The Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

If one is to read Nathaniel Hawthornes novel The Scarlet Letter, they will endlessly remember the remarkable tale of a woman who succeeds against all odds. It extraordinarily describes the life and times of early Puritan colonists in America and the sin of adultery. The caput of morality and its positive and negative effects is at the very core of this story. Is one night of sin worth a lifetime of hardships?I. SummaryHester Prynne, a member of a once affluent and prosperous family, was arranged to marry a physician by the name of Roger Chillingworth. Although not out of cope, they are get married and live successful lives in Amsterdam. When they eventually decide to settle in America, Hester is set on ahead of Roger so that he may finish his craft in Amsterdam. Hester does not hear from her husband for two years, and many people conceive of his being lost at sea. Hester then falls in love with another man and they have a child together. She is found guilty of committing adulte ry and is sentenced to stand holding her child before Boston on a scaffold for three hours. She is interrogated as to who her fellow sinner is, but she remains strong. Many women of the town believe that Hesters penalty is not harsh enough and therefore, she is tag with the letter A upon her chest. She is returned to her prison cell and a doctor is summoned to help calm her. The doctor turns out to be her lost husband, Chillingworth, and he makes Hester promise to never reveal that he is her husband. She does so in return for the secrecy of the name of the man who is the father of her daughter, Pearl. Eventually, Hester settles down with Pearl in a small bungalow and leads a basically normal life as a seamstress. Pearl turns out to be a very peculiar child with a wayward attitude towards life. She is imp-like in appearance and many people believe that she could be a bad influence on their comfortable Puritan town. With hearing let the cat out of the bag that Pearl may be taken a way from her, she goes to the Governor Bellinghams office in order to talk him into letting her keep the child. Bellingham is displeased with Pearls attitude of the church building and Puritanism, and therefore decides to take her away. Just before he does, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale steps in and talks Bellingham out of it.