Deception and Punishment in The Scarlet Letter and A Tale of Two Cities
Nathaniel Hawthorn and Charles Dickens in their novels The Scarlet Letter and A
Tale of Two Cities, respectively, both use punishment for deception as a
recurring theme. Although they do so to different degrees and in dissimilar
manners, both authors agree that deception is a sin that requires punishment.
In The Scarlet Letter, the heroine, Hester Prynne conceived a child out
of wedlock. Despite the pleas and demands of the clerical community, she did
not reveal the identity of the father. The Puritanical community in which she
lived in demanded her to give up her conspirator or bear the consequences of the
deed alone. Due to her doggedness, the townsmen sentenced her to wear a scarlet
letter *A* embroidered on her chest. The A served as a symbol of her crime, was
a punishment of humiliation, gave her constant shame, and reminded her of her
sin. Hester*s penalization was a prime example where deception led to negative
consequences in that she would have been spared the entire encumbrance of the
crime if she did not deceive the townspeople. Although seemingly, her paramour
did not escape punishment.
In fact, the father of her bastard child took a more severe sentence.
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale seemed to be an upstanding, young priest. The whole
town liked him and respected him as a holy man. Thus, his deception was much
more direct and extreme when he did not confess that he impregnated Hester
Prynne. Unlike Hester, he was not publicly punished. So although Hester
overcame her ordeal and went on with her life, Dimmesdale exacted a constant,
physical and mental reprobation on himself. This inner pain was so intense that
his physical health began to reflect his inner sufferings. In the end, he
redeemed himself by his confession in front of the whole town, but his long
endurance of the secret took its toll and he died. Roger Chillingworth had a
similar fate.
Like Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, Hester*s husband, keeps his relation to
her a secret. Chillingworth*s deception allows him to become consumed with
hatred and the desire to inflict his revenge on the one who stole his wife*s
I chose this word because the plot of the second chapter details the crime committed by Hester Prynne. Her “sin” of conceiving a child under adulterous affairs was an intolerable act in a Puritan society. Her child became a symbol of her sin but also a symbol of love. The scarlet letter “A” that was supposed to represent her shame became
The sky is a canvas to the eyes of Arthur Dimmesdale, filled with the faint, twinkling light of the stars. The slight glow is enough spotlight for the guilty man to handle, and the extra light that appears from an approaching town member is too much for the stricken pastor to handle. Cowering over the confession that dwells on the edge of his tongue, he misses the chance to free himself from the inner shame that binds him and sets his degenerating heart apart from the healthily-beating one of his past lover that is free from the weight of a scandalous secret. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne develops the character of Arthur Dimmesdale by way of his ill-defined sermons and public interactions with the Puritan townspeople that contrast with his deep talks with Hester and
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, everyone had some form of a secret they’d rather not share, but sometimes not telling can do more harm than good. At the end of the film, Hawthorne left us a quote saying, “Be true, be true, be true.” Hawthorne is trying to say keeping secrets isn't always the best because it only leads to someone getting hurt.
Although perceived as two utterly different men, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth share some remarkable similarities. Lying is one of these connections, as both men lie to one another concerning their connections to Hester and she conceals the secrets of their connections to her as well. Inquisitive as to whom Hester loved Chillingworth questions her, and she replies, “That thou shalt never know!” (86), so Chillingworth says to Hester “Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou dost ever call me husband!” (88), and she replies, “I will keep thy secret, as I have this” (88). Even though one would suppose both men to have significant roles in Hester’s life, they distance themselves and pretend as
The Scarlet Letter is full of many psychological and moral aspects, and most of them relate very well to things that are going on right now in the world. They all go hand in hand meaning that the aspects that were explained in The Scarlet Letter, can also be explained in the same way as they can be explained now. Although times were very different in the times where The Scarlet Letter took place, they are all relevant for what people have to say about certain things in today's world. The moral aspects of the Scarlet Letter are almost the same as moral aspects of today.
The Power of Secrets in The Scarlet Letter & nbsp; & nbsp; Deception is defined by Webster's Dictionary as the art of misrepresentation. Throughout the history of mankind, the use of deception to promote oneself to a higher level, or to hide one's past, has been a common occurrences. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale both use deception to hide secrets from each. other, and from the rest of the town. & nbsp; & nbsp; Hester Prynne is the only one who knows the secrets of Dimmesdale. and Chillingworth are hiding from the townsfolk. Hester has to control her. desire to tell the truth and practice the art of deception to hide these secrets. When she will not reveal the father of Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale says, "She will not speak." " & nbsp; It is & nbsp; ironic that the person who committed the sin with Hester is the one who announces publicly that she will not reveal the name of the other sinner. Later, Chilling worth wants.
The way Hester and Dimmesdale approached their sins has a direct correlation with how they lived the rest of their lives. Hester confessed her sin because she had no choice she already had incriminating evidence in the form of a child and had to confess or be expelled from the community. In this sense, Hester had no choice but to confess or leave the community and she chose to confess. Although, we may not know why she made this choice, but we know she made it and she decided to stay with it and not leave the community in order to possibly confess her sins. Arthur Dimmesdale did not confess his sins for all the wrong reasons. He didn’t confess for mostly two reasons those being: his belief that man did not judge other men but only God can do that or that he will better serve his people with a sinful heart and not a sinful appearance. Arthur had to deal with all the pressures of a life of sin but also the pressure of his own conscience to confess those sins. The pressures on his body were worse than that of Hester who had confessed her sins. One of the main reasons that Arthur was in poor physical condition was that the wise Doctor Chillingworth had poisoned him, and kept poisoning him until he had confessed of his sins at the end of the book. This and the fact that his grief and guilt had led him to totally decimate his body both spiritually and physically he had just driven himself too far. Farther than any person should take this kind of self-mutilation. His social life also suffered as a result of this physical and mental torture because he had turned into a walking zombie and had not been very responsive to anything but his terrible torment. In this way, he was degrading himself and thought it necessary to do so for repentance. Although, he had not voiced his sin publicly he had preached about himself not being pure and being a sinner. In spite of this, the unknowing congregation worshiped him all the more for his self-proclamation of sinfulness without telling what his sin was.
Two classical themes in literature are concealed guilt and confessed guilt and in many instances the reader sees the affects of these on individuals. In the examination and exploration of The Scarlet Letter and Macbeth the necessary comparison for both is provided. The guilt in The Scarlet Letter is seen in the minds and outward appearance of each main character, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. In Macbeth the readers sees an obvious guilt in the main character, Macbeth.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most respected and admired novels of all time. Often criticized for lacking substance and using more elaborate camera work, freely adapted films usually do not follow the original plot line. Following this cliché, Roland Joffe’s version of The Scarlet Letter received an overwhelmingly negative reception. Unrealistic plots and actions are added to the films for added drama; for example, Hester is about to be killed up on the scaffold, when Algonquin members arrive and rescue her. After close analysis, it becomes evident of the amount of work that is put into each, but one must ask, why has the director adapted their own style of depicting the story? How has the story of Hester Prynne been modified? Regarding works, major differences and similarities between the characterization, visual imagery, symbolism, narration and plot, shows how free adaptation is the correct term used.
One of the main themes in The Scarlet Letter is that of the secret. The plot of the book is centered on Hester Prynne’s secret sin of adultery. Nathaniel Hawthorne draws striking parallelism between secrets held and the physical and mental states of those who hold them. The Scarlet Letter demonstrates that a secret or feeling kept within slowly engulfs and destroys the soul such as Dimmesdale’s sin of hypocrisy and Chillingworth’s sin of vengeance, while a secret made public, such as Prynne’s adultery, can allow a soul to recover and even strengthen.
letter on "her bosom" for the rest of her life as a sign of her sin of
The scarlet "A" is the most important symbol in the Scarlet Letter. The letter "A" does not have a "universally symbolic relationship" with adultery. The letter "A" was the first letter of adultery and the Puritans put the negative connotation on the letter. The community interprets the cosmic "A" as Angel, signifying the passing of Governor Winthrop. The letter on Hester's bosom represented the sin of adultery, yet as that it meant different things to Hester, Dimsdale, Pearl, Chillingworth and the Puritan community. To Hester it represented "alienation and unjust humiliation" .
Hypocrisy negatively affects both sides involved, whether they know it or not. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s the Scarlet Letter, the nature of hypocrisy is displayed though the characterization and actions of Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and the masses of the Puritan society.
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The term "product" refers to tangible, physical products as well as services. It also means defining the characteristics of your product or service to meet the customers' needs. AirAsia’s philosophy is girded by the fact that they have been seen as a small airline competitor for many years. Therefore, in order to win more customers and return customers, they need to ensure that their primary products and services are up to par and meet the defining needs of customers. AirAsia offered (product) tangible and (services) intangible good to increase the demand of customer. (AIR ASIA MARKETING PLAN, 2015)