What is The Scarlet Letter about summary?

What is The Scarlet Letter about summary?

Set in the Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter with a man to whom she is not married and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.

What is the main message of The Scarlet Letter?

In The Scarlet Letter, the idea of sin and punishment is the main theme of the novel and how Hester Prynne, the main character, has been punished for her sin of adultery.

How does the meaning of the a change in The Scarlet Letter?

The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes. Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulterer, the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able.” Finally, it becomes indeterminate: the Native Americans who come to watch the Election Day pageant think it marks her as a person of importance and status.

What is chapter 22 of The Scarlet Letter about?

As Pearl questions Mistress Hibbins about what the minister hides, the witch tells Hester that she knows the minister also has a hidden sin comparable to Hester’s scarlet token. When pressed about how she knows this, Mistress Hibbins explains that intuitively recognizing a fellow sinner is not difficult.

What is the ending of scarlet letter?

Chillingworth, consumed by his revenge, shrivels up and vanishes. He leaves Pearl great wealth in his will, and she and her mother disappear, presumably to Europe. After their departure, the legend of the scarlet letter grows. Finally, one day Hester returns alone and inhabits once again the little cottage.

What is the main conflict in The Scarlet Letter?

Much of the conflict in The Scarlet Letter stems from the sin that Hester and Dimmesdale commit in their Puritan society, and how they have to learn to live in that community with their guilt, and their sin.

What lesson does The Scarlet Letter teach?

The story also teaches other important life lessons—that morality is not determined by society and that seeking revenge harms you more than it does your enemy.

What are two themes in The Scarlet Letter?

The Scarlet Letter Themes. ‘Theme’ is a universal idea presented in a literary piece of work. Themes in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne include criticism of Puritan beliefs regarding sin, individual and society, social norms and sense of guilt.

How does Hester change over time in the novel and how does she change in the eyes of the society around her?

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, protagonist Hester Prynne changes from a passionate mother to a colder, austere skeptic of the Puritan society around her. The Puritans’ responsibility for Hester’s change conveys how passion cannot exist in Puritan society.

What does The Scarlet Letter mean at the end of the book?

In the end, the scarlet letter still symbolized her old identity and past that will always be there, but won’t take over who she is. Throughout the novel, the symbolism of the scarlet letter changes with Hesters actions and events. In the beginning of the novel it symbolized adultery, which was the crime she committed.

What happens in chapter 23 of the scarlet letter?

Summary: Chapter 23: The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter Turning toward the scaffold, he calls to Hester and Pearl to join him. Deaf to Chillingworth’s attempt to stop him, Dimmesdale mounts the scaffold with Hester and Pearl. He declares that God has led him there.

What happens in chapter 20 of the scarlet letter?

Summary: Chapter 20: The Minister in a Maze Through her charity work, Hester has become acquainted with the crew of a ship that is to depart for England in four days, and the couple plans to secure passage on this vessel. Tempted to announce to all he sees, “I am not the man for whom you take me!

Who dies at the end of The Scarlet Letter?

At the end of the novel, Dimmesdale makes a speech and exposes his chest to the community gathered around the scaffold, then dies.

What happened to Hester at the end of the story?

Many years later, Hester returns alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resume her charitable work. She receives occasional letters from Pearl, who has married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Dimmesdale.

What happens in the end of The Scarlet Letter?

In the end, Chillingworth is morally degraded by his monomaniacal pursuit of revenge. Dimmesdale is broken by his own sense of guilt, and he publicly confesses his adultery before dying in Hester’s arms. Only Hester can face the future bravely, as she prepares to begin a new life with her daughter, Pearl, in Europe.

What is the climax of The Scarlet Letter?

The climax of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter ties together the stories of Roger Chillingworth and his revenge, Hester Prynne and her lover, and of Arthur Dimmesdale and his guilt. As he climbs upon the scaffold and publicly admits his guilt, Arthur Dimmesdale robs Roger Chillingworth of his revenge.

What view of life does The Scarlet Letter present?

The Scarlet Letter is written from an omniscient third-person perspective in which the narrator describes the thoughts and feeling of the main characters as well as the general sentiments of the townspeople, which shows how the characters function in their larger community.

Why is The Scarlet Letter important today?

Social Media. Another example of ways in which The Scarlet Letter plays out in modern day times is through public shaming on social media. The Scarlet Letter portrays a woman who refused to conform when it came to the issue of her sexuality. In many ways, it can be considered a feminist story.

What is a good thesis statement for The Scarlet Letter?

Thesis Statement – (compound) Complex sentence structure – Through The Scarlet Letter, the main characters are faced with exposed and hidden sin, and even though those who do not reveal their sin will be the only one who know the truth, they will live through life unhappy and unfulfilled while those who reveal their …

How does Hester change throughout the story?

While Dimmesdale dies after his public confession and Chillingworth dies consumed by his own hatred and revenge, Hester lives on, quietly, and becomes something of a legend in the colony of Boston. The scarlet letter made her what she became, and, in the end, she grew stronger and more at peace through her suffering.