The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth!"

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                    The Scarlet Letter Coursework

“The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth!”

Examine The Scarlet Letter in light of this statement.

In your assignment you should consider:

  1. The historical, political and cultural significance of Puritanism in America
  1. Hawthorne’s links with the Puritans
  1. Methods through which Hawthorne presents the theme of sin and its effects of the main characters in The Scarlet Letter
  1. The views of other readers and critics of The Scarlet Letter  

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s unforgettable tale of ‘The Scarlet Letter’ takes place in the Puritan village of Boston, Massachusetts during the first half of the 17th century.

   Hawthorne himself is a man of enlightment during this time and considers himself not a Puritan, just a descendant. We are made aware of this early in the text when he admits he is a descendant of the repressive Puritans, while evidently revealing that he is also critic of them. He continually describes his ancestors as severe Puritans decked out in black robes, laying harsh judgment upon the people who strayed away from their faith. He is both reverent and mocking in his attitude towards the Puritans and we can jokingly ponder over the idea of how an idler such as himself could have been born from such a noble lineage. Early in the novel we see Hawthorne’s language of how he relates to and comments on the Puritans. He uses authorial comments when describing them to the present reader:

“Early severity of the Puritan characters…religion and law were almost identical.”

   The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds the three main characters in this novel, Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. In every case the effects of sin are both devastating and tragic! The moment these three characters stumble into their evil doings they spend the rest of their time floundering around like lost souls searching for ways to deal with the guilt of sin on their minds. Throughout Hawthorne’s anecdote we witness how sin changes the sinners. It darkens their vision and weakens their moral defenses against further temptation.

  The powerful theme of sin is echoed continually throughout the whole of the novel, in actual fact it plays the main theme throughout. Sin in my words would be the intentional or even the unintentional breaking of divine or moral law and indeed in this novel this meaning is shared with the grim Puritans in their ‘iron-period’. The ‘iron-visaged’ Puritans were obsessed with their faith and religion and their laws covered just about every aspect of life and if rebelled against punishment was their only answer as during this time any secrets amongst its people was forbidden thus explaining the transaction of punishment of the scarlet letter for Hester.

   Not only does Hawthorne present many powerful themes throughout his novel but he uses a lot of powerful symbolism throughout as well. The main symbol, of course, being that of the scarlet letter. Hawthorne uses fantastic language to describe the scarlet letter:

“An elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread appeared the letter ‘A’.”

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It is funny to note that note once does Hawthorne himself describe the scarlet letter himself as something we would perceive as wrong, he only reveals to us how the Puritans could see the scarlet letter as something wrong. Hawthorne not only reveals the scarlet letter as the word Adulteress, he stresses more meanings to the letter further on. For example, he relates the letter ‘A’ to Hester being an Artist, an Angel and also to Arthur. Not only do we have the scarlet letter as a symbol, but Pearl herself is also a symbol, the meteor that appears over ...

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