Analysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter Essay

Women or Men, is there really a double standard? The inequality between men and women was even more prominent and obvious during the antebellum era. In The Scarlet Letter By Nathanial Hawthorne there was Hester Prynne and in The Two Offers By Frances Ellen Watkins Harper, there was Janette Alston. Both of these women, rose above the rest, through adversity, hardship, and against all odds still came out on top, even during a time period that didn’t appreciate a strong woman. In â€Å"The Scarlet Letter†, Hester Prynne, was thrown in jail and forced to wear a symbol of her sin and lived on the outskirts of society for most of her life after, but even through all that she did not break or run away she became stronger and it became a part of her identity. In The Two Offers, Janette Alston is not necessarily the main focus of the story but was a wonderful symbol during that time period. She becomes very famous for her spirit, where as her sister does the opposite and gets ma rried and tries to have children but passes away and instead of Janette, breaking down because of this, she becomes stronger in the face of adversity and inevitably becomes an Old Maid. These are just a few of the many examples of what our characters go through and how harshly our society judge’s women versus men, it is as if they are held to higher standards, and Hawthorne and Harper create a vivid picture of what many women experienced during the beginning of the 19th century. During the 19th century women wereShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 2314 Words   |  10 PagesKatya Flaska American Literature Period 5 10 August 2014 The Scarlet Letter Book Analysis 1. The book is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The genre of the novel is historical fiction. 2. The preamble describes how the book came to be written. The narrator was a surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, where he discovered documents he used to write the story. He uncovered a manuscript with a scarlet â€Å"A†, which contained the events recorded by a previous surveyor in the 1600s. When the narratorRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1120 Words   |  5 Pages From the very first chapter, the Scarlet Letter guides readers on a journey that explores the darkness of the human heart and redemption from sin. It is in the Massachusetts Bay Colony that we introduced to a trio of characters interconnected by their sins: an adulteress, a minister and a physician. The adulteress is a woman named Hester Prynne who, as punishment for her transgressions, must wear a scarlet A on chest and is shunned by her community. Yet, Hester s eventual acceptance of herRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1141 Words   |  5 PagesBlake Allison P#1 AP NOVEL FORM 1. Title: The Scarlet Letter 2. Author and date of first publication: Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1850 3. List four main characters with a one-sentence description of each. a. Hester Prynne- Hester Prynne, the protagonist and wearer of the scarlet letter, is a very independent, loving, intelligent, and at times depressed woman who is the mother of Pearl. b. Arthur Dimmesdale- Arthur Dimmesdale, the father of Pearl, is a reverend in town who is greatly honored forRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1563 Words   |  7 PagesReading The Scarlet Letter again, I imagine Hester Prynne as she steps out of the Boston jail. She carries her out-of-wedlock baby in her arms but does not hide the A she wears on her breast. Her crime, though it will never be named in the book by more than an initial, is placed on exhibition. Yet she has converted the letter into her own statement by fantastic flourishes of gold embroidery. She is a mystery beyond the reach not only of her fellow Bostonians but also of the readerRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1628 Words   |  7 PagesThe book, The Scarlet Letter, is about the struggle three people face while trying to live their lives and find happiness. In the early 1640s, Hester has come to the small town of Boston, Massachusetts, while her husband, Chillingworth, w as back in Great Britain. Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale, the town s priest, engage in the act of adultery and have a baby girl named Pearl, though only Hester knows that Dimmesdale is the father. She has promised Dimmesdale not to give up his identity. HesterRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1404 Words   |  6 Pageswhere the scarlet letter, A, is an extended metaphor that symbolizes a multitude of things: adultery, sin, charity, righteousness, grace, and the danger of merely thinking symbolically. It also compares and contrasts the current states of Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Arthur Chillingworth. With this, it has a logical progression to the book’s ultimate conclusion. This section can be done in a bulleted format with brief (2-3 sentences) summaries by chapter if that works for the book. Chapter 1:Read MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1143 Words   |  5 PagesIn the book,The Scarlet Letter, there are many questions that grab the reader’s attention. One of the most intriguing and thought ­provoking question is, â€Å"Is Hester Prynne a good mother and should she be allowed to keep Pearl?† This question does not have a simple yes or no answer, the reader must take into account many things the author mentions in the book. However, after careful consideration, one might find that Hester is not, in fact, a good mother, but should be allowed to keep Pearl. ThereRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1184 Words   |  5 PagesAs I began my summer reading assignment I wasn’t too amused at the beginning chapters of the â€Å"Scarlet Letter,† With Hawthorne throwing around words like â€Å"quietude† I wasn’t sure if it was truly the difference in his old English speech, or if he was tossing in obscure words just to send people looking through their dictionaries to find out if he had, in fact, made the word up, or not. But, as I delved deeper into Hawthorn’s work I found a brilliant story with some of the richest charactersRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 2029 Words   |  9 PagesThe Evolution of the A in The Scarlet Letter â€Å"So, in the course of the novel, the ‘A’ seems to encompass the entire range of human beingness, from the earthly and passionate ‘adulteress’ to the pure and spiritual ‘angel,’ taking into account everything in between,† begins Claudia Durst Johnson (128). Many believe the A in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter possesses only one meaning - adulterer; however, Hawthorne imbues the symbolic letter with diverse definitions. In the novel, HawthorneRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1961 Words   |  8 PagesVital to the â€Å"A† The Scarlet Letter is a book complete of secrets and deceptions. The book teaches you about the difference about telling the truth or keeping it a secret. It shows you the challenges of both telling the truth and keeping a secret from everyone. There are many vital scenes throughout the book. With many of the scenes, if they weren’t in the book it would have had a completely different ending. The Scarlet Letter is a book full of eventful scenes that keep the book both exciting and interesting