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Critical analysis over the scarlet letter
Tragedy of Hester in scarlet letter
Character of hester in the scarlet letter
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Recommended: Critical analysis over the scarlet letter
D.H. Lawrence harshly criticizes Hester Prynne in his essay “On the Scarlet Letter” because he finds her manipulative in the Scarlet Letter. He does not believe Hester should have been honored after overcoming the guilt of her sin. D.H. Lawrence incorporates fragmented and abrupt syntax, insightful and powerful allusions, and condescending and sarcastic tones to criticize Hester Prynne’s character. D.H. Lawrence uses blunt syntax to be clear on his opinion of Hester Prynne. By having straightforward statements Lawrence’s syntax almost resembles note taking of a subject by having straightforward statements. For example, he describes how the Scarlet Letter recognizes Hester Prynne by merely stating “Abel! Abel! Abel! Admirable” (Lawrence). He wants to get his point across by not blocking his statements with unnecessary descriptive words and sentences. Most of his essay is structured in bullet point format so each …show more content…
After Lawrence writes the previous quote, he states that “it becomes a farce” (Lawrence). Lawrence is referring to the Scarlet Letter becoming a farce after Hester Prynne is admired for her empowerment. That quote stands alone without any other words around it so the reader can give his/hers full attention to it. This is an excellent example of how Lawrence causes all of his statements to seem extremely important by not crowding them with “filler” sentences. Lawrence uses compelling literary allusions to further prove that one of Hester Prynne’s faults, as the antagonist of the Scarlet Letter, is that she further complicates Arthur Dimmesdale’s life. D.H. Lawrence integrates a strong allusion from the novel Deerslayer as a way to undermine Hester Prynne’s actions as an adulteress. In the novel Deerslayer, the “Deerslayer refuses to be seduced by Judith Hutter” (D.H. Lawrence). Judith
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempted to expose the varying ways in which different people deal with lingering guilt from sins they have perpetrated. The contrasting characters of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale ideally exemplified the differences in thought and behavior people have for guilt. Although they were both guilty of committing the same crime, these two individuals differed in that one punished themselves with physical and mental torture and the other chose to continue on with their life, devoting it to those less fortunate than they.
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
In his essay On the Scarlet Letter, D.H. Lawrence explores Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne. Lawrence focuses on and condemns Hester’s sin itself rather than its consequences. Instead of supporting Hawthorne's depiction of Hester as an innocent character, Lawrence sheds light on what he believes is her true character, a deceiver. He argues that Hester Prynne has a false appearance of purity through his use of critical diction, sarcastic tone, and biblical allusions.
Hester Prynne is seen by many as worthy of respect and admiration throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. She is ultimately seen as a hero in many areas of the novel. Literary critic Mark Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne is a heroic citizen who rises above the consequences of her sin. Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne should be seen as a noble hero through his use of repetition, praiseworthy diction, and admirable tone.
In D.H. Lawrence’s essay, “On The Scarlet Letter,” he criticizes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s wrongful idolization of Hester Prynne. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hester is treated as a victim rather than the criminal Lawrence believes her to be. In Lawrence’s essay, he analyzes Hester’s sin and mocks the book for becoming a farce. He focuses on the causes of Hester's sin, rather than the consequences. In analyzing Hester Prynne, Lawrence is effective in achieving his purpose due to his satirical tone, choppy syntax, and use of biblical allusions.
Lawrence’s pessimistic and hateful diction, he is able to express his negative outlook on Hester Prynne. Lawrence communicates such words to specify his hatred and anger towards how Hester is portrayed in an angelic and victimized way. He focuses in on how “Hester Prynne is the great nemesis of woman”, which indicates to the reader how unforgivable her sin was, according to the traditional Puritan values in that time period. Such hateful diction persuades the reader to believe in Lawrence’s views, and to take part in the idea that Hester is diabolical. Lawrence does not despise the novel’s plot, but rather the way that Hester is portrayed. He goes on to mock and ridicule her, commenting, “Oh, Hester, you are a demon… a man must be pure just so that you can seduce him to a fall”, which reveals the possible truth behind Hester’s actions, according to the critic (Lawrence). He pokes fun at the character, and once again uses sarcasm and a ridiculous pretense. His utilization of pessimistic diction is the key toward illustrating a wicked appearance of Hester Prynne. In Lawrence’s critique, he weaves in a sarcastic and critical tone as a way to effectively convey his opinion of Hester. Lawrence evaluates Hester’s sin and the consequences upon her and upon others in the novel, exclaiming “But keep up the games, keep up appearances… Look out Mister, for the Female Devotee...Mind your Purity”, which is an impactful take on how Hester is able to
Lawrence again refers back to sarcasm in his tone to emphasize his criticism. For example, he talks about the idea of Hester “Glittering with gold thread. Abell Adultery. Admirable!” (Lawrence). It is clear that Lawrence is simply mocking the tone of those who sympathize with Hester Prynne. By criticizing and retaliating against the idea that Hester Prynne is an admirable character, Lawrence succesfully attacks how Hawthorne seeks to portray Prynne, as well as those who cannot see Hester Prynne as a contradictory symbol to pure society. In this case specifically, Lawrence targets the seduced reader who fails to detect Hester’s mortal sin, mainly because it helps him lead into the gravity of her sin itself. Lawrence also warns those of pure society to not “let [Hester] start tickling [them]” (Lawrence). Lawrence issues a direct statement to the reader that Hester Prynne’s characterization is used for the mere purpose of seduction. Those who have been seduced undermine the virtues of pure society, and are therefore criticized by Lawrence. Lawrence warns his fellow members of pure society to not fall under this
My favorite quote was when a woman in the crowd yelled at Hester Prynne for covering the scarlet letter, stammering, “‘Ah, but,’ interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, ‘let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart (49).’” This quote ultimately portrays the recurring ideal in the novel, which is that one can’t hide who they are. This is seen through Reverend Dimmesdale who is eaten up for hiding the fact that he committed adultery with Hester Prynne. Dimmesdale eventually gives in and reveals his secret to the public, due to his inability to continue living a
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character, Hester Prynne’s, actions creates a lot of controversy regarding Prynne’s sin, resulting in Hawthorne writing his critical essay, “On the Scarlet Letter.” D.H Lawrence critiques Hawthorne because he believes that Hawthorne favors Hester Prynne to an unnecessary extent , in The Scarlet Letter. Lawrence uses several devices that allow him to express his viewpoints about Hester Prynne and her sin. D.H. Lawrence uses biblical allusions, bullet-point syntax, and a mocking tone to convey his thoughts on why Hawthorne gives Hester Prynne too much credit.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well known novel, The Scarlet Letter, extensive diction and intense imagery are used to portray the overall tone of the characters. In particular, Hester Prynne, the wearer of the Scarlet Letter, receives plentiful positive characterization throughout the novel. Hester’s character most notably develops through the town’s peoples ever-changing views on the scarlet letter, the copious mentions of her bravery, and her ability to take care of herself, Pearl, and others, even when she reaches the point where most would give up and wallow in their suffering.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, has an extremely elaborate, and well-depicted vocabulary. Many of his sentences and paragraphs tend to be very verbose, but at the same time very helpful in giving the reader an accurate representation of the exactly how Chillingworth reacts when he first sees Hester. Within the passage on page sixty-seven Hawthorne is giving an intricate description of Chillingworth’s reaction when he first sees Hester after she is released from prison. With his usage of both syntax and imagery throughout this passage, he most effectively illustrates his vision of Chillingworth. Hawthorne gives us quite a bit of description within this passage, which allows us to see an intellectual side of Chillingworth. Generally people are intellectual or religious, the big bang vs. Genesis. Chillingworth is portrayed as intellectual, which conflicts with the Puritan views of religion.
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the reader meets the character Hester Prynne who, as the novel progresses, notices the changes in her character are very dramatic. The changes are both physical and in her mannerism’s. There are many significant events which took place before the start of the novel and during the novel. Some of the events that lead to this dramatic change include the affect of wearing the scarlet letter, the secrets she keeps, and her daughter Pearl’s evil characteristics.
Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, was a courageous and honorable person; even though, what she had been known for wasn’t such an admirable deed. Hester Prynne was a very strong person in one’s eyes, because even though she had been publically humiliated in front of all of Boston, she still remained confident in herself and her daughter. She was ordered to wear a scarlet colored piece of fabric, with the letter “A” embroidered in gold on it, on her bosom at all times to show that she had committed adultery. She was mocked all the time and constantly looked down upon in society, because of her sin; but instead of running away from her problems, she st...
Throughout all the sinful things Hester Prynne has done, she still managed to obtain good qualities. Hester was an adulterer from the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester was looked down upon by the citizens of Boston because of the sin she and another person committed, but no one knew who her partner in crime was because she refused to release his name. Towards the very end of the story Hester’s accomplice confessed and left Hester and Pearl feeling joyous, because now they didn’t have to keep in a secret. Hester is a trustworthy, helpful, and brave woman throughout The Scarlet Letter.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...