to fight against the evil forces that threaten her.
