More handpicked essays just for you.
Character development through scarlet letter
Sin, punishment, and revenge in the scarlet letter
Themes of sin,guilt and punishment in scarlet letter
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Isolation in The Scarlet Letter
In the New Testament it states that "the wages of sin is death." Though
the penalty of sin in The Scarlet Letter is not a termination of life, the evil
of isolation can be a physically, morally, and socially tortuous event in
Puritan society. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, in Hawthorne's The Scarlet
Letter, are both victims of the cruel isolation from Puritan society on the
basis of their sins. Hester wears her sin upon her breast where it stands as a
constant reminder of her malfeasance. Shame and isolation strip her of all
passion and femininity, leaving her a shell of her former self. Though Arthur's
mark of shame is not visible, it is all the more tortuous for its absence. Shame
and guilt feed upon Arthur's soul with slow malevolency. Only a combination of
death and confession finally release Arthur from his torture.
Though Hester's ostracism from society and the tortuous nature of her
shame, Hester is stripped of all passion and humanity. Since society ...
Chapter 15- After Chillingworth left the meeting with Hester, Hester for the first time realized that she hated him. This change occurred very rapidly as she went from pity to hatred after realizing all the pain that he has caused not only her but everyone that he has been in contact with. We also get another example of a juxtaposition that Hawthorne has created between the relationship Hester has with Chillingworth and Dimmesdale respectively. Hester’s relationship with Chillingworth is a hate filled one with no love, while her relationship with Dimmesdale is a forbidden one that is filled with love. Hawthorne has an obvious motive in writing this chapter, and that is to demonstrate to reader the effects of being consumed into something. Chillingworth
Isolation can affect people in many different ways, for example, it could affect someone physically or emotionally. Isolation can drastically affect people in many different areas of their life. Hester is affected by isolation both emotionally and physically. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn Hester becomes alienated, isolated, physically and emotionally because of the red letter that she wears on her chest.
With sin there is personal growth, and as a symbol of her sin, Hester’s scarlet “A” evokes development of her human character. The Puritan town of Boston became suspicious when Hester Prynne became pregnant despite her husband being gone. Being a heavily religious village, the townspeople punished Hester for her sin of adultery with the burden of wearing a scarlet “A” on all that she wears. Initially the...
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.
Authors use character development to show how a person can change. Through a descriptive portrayal of a charter and their development they become real to the reader. A well-developed character stirs up emotions in the reader making for a powerful story. A person can change for better or worse and Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this thru the character development of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter.
"In the earliest Arthurian stories, Sir Gawain was the greatest of the Knights of the Round Table. He was famed for his prowess at arms and, above all, for his courtesy. ... Here Gawain is the perfect knight; he is so recognized by the various characters in the story and, for all his modesty, implicitly in his view of himself. To the others his greatest qualities are his knightly courtesy and his success in battle. To Gawain these are important, but he seems to set an even higher value on his courage and integrity, the two central pillars of his manhood. The story is concerned with the conflict between his conception of himself and the reality. He is not quite so brave or so honorable as he thought he was, but he is still very brave, very honorable. He cannot quite see this, but the reader can.
Sir Gawain is the nephew of the most famous King Arthur. Gawain being in line of the throne knew he must show his bravery and man up in front of his fellow knights. The Green Knight stormed into the king’s courts riding on a mystical horse. He taunted the men asking for the bravest knight in the kingdom to stand up and take his outrageous challenge. As the men sat quietly not knowing what to do, Sir Gawain decides t...
The essay by Peter J. Gomes, entitled �Homophobic? Read Your Bible,� can be analyzed in many ways. The essay discusses the issue of homosexuality as it relates to religion. The Baptist minister provides an unexpected approach to the subject. Mr. Gomes�s thesis statement in this essay is, �The army of the discontented, eager for clear villains and simple solutions and ready for a crusade in which political self-interest and social anxiety can be cloaked in morality, has found hatred of homosexuality to be the last respectable prejudice of the century� (�Homophobic� 414). This essay uses effective evidence to prove the thesis statement while also doing a good job of refuting opposing views.
Even Shakespeare, one of the greatest writers of all time, had trouble answering this age-old question: what’s in a name? Are we defined by our given names, our nicknames, or by our personalities and actions, especially the mistakes we make? Nathaniel Hawthorne explores this idea with the characters in his novel, The Scarlet Letter. In contrast to modern-day Boston, Hawthorne depicts a time period where there were no deadlier sins than the lust for revenge, corruptness(especially in high society), and the overwhelmingly evident act of adultery. Vengefulness is still prominent in today’s society, but there is next to no one who showcases such a need for revenge than Roger Chillingworth. A character that should be virtually sin-free, the sister of Governor Bellingham, Mistress Hibbins, represents corruptness in the form of witchcraft in this Puritan town. There may be no better representation of sin than Hester Prynne, who bears her sin publicly and constantly; Hester embodies sin, physically and mentally. Even from the beginning of the story, it was clear everyone would be affected by Hester’s unforgivable act, especially her betrayed husband; although, he hadn’t been entirely innocent either.
The Scarlet Letter is a novel that deals with the theme of sin. Throughout history, people have committed all types of sins, and whether they are major or minor, people have been punished. However, the severity of a punishment is very difficult to agree on. Some people feel that sinners should be deeply punished no matter how little the wrongdoing was. Others feel that a person's punishment should be based upon the severity of their crime. However, what many people overlook is the fact that in time, we all have committed sins.
Homosexuality is not a new trend, sexual orientation, or identity, in fact homosexuality is believed to date back over 5,000 years ago (Adams, 2011). Same sex couples have existed for thousands of years and research will show how the social and political stigmas that are known today, have stemmed from religious point of views and political opinions.
Religion has been a big issue with judging homosexual. Some Christians believe that the Bible speaks with one clear voice in condemning homosexuality. In many Anti-gay Christians groups see homosexuality as sinful. Using the Bible to justify their hate against anything they do not understand.
In the Merchant of Venice, we see a truly anti-Semitic play by Shakespeare. However, we also see a tale of money (greed and generosity), love (heterosexual and homosexual), and emotion (joy and sadness).
There are some problems in studying a text such as Beowulf. It must be read in translation to be easily accessible for the reader. This means the subtle nuances of the original language will be lost. The other major problem is that Beowulf had a long oral tradition before being written down by monks or clerics after the Norman conquest of England, resulting in an added layer of Christian thought on top of the original pagan ideologies in the poem.
From the beginning of time, homosexuality has been, and continues to be an extremely sensitive and controversial topic among the masses. Individuals constantly find themselves lost in seas of chatter, participating in riveting debates regarding whether or not homosexuality is born or made. Every human being has their own set of values and beliefs, but both society and the church 's perspective of the issue have changed dramatically over the years.