The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne English Literature Essay

Hypocritical attempt to hide the secret wickednesss has Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and Roger Chillingworth prostration. This lip service makes Hawthorn be disappointed with the Puritan society. So he criticizes it with the method of tragic sarcasm in the novel. For illustration, Dimsdale becomes imperfect by seeking to be perfect. The more his followings regard him as a saint, the more he feels iniquitous. Therefore, the narrative is full of tragic sarcasm.

In the beginning of the novel, Hester with black eyes and dark hair is standing on the scaffold for three hours, transporting her small girl of three months old in her weaponries. While she is defying the public ordeal, The Reverend Mr. Wilson delivers a address about wickedness and the ground why Hester has to have on the vermilion missive “ A ” on her chest. He persuades Hester to bring out the male parent of her kid, but she does non talk at all. She all of a sudden sees Chillingworth, her hubby, standing in the crowd. He makes a gesture with his fingers non to unwrap his individuality. When she returns to a prison, she is about huffy with a religious hurting. That flushing, Chillingworth visits her as a doctor who takes attention of her. She talks with him for a long clip in the dark prison. She tells him that she does non love him. She admits that she has wronged him. She refuses to state him about the kid ‘s male parent, and he decides to happen who the male parent is. He asks her non to uncover the fact that he is her hubby.

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Three old ages after her releases from imprisonment, Hester does non go forth Boston. Alternatively, she lives in a seaside hovel on the suburbs of Boston. She makes her populating by making needle work. She helps the destitute people. Her Acts of the Apostless of charity cause her to derive regard from the people. Meanwhile, the governor Bellingham tries to take her girl off from Hester, carrying her to raise Pearl in a Christian manner. But she does non give her up. As the old ages base on balls, Pearl grows up. She is Hester ‘s felicity. Chillingworth easy gets a good repute as a doctor, and eventually becomes the medical advisor of Dimmesdale. As their friendly relationship develops, Dimmesdale even speaks about his personal affairs to Chillingworth. They live together in the same house and it makes Chillingworth happen that Dimmesdale greatly pays attending to Hester. He eventually knows that Dimmesdale is Pearl ‘s male parent. So he decides to take retaliation on him. One dark while Dimmsdale is standing on the scaffold, Hester and Pearl come. Dimmesdale calls them to the scaffold. Dimmesdale tells Hester that he is afraid of Chillingworth on the scaffold. At that clip, Chillingworth is in secret watching them. After she sees Dimmsdale being in desperation, Hester sympathizes with him in his agony. So she decides to assist him. Four old ages have passed. Hester has a good repute and regard from the people in the community because of her charity. Her vermilion missive “ A ” is no thirster of a item of her black criminal conversation to her.

When Hester meets Chillingworth in the coast, she tells him that she is traveling to squeal to Dimmsdale that he is her hubby. One twenty-four hours Hester and Pearl come across Dimmesdale in the forests. He looks painful because of his secret wickedness. He appears to be in the deepnesss of desperation as if he does n’t hold any desire to populate. Dimmsdale confesses his religious hurting to Hester. It makes her confess that Chillingworth is her hubby to Dimmsdale. He seems to be ferocious at first, but eventually he forgives her. They agree to go forth Boston and travel to Europe together with Pearl. Dimmesdale believes that he is able to hold more civilised and refined life at that place. After he returns from the forests, he suddenly decides to squeal his wickedness in public. So he writes the Election Sermon. It is successful. Meanwhile, on the twenty-four hours when they in secret go to Europe by ship, Chillingworth plans to board the ship with them. After Dimmsdale finishes his discourse, he beckons to Hester and Pearl to come. They stand on the scaffold together. Dimmesdale confesses to the people that he Commit criminal conversation with Hester and Pearl is his girl. After squealing his wickedness, he dies on the scaffold. After Dimmesdale ‘s decease, Hester goes to Europe with her girl. Pearl merrily marries and lives at that place, but Hester returns to Boston. She ne’er takes off her vermilion missive. When she dies, she is buried following to Dimmesdale. They portion a vermilion missive “ A ” on their headstones.

Attitude

Nathaniel Hawthorne makes good usage of the dramatic sarcasm in his novel. He regards human existences as originally imperfect animals. The dehumanisation in a Puritan society in the novel is criticized with the method of tragic sarcasm which is closely related to a Manichaean position of life. Most of the characters are Puritans. They are guiltless and seek to construct an ideal society in their ain manner. Such a perfect Puritan community holds its ain secrets and wickedness within each member. This creates sarcasm or lip service and has each individual experience guilty. In the novel, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chilligworth are isolated from a normal society and they suffer from the assorted facets of wickedness. Hypocritical action to hide their secret wickednesss makes them prostration. Although Hester feels humbleness and embarrassment because of her wickedness, she is spiritually free. When Dimmesdale eventually uncovers his wickedness to the people around the scaffold, they refuse to believe that he is sinner like Hester. The fact that Dimmsdale is the vulnerable curate and a secret evildoer consequences in an eternal labyrinth of sarcasm. Dimmesdale ‘s double individuality is shown in Hester have oning the black item of the vermilion missive on her chest and in Chillingworth with his secret retaliation for Dimmsdale. The sarcasm of Dimmesdale ‘s state of affairs is shown in the fact that he becomes imperfect by feigning to be perfect. Dimmesdale tries to look to be a perfect adult male, for he thinks there is absolute good and evil in the universe.

By utilizing tragic sarcasm, Hawthorne builds up the secret plan which gives us changeless involvement in his novel. Therefore, The Scarlet Letter is chiefly composed of tragic sarcasm, and the writer ‘s intents are good represented by it.

Shift

In chapter 16, Dimmesdale appears to be in desperation as if he has no will or trust to populate whereas in chapter 18, he takes bravery because Hester encourages him that she promises to travel to Europe together. So he decides to go forth the Puritan society. He is reborn with tremendous energy. He thinks everything positively. In chapter 23, he all of a sudden gives up everything. He can non move against his scruples. In this chapter, Chillingworth loses his intent of retaliation wholly when Dimmesdale dies. Hester besides lose her lover. She does non necessitate to experience the solitariness she has already had when Dimmesdale dies. Pearl can hold a life which is full of love and felicity.

In chapter 13, Hester ‘s charity and kindness bit by bit have her place to be changed in the community. She helps the destitute people populating in the town. Good repute from the people make her vermilion missive symbolize something other than black criminal conversation. It no longer stands for “ shame, ” and it is no longer a item of her black criminal conversation. It now stands for “ Able. ”

The readers can see the displacement of Dimmesdale ‘s scruples by comparing the three scaffold scenes. In the first scaffold scene, he does non desire to uncover his secret wickedness. In the 2nd scaffold scene, he confesses his wickedness in private at dark, so it does non look to be a public confession. In the concluding scaffold scene, he reveals his wickedness in public. At this clip, his scruples eventually clears.

Subjects

This subdivision will discourse the undermentioned four subjects: wickedness, scruples, Puritanism, and forgiveness.

Sin

By taking a Puritan society and criminal conversation as the scene for this novel, Hawthorne is free to research the psychological impact of wickedness on everyone involved.

In Puritan society criminal conversation is both a offense and a wickedness. As a adult female whose hubby is absent, Hester ‘s gestation is grounds of her immoral relationship with a adult male, non her hubby. Puritans normally impose the decease punishment on fornicators, nevertheless, since Hester ‘s hubby might be dead they refrain from administrating it in this instance. They can non allow her transgress travel unpunished, so they sentence her to three old ages in prison, and she must have on the “ A ” on her chest during her life-time. In add-on, she is cast out of the community. To the Puritans, wickedness is like the infective disease. Hester is “ isolated ” in the hope that her wickedness will non foul the community. Puritanism is a rigorous version of Christianity. In other religious orders after Christians confess their wickednesss and execute repentance, their wickednesss are forgiven and they receive rapprochement with God and their community. Hester for her portion acknowledges her error, so she endures her penalty with grace. Upon her release from prison, she makes a life by run uping and embellishment. Her diligence and thrift allow her to transport out many plants of charity for the hapless. Although her life is non a really happy one, her wickedness and subsequent repentance create an chance for her religious development and personal growing.

Dimmesdale carries the weight of wickedness in private. He does non do religious advancement alternatively he becomes a dissembler. Puritans expect their curates to hold high moral criterions. He feels guilty that he is non populating up to them. He tries to execute repentance in private, but his attempts do non offer him any religious alleviation. His religious torment starts to impact his physical wellness negatively, to the point where his fold begins to worry about him.

Chillingworth has a reader ‘s understanding in the beginning because he suffers from wrongdoing of his married woman. Marrying a much younger adult female does non measure up as a wickedness. But as clip passes he gives himself over to transgress by taking retaliation on Dimmsdale who has an extramarital relationship with his married woman. The wickedness of retaliation physically transforms him in the undermentioned ways: accelerated ripening, distortion of facial characteristics, and the stoop in his dorsum. He can be said to body the phrase “ ugly as wickedness. ”

Conscience

For Hawthorne, single scruples plays a valuable function. When a individual relies on his intuition and understanding for others, he/she is able to do good moral determinations. The Puritans, in contrast, have small usage for single scruples. In order to make what is right, a Puritan merely has to follow the spiritual regulations of community. As such single scruples is low-level to the spiritual commandments of the Bible, Hester uses her ain intuition to do moral determinations, a characteristic which sets her apart from her fellow Puritans. Dimmesdale ‘s scruples tortures him. The readers can see the developments of Dimmsdale ‘s scruples by comparing the three scaffold scenes in chapter 2, chapter 12, and chapter 23. In the first scene, he exhorts Hester to call the male parent, but it is clear from his dual speak that he does non desire his wickedness to be revealed in public. In the 2nd scaffold scene, he confesses his wickedness out loud, but he is entirely at dark, so it does non number as a public confession. In the concluding scaffold scene, after his election twenty-four hours sermon he confesses to the people that he is Hester ‘s secret spouse and he is a male parent of Pearl. His scruples eventually clears, but he has lived with the guilt for so long that he has no strength to populate after his confession. Chillingworth starts out with a scruples as evidenced by his conversation with Hester in which he admits get marrieding her against her wants is a error that leaves her vulnerable wickedness of criminal conversation. When he suspects that the other party to criminal conversation is still in town, he loses his scruples in direct proportion to his attempt to demand retaliation on Dimmesdale. With retaliation as his whole motivation for life, he can non last after Dimmesdale ‘s confession, which renders retaliation useless.

Puritanism

Puritanism has a strong consequence on The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, Hawthorne wants to depict how Puritanism in the seventeenth century seemingly ignores the saneness of human heads in every facet of penalty and redemption. He gives us the kernel of the Puritan ideas of Boston, including the Puritan ‘s position on adult male ‘s iniquitous state of affairs, and the intolerant Puritan attitude towards evildoer. The Puritan leaders at that clip condemn every individual who fails morally and coerce them to confront a public repentance. The Puritan jurisprudence is far from God ‘s Godhead love which embraces all evildoers holding imperfect nature and human failing.

Hawthorne is disappointed with the unbearable system of Puritan society and its strict and inhumane moral codification which denies adult male ‘s imperfectness. In the novel, the Puritans enforce excessively heavy a punishment on Hester, although she is a evildoer. Hester realizes that she can non get away from terrible penalty by rigorous Puritan Torahs, and besides realizes God ‘s love for the hapless and the needy. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is described as a typical whipping boy who can non get away from the influence of inhumane and merciless Puritan tenet. Hester Prynne achieves her religious illustriousness despite her ain humane failing and the bias of her Puritan society.

Forgiveness

The reader picks up early hints about Hawthorne ‘s attitude toward forgiveness in the usage house because he explicitly mentions offering forgiveness to his enemies. Hester is able to forgive her enemies for the most portion. Hester, as a portion of moral development, learns how to forgive and she is besides able to cheer others to forgive. For illustration in chapter 14, she asks Chillingworth non to take retaliation on Dimmesdale and to forgive him. One of the indexs that Chillingworth has turned to Satan is that he is incapable of forgiving. He is even given the label “ the Unforgiving ” in chapter 11. In chapter 17, Hester confesses Chillingworth ‘s individuality to Dimmesdale. Dimmsdale is unwilling to forgive her, but eventually he does so of his ain free will. He makes a point of inquiring God for forgiveness for both of them. For Dimmesdale, forgiveness by God is more of import than human forgiveness. This is non surprising because to a curate forgiveness of wickednesss by God is necessary for admittance to Heaven. While Dimmesdale is deceasing on the scaffold, he does non forgive Chillingworth. Alternatively, he calls on God to forgive his tormenter.

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Attitude

Nathaniel Hawthorne makes good usage of the dramatic sarcasm in his novel. He regards human existences as originally imperfect animals. The dehumanisation in a Puritan society in the novel is criticized with the method of tragic sarcasm which is closely related to a Manichaean position of life. Most of the characters are Puritans. They are guiltless and seek to construct an ideal society in their ain manner. Such a perfect Puritan community holds its ain secrets and wickedness within each member. This creates sarcasm or lip service and has each individual experience guilty. In the novel, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chilligworth are isolated from a normal society and they suffer from the assorted facets of wickedness. Hypocritical action to hide their secret wickednesss makes them prostration. Although Hester feels humbleness and embarrassment because of her wickedness, she is spiritually free. When Dimmesdale eventually uncovers his wickedness to the people around the scaffold, they refuse to believe that he is sinner like Hester. The fact that Dimmsdale is the vulnerable curate and a secret evildoer consequences in an eternal labyrinth of sarcasm. Dimmesdale ‘s double individuality is shown in Hester have oning the black item of the vermilion missive on her chest and in Chillingworth with his secret retaliation for Dimmsdale. The sarcasm of Dimmesdale ‘s state of affairs is shown in the fact that he becomes imperfect by feigning to be perfect. Dimmesdale tries to look to be a perfect adult male, for he thinks there is absolute good and evil in the universe.

By utilizing tragic sarcasm, Hawthorne builds up the secret plan which gives us changeless involvement in his novel. Therefore, The Scarlet Letter is chiefly composed of tragic sarcasm, and the writer ‘s intents are good represented by it.

Shift

In chapter 16, Dimmesdale appears to be in desperation as if he has no will or trust to populate whereas in chapter 18, he takes bravery because Hester encourages him that she promises to travel to Europe together. So he decides to go forth the Puritan society. He is reborn with tremendous energy. He thinks everything positively. In chapter 23, he all of a sudden gives up everything. He can non move against his scruples. In this chapter, Chillingworth loses his intent of retaliation wholly when Dimmesdale dies. Hester besides lose her lover. She does non necessitate to experience the solitariness she has already had when Dimmesdale dies. Pearl can hold a life which is full of love and felicity.

In chapter 13, Hester ‘s charity and kindness bit by bit have her place to be changed in the community. She helps the destitute people populating in the town. Good repute from the people make her vermilion missive symbolize something other than black criminal conversation. It no longer stands for “ shame, ” and it is no longer a item of her black criminal conversation. It now stands for “ Able. ”

The readers can see the displacement of Dimmesdale ‘s scruples by comparing the three scaffold scenes. In the first scaffold scene, he does non desire to uncover his secret wickedness. In the 2nd scaffold scene, he confesses his wickedness in private at dark, so it does non look to be a public confession. In the concluding scaffold scene, he reveals his wickedness in public. At this clip, his scruples eventually clears.

Subjects

This subdivision will discourse the undermentioned four subjects: wickedness, scruples, Puritanism, and forgiveness.

Sin

By taking a Puritan society and criminal conversation as the scene for this novel, Hawthorne is free to research the psychological impact of wickedness on everyone involved.

In Puritan society criminal conversation is both a offense and a wickedness. As a adult female whose hubby is absent, Hester ‘s gestation is grounds of her immoral relationship with a adult male, non her hubby. Puritans normally impose the decease punishment on fornicators, nevertheless, since Hester ‘s hubby might be dead they refrain from administrating it in this instance. They can non allow her transgress travel unpunished, so they sentence her to three old ages in prison, and she must have on the “ A ” on her chest during her life-time. In add-on, she is cast out of the community. To the Puritans, wickedness is like the infective disease. Hester is “ isolated ” in the hope that her wickedness will non foul the community. Puritanism is a rigorous version of Christianity. In other religious orders after Christians confess their wickednesss and execute repentance, their wickednesss are forgiven and they receive rapprochement with God and their community. Hester for her portion acknowledges her error, so she endures her penalty with grace. Upon her release from prison, she makes a life by run uping and embellishment. Her diligence and thrift allow her to transport out many plants of charity for the hapless. Although her life is non a really happy one, her wickedness and subsequent repentance create an chance for her religious development and personal growing.

Dimmesdale carries the weight of wickedness in private. He does non do religious advancement alternatively he becomes a dissembler. Puritans expect their curates to hold high moral criterions. He feels guilty that he is non populating up to them. He tries to execute repentance in private, but his attempts do non offer him any religious alleviation. His religious torment starts to impact his physical wellness negatively, to the point where his fold begins to worry about him.

Chillingworth has a reader ‘s understanding in the beginning because he suffers from wrongdoing of his married woman. Marrying a much younger adult female does non measure up as a wickedness. But as clip passes he gives himself over to transgress by taking retaliation on Dimmsdale who has an extramarital relationship with his married woman. The wickedness of retaliation physically transforms him in the undermentioned ways: accelerated ripening, distortion of facial characteristics, and the stoop in his dorsum. He can be said to body the phrase “ ugly as wickedness. ”

Conscience

For Hawthorne, single scruples plays a valuable function. When a individual relies on his intuition and understanding for others, he/she is able to do good moral determinations. The Puritans, in contrast, have small usage for single scruples. In order to make what is right, a Puritan merely has to follow the spiritual regulations of community. As such single scruples is low-level to the spiritual commandments of the Bible, Hester uses her ain intuition to do moral determinations, a characteristic which sets her apart from her fellow Puritans. Dimmesdale ‘s scruples tortures him. The readers can see the developments of Dimmsdale ‘s scruples by comparing the three scaffold scenes in chapter 2, chapter 12, and chapter 23. In the first scene, he exhorts Hester to call the male parent, but it is clear from his dual speak that he does non desire his wickedness to be revealed in public. In the 2nd scaffold scene, he confesses his wickedness out loud, but he is entirely at dark, so it does non number as a public confession. In the concluding scaffold scene, after his election twenty-four hours sermon he confesses to the people that he is Hester ‘s secret spouse and he is a male parent of Pearl. His scruples eventually clears, but he has lived with the guilt for so long that he has no strength to populate after his confession. Chillingworth starts out with a scruples as evidenced by his conversation with Hester in which he admits get marrieding her against her wants is a error that leaves her vulnerable wickedness of criminal conversation. When he suspects that the other party to criminal conversation is still in town, he loses his scruples in direct proportion to his attempt to demand retaliation on Dimmesdale. With retaliation as his whole motivation for life, he can non last after Dimmesdale ‘s confession, which renders retaliation useless.

Puritanism

Puritanism has a strong consequence on The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, Hawthorne wants to depict how Puritanism in the seventeenth century seemingly ignores the saneness of human heads in every facet of penalty and redemption. He gives us the kernel of the Puritan ideas of Boston, including the Puritan ‘s position on adult male ‘s iniquitous state of affairs, and the intolerant Puritan attitude towards evildoer. The Puritan leaders at that clip condemn every individual who fails morally and coerce them to confront a public repentance. The Puritan Torahs is far from God ‘s Godhead love which embraces all evildoers holding imperfect nature and human failing.

Hawthorne is disappointed with the unbearable system of Puritan society and its strict and inhumane moral codification which denies adult male ‘s imperfectness. In the novel, the Puritans enforce excessively heavy a punishment on Hester, although she is a evildoer. Hester realizes that she can non get away from terrible penalty by rigorous Puritan Torahs, and besides realizes God ‘s love for the hapless and the needy. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale is described as a typical whipping boy who can non get away from the influence of inhumane and merciless Puritan tenet. Hester Prynne achieves her religious illustriousness despite her ain humane failing and the bias of her Puritan society.

Forgiveness

The reader picks up early hints about Hawthorne ‘s attitude toward forgiveness in the usage house because he explicitly mentions offering forgiveness to his enemies. Hester is able to forgive her enemies for the most portion. Hester, as a portion of moral development, learns how to forgive and she is besides able to cheer others to forgive. For illustration in chapter 14, she asks Chillingworth non to take retaliation on Dimmesdale and to forgive him. One of the indexs that Chillingworth has turned to Satan is that he is incapable of forgiving. He is even given the label “ the Unforgiving ” in chapter 11. In chapter 17, Hester confesses Chillingworth ‘s individuality to Dimmesdale. Dimmsdale is unwilling to forgive her, but eventually he does so of his ain free will. He makes a point of inquiring God for forgiveness for both of them. For Dimmesdale, forgiveness by God is more of import than human forgiveness. This is non surprising because to a curate forgiveness of wickednesss by God is necessary for admittance to Heaven. While Dimmesdale is deceasing on the scaffold, he does non forgive Chillingworth alternatively he calls on God to forgive his tormenter.

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