Proctor tried to protect his wife from this and Hester tried to protect Dimsdale’s name; unfortunately they were both punished for it. John and Hester still have their differences. One difference was how they were punished for their sin. Proctor was condemned to death for his sin and Hester was put on a public scaffold for her sin. Also Hester’s name was known thru the town to have committed adultery.
The Crucible and The Scarlet Letter share many themes that are still present in today’s society, such as the use of public humiliation as a punishment. Because of their sins, both John Proctor and Hester Prynne were alienated and punished by their peers and town leaders. The public humiliation that they faced helped shape the characters in the eyes of the reader and affected the way that they behaved and acted. The most obvious theme contained in both texts is sin. In The Scarlet Letter, the sin that has been committed is adultery where Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale conceive an illegitimate child, a daughter named Pearl.
Because she lived in such a God driven and puritan town, the judicial system of the settlement had decided for her to acknowledge her sin by embroidering a vibrant scarlet letter “A” onto her dress to symbolize adultery. She was often ostracized from the rest of the town since she was forced to wear the crimson “A” everywhere she went. As well as the letter to remind her of the wrong she had done, the affair had left her with a fatherless daughter named Pearl. Later in the novel we discover the father is the Reverend of the town, the admirable Arthur Dimmesdale. Through pain, remorse and agony the novel reveals that it is better to tell a harmless lie then to confess a hurtful truth.
where thou couldst have escaped me, - save on this very scaffold!” Chillingworth reveals his hypocrisy in this instance because he shows that he would rather chase Dimmesdale to the ends of the earth than allow the truth to come out. Certainly another evidence of Chillingworth’s hypocrisy can be seen through his appearances. Directly after Dimmesdale’s death, Hawthorne speaks of Chillingworth as having “positively withered up, shriveled away, and almost vanished from mortal sight.” Kirk says that “Chillingworth has become such a fiend that his very existence depends on Dimmesdale,” this explains the devastating effect the death of Dimmesdale has on
Hypocrisy, the Ungodly Sin Above all others The question of sin is a reoccurring theme in “The Scarlet letter”, where various sins, from Hestor’s adultery, to Dimmesdale’s cowardice, or Chillingworth’s revenge are put on display to be judged by the Puritan society, and also by the reader. In his novel, Hawthorne uses these smaller sins to display a deeper sin; the sin of Puritan hypocrisy. From the beginning of the book Hawthorne ridicules the Puritan society. As one of the first buildings in their new town, the Puritans build a prison. For a culture that is based strictly on the bible that teaches forgiveness, strangely the Puritans are quick to punish, and Hestor also becomes a victim of this.
As .... (688 3 ) Comparison Of Peale Family Painting And Freake Painting .... During the Puritan times, Children were viewed as essentially evil beings, condemned by the original sin of Adam and Eve, however, during the period of .... (779 3 ) The Scarlet Letter- Puritanism .... that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts. By cleverly inserting examples of the Puritan times, his opinions permeate throughout the novel. (548 2 ) Puritans are Contradictory .... "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. " (Gen 1:27) In Puritan times, the dominating .... (978 4 ) 8.) What characterized puritan religion and government?
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the colors red, black, and others to represent Hester’s emotions and the emotions of those around her. The most frequently employed color symbol by Hawthorne is Red. It represents many different unique things in the novel. Hester’s sin is judged by sin, not by actions. The red letter “A” that Hester was forced to wear on her chest for committing adultery was a major symbol.
Their sin not only affects their own lives, but the lives of Hester’s child, Pearl, and husband Roger Chillingworth. It was discovered that Hester had been with another man when she became pregnant in the absence of her husband. She was put in jail and eventually sentenced to hours on the scaffold and a lifetime of wearing the scarlet letter to remind her of her sin. On the scaffold, Hester, feels cut off from everyone else in the community and is given time to think about her life. At first she tries to hide the scarlet letter but she soon realizes that she can hide it all she wants but the pain will always be in her heart(Hawthorne 2.6).
In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne, the protagonist of the novel Hester Prynne finds herself making critical decisions. It is said that the choice’s one makes defines our character. The beautiful and spirited Hester Prynne is misled by temptation and commits adultery. The community condemns Hester by forcing her to wear a letter “A” for adulterer, and they publicly shame her. The Puritans frown upon Hester and Pearl, the product of Hester’s sin.
Shame In the romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne seems to suggest through the character of Arthur Dimmesdale that guilt can be both good and bad. I agree with Nathaniel Hawthorne on this topic. Some examples of guilt of being bad in the story are when Dimmesdale inflicts painful punishments upon himself. Dimmesdale’s guilt ate him away and he eventually died from it. But some other examples of guilt being good is that it made Arthur Dimmesdale became a better minister.