![]() ![]() However, Hester has already recognized him in her time on the scaffold as her husband in disguise. He is a doctor named Roger Chillingworth. She refuses.Īn elderly onlooker in the crowd is later called to visit Hester in prison in chapter four. In chapter three, Hester is standing before the town on the scaffold and is confronted by the town fathers, who demand that she reveal the name of her child’s father. People assumed he was lost at sea on the journey. Hester arrived in Boston ahead of her husband, who was supposed to follow her there but never arrived. She is being punished for adultery by having to stand on scaffolding to be mocked by the townspeople for three hours and continuing to wear the “A” on her clothes from then on. The novel’s action opens in 17th century Boston as a young woman emerges from a prison building holding an infant and wearing a scarlet “A” on her chest. One day, he discovers a manuscript covered in a scarlet piece of cloth embroidered with gold in the shape of an “A.” Written by a past surveyor about two hundred years prior, the narrator is inspired to write a fictional account of the manuscript. The narrator works as the surveyor, or CEO, of this customhouse. The introduction of the book sees the nameless narrator taking a job at the Salem Custom House (where taxes are paid on foreign imports). The Scarlet Letter Book Summary, Plot Outline The novel begs the question-is how we react to these issues ever really different, even after all these years of human development? At our core, have we really changed? This timeless exploration of the human condition earned The Scarlet Letter an unmoving place in the English literary canon, and the novel continues to be studied to this day. are all emotions that are born of great pressure. The problems that these individuals face are problems that humankind in general repeatedly faces-betrayal, revenge, jealousy, fear, sadness, etc. ![]() The way people react to change, fear, distress, etc. In this novel, Hawthorne has used Puritan culture as a symbol for humankind in general when under extreme pressure. Both she and her daughter suffer greatly for that as social outcasts for much of Hester’s daughter, Pearl’s, childhood years. When Hester gives birth to a daughter even though her husband has disappeared, she is outcast as being a sinner and a woman who consorts with the devil. A deeply superstitious and religious group of people, the Puritans had exceptionally low tolerance for deviance from social norms. This novel serves as a historical context for Puritan culture in New England. Literary Significance of the Scarlet Letter Major Symbols: The letter the town scaffold the meteor Pearl the rosebushĬlimax: A meteor traces an “A” in the sky and Dimmesdale confronts his role in the sin Hester is being punished for. Plot: Past-tense chronological told by an unnamed narrator. Enraged, the community forces her to wear the letter “A” on her clothes, standing for “adulterer.” The Scarlet Letter, as a result, is a fictional retelling of the manuscript.Ĭonflict: When Hester Prynne’s husband mysteriously fails to meet her in Boston after their emigration from Europe, she has an affair and gives birth to a child. The manuscript was written by a past surveyor telling events that happened two hundred years prior to the narrator’s time. Motifs: Civilization and wilderness night and day namesĮxposition: A preamble relayed by a nameless narrator recounts the discovery of a manuscript found in a customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts of which he was the surveyor. Major Thematic Elements: The human experience of sin society and personal identity the presentation of evil ![]()
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