Scarlet Letter essay topics

You are welcome to search the collection of free essays and research papers. Thousands of coursework topics are available. Buy unique, original custom papers from our essay writing service.

28 results found, view free essays on page:

  • Scarlet Letter Hyatt Waggoner
    563 words
    The Scarlet Letter Hyatt Waggoner, a noted Hawthorne scholar, says, "The Scarlet Letter is Hawthorne's most widely read and admired novel and is also the one that has inspired the most inconclusive debate... ". (Waggoner 118). Much of the trouble in interpreting The Scarlet Letter stems from the fact that the story is highly symbolic. The Scarlet Letter opens with the stark image of the throng of people surrounding the prison door. Hawthorne creates a mood by using the, "sad colored", garment an...
  • Scarlet Letter And The Crucible
    1,395 words
    When the topic of a Puritanical society is brought up, most people think of a strict and conservative society. While this may have usually been the case, this was not always so. The Puritan society was also known not to act out of brotherly love, but to cruelly lash out on those who were sinned, or were deemed unfit for society. Two works of literature that display both aspects of this society very accurately are The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorn, and The Crucible by Arthur Miller. The Sc...
  • Scarlet Letter
    381 words
    Lead By Example Edmund Burke once wrote, "Example is the school of mankind, and they will learn at no other". This explains how The Scarlet Letter, The Scarlet Letter's example will greatly benefit teenage parents to overcome their circumstances. Before one can learn how Hester Prynne overcame her problems in The Scarlet Letter, it is helpful to know what she went through. Because she committed adultery, she had to wear a scarlet letter that ostracized her in her town. For that reason, she suffe...
  • Hester's Human Form Of Her Scarlet Letter
    793 words
    The Scarlet letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The plot focuses on sin in the Puritan society. Hester Prynne, the protagonist, has an affair with Reverend Dimmesdale, which means they are adulterers and sinners. As a result, Pearl is born and Hester is forced to where the scarlet letter. Pearl is a unique character. She is Hester's human form of her scarlet letter, which constantly reminds her of her sin, yet at the same time, Pearl is a blessing to have since she represents the p...
  • Scarlet Token On Hester's Breast
    1,403 words
    The Scarlet Letter: The Symbol of the Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne's scarlet token liberates her more than it punishes her. First of all, Hester's soul is freed by her admission of her crime; by enduring her earthly punishment, Hester is assured of a place in the heavens. Also, though her appearance is much hampered by the scarlet letter, her mind is freed by it, that an intellectual passion rises from her isolation and suffering. Finally, it defines ...
  • Woman Of The Scarlet Letter And Pearl
    1,095 words
    In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl serves as the 'apple of Eden'; . She is plucked from the hands of God in heaven and sent to the mortal world as a baby 'to make out its [the scarlet letter's] hidden import'; (155), causing Prynne and Dimmesdale to face their consequences. Pearl functions in the story on three levels: as a real child, as a continuing symbol of Prynne and Dimmesdale's adultery, and as an allegorical figure sent to torment the sinners and direct their actions. On...
  • Scarlet Letter A Way The Public
    607 words
    The Scarlet Letter, written in the 1800's by Anti-Transcendentalist Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of Hester Prynne. Young Hester lived in New England, about the same time witch trials were still conducted, and she is found guilty of carrying a baby whose father she refuses to confess. The punishment for this crime is from then until the rest of her life, Hester had to bear a stitched 'A'; on her breast. This 'A'; carries the namesake of the book, The Scarlet Letter. Although thought to be...
  • Scarlet Letter On Hester
    795 words
    Both Hester and Dimmesdale, are characters in the Scarlet Letter. They suffer with the guilt of the sin of adultery that they committed. At the time, the Puritans looked down on this type of sin. Hester and Dimmesdale can be compared and contrast in the way they handled their scarlet letter, their cowardliness, and their belief of what the afterlife is. Hester and Dimmesdale both bear a scarlet letter but the way they handle it is different. Hester's scarlet letter is a piece of clothing, the "S...
  • Scarlet Letter Abounds With Symbolism
    607 words
    Symbolism works to tie the story's action to the story's theme. It began in the 19th century as a literary and artistic movement that sought to evoke, rather than describe, ideas or feelings through the use of symbolic images. It is also defined as using objects, characters, figures, or colors to represent abstract ideas or concepts. A better understanding of the symbols will greatly help the reader understand the story as a whole. Hawthorne used it in many ways in The Scarlet Letter. First ther...
  • Pearl's Eyes The Scarlet Letter
    1,586 words
    A Character Analysis of the Many Facets of Pearl The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a book of much symbolism. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the book is Pearl, the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Throughout the novel Pearl develops into a dynamic symbol; one that is always changing. In the following essay, I will explore Hawthorne's symbolism of Pearl from birth, age three, and age seven. Also, I will attempt to disprove the ...
  • Pearl To The Scarlet Letter
    2,776 words
    Chapter Five: Hester at Her NeedleSummaryHester is released from prison and finds a cottage in the woods, near the outskirts of the city, to set up her new life. Hawthorne comments on the fact that she does not avail herself of the opportunity to escape to a new life without shame in some other city. He remarks that often people are irresistibly drawn to live near the place where a great has occurred. He further comments that even if that is not the reason, Hester may have been inclined to remai...
  • Novel The Scarlet Letter
    672 words
    Response to The Scarlet Letter 'Confess thy truth and thou shall have eternal rest. ' I be live that is the moral to be taught in this novel of inspirational love, yet a novel of much sorrow. The impossible became possible in The Scarlet Letter, a story set back in the Puritan Times. In this response, I will give my reactions in writing to different aspects of the novel; the, my likes and dislikes, my questions, and my opinion of the harsh Puritan lifestyle. Hester Prynne, the Reverend Dimmesdal...
  • Hester Prynne And The Scarlet Letter
    1,181 words
    The achievement of simplicity in life never occurs because things are not simple, but manifold, being viewed differently, and speaking more than one purpose. Nathaniel Hawthorne journeys to seventeenth century Boston and introduces Hester Prynne as he makes his awareness of this idea evident. Through The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne presents the complexity of lifes components whether they appear as simple as an embroidered letter or as intricate as a life changing circumstance. The focus on sin and...
  • Crucible And The Scarlet Letter
    761 words
    An American Tragedy: Comparing 'The Crucible' and 'The Scarlet Letter " by: Jamie Newlands Two American authors, of two distinctly different time periods had on every similar task, to turn a piece of American History into a believable tragedy. Arthur Miller with The Crucible and Nathaniel Hawthorne with The Scarlet Letter. Perhaps one might wonder which author did a better job in doing so, but with such different pieces of work, this is hardly a question that can be answered. Miller's the Crucib...
  • Burrs On Hester's Scarlet Letter And Hester
    797 words
    Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically cha...
  • Letter As A Major Symbol
    694 words
    scarlet letter as a symbol The Scarlet Letter As a Symbol Often throughout The Scarlet Letter there are symbolic references made. The story deals with a Puritan woman who commits adultery and raises an illegitimate child named Pearl. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses many religious and natural images to symbolize different points. One of the purposes of this symbolism is to show that Puritanism is hypocritical and that their religious viewpoints are against the natural order, which is done b...
  • Scarlet Letter
    769 words
    In the Scarlet Letter, the author uses many different types of symbols. The different settings of the story are ways in which he describes his environment and how it has treated him as a child. One symbol he uses a lot was the scarlet letter. The scarlet letter takes on different meanings as the course of the story progresses. It also takes on various appearances and symbolism. In the Scarlet Letter, there are many different forms of the letter A, not only that, but the letter A also acquires a ...
  • Negative As Hester's Scarlet Letter
    718 words
    Sometimes beauty is found in places as unexpected as a rosebush growing outside of a prison in a puritan colonial village. Pearl Prynne is an unearthly beautiful child with a with spirit born under unimaginably sinful conditions, all of which are somehow related to the ideas, actions, and views of others on Hester's punishment. In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl serves as Hester's living, breathing Scarlet letter. Pearl evokes the same emotion and reactions from the townspeople, ...
  • Crucible And The Scarlet Letter
    905 words
    There are many similarities in The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter. Though similar in many ways, these two pieces of literature greatly contrasted each other. Three important elements, which exemplify this juxtaposition, are theme, setting, and the protagonists. Both The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter contain several examples to further support these three elements. The themes of The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter change throughout the course of each literature piece. One major theme in both o...
  • Hester's Rejection Of The Scarlet Letter
    1,099 words
    "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an allegorical novel filled with a great deal of symbolism that is both veiled and explicit. The scarlet letter "A" on Hester Prynne's chest may seem easy to interpret, but in reality, it is one of the most ambiguous symbols in the book. Furthermore, various characters can construe the scarlet letter differently. As time passes throughout the story, it takes on multiple indications from an extremely deplorable offense to a fully contradictory view....

28 results found, view free essays on page: