Scarlet

A detailed Summary of Scarlet

Nathaniel Hawthorne felt that the Puritans were people who believed that the world was a

place where the battle between good and evil was a never-ending one. Throughout the

novel, Hawthorne uses the symbols of light and dark to depict this battle among the

characters Hester Prynne, Pearl, and Roger Chillingworth.

After Hester commits her sin, her beauty almost immediately vanishes into

darkness. Her hair no longer hangs freely about her face, instead she ties it up in a bonnet.

Hester is not perceived as an evil person, but her sin makes her "light" hide away. The sun

is used as a descriptor of the goodness or pure nature of character. Because of her sin and

the scarlet letter, Hester is no longer pure, therefore she is not seen in the sun. Hawthorne

states, "It was only the darkened house that could contain her. When sunshine came again,

she was not there." While on a walk to the forest, Pearl, Hester's daughter states, "...the

sunshine does not love you. it runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something

on your bosom." This is evidence that the scarlet letter itself may be the cause of Hester's

Pearl is the character most recognized for her presence in the sun. While at the

created or interpreted in the novel.

"Ye that have wronged me not sinful, save in a kind of typical illusion, neither am I fiend

about Hester Prynne. The first instance when she is kind is at the beginning when Hester is

sermon yet on Election Day, Dimmesdale walks out of the church to meet the growing

says,"...let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart." (p.

pities him, "...for the hatred that has transformed a wise and just man to a fiend." (p. 159)

Puritans' confused stares. Arthur rips open his shirt and releases the sin that made him his

clothes, is extremely smart, pretty, and nice. More often than not, she shows her

Approximate Word count = 2129
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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