Can actions
change what
a person
believes?
Character:
Dimmesdale
Character:
Hester
Quote 1:
“Much of the time, which
she might readily have
applied to the better
efforts of her art, she
employed in making
coarse garments for the
poor.”
(Chapter 5, Page 130)
Quote 1:
"ye , that have loved me!-ye, that have
deemed me holy!-behold me here, the
one sinner of the world! At last!-at last!I stand upon the spot where, seven
years since, I should have stood; here,
with this woman, whose arm, more
than the little strength wherewith I have
crept hitherward, sustains me, at this
dreadful moment, from grovelling down
upon me face!
(Chapter 23, Page 402)
Quote 2:
"for, believe me, Hester, though
he were to step down from a high
place, and stand there beside
thee, on thy pedestal of shame,
yet better were it so, than to hide
a guilty heart through life. What
can thy silence do for him, except
it tempt him,-yea compel him, as
it were-to add hypocrisy to sin?"
(Chapter 3, Page 106)
Quote 3:
“He thus typed the
constant introspection
wherewith he tortured,
but could not purify
himself.”
(Chapter 11, Page 226)
Quote 2:
“Now Pearl knew well enough who
made her; for Hester Prynne, the
daughter of a pious home, very soon
after her talk with the child about her
Heavenly Father, had begun to inform
her of those truths which the human
spirit, at whatever stage of immaturity,
imbibes with such eager interest.
Pearl, therefore, so large were the
attainments of her three years' lifetime
have borne a fair examination in the
New England Primer”
(Chapter 8, Page 172)
Quote 3:
“'Goodwives ,' said a hard-featured dame of
fifty, 'I'll tell ye a piece of my mind. It would
be greatly for the public behoof, if we
women, being of mature age and churchmembers in good repute, should have the
handling of such malefactress as this
Hester Prynne. What think ye, gossips? If
the hussy stood up for judgement before us
five, that are now here in a knot together,
would she come off with such a sentence
as the worshipful magistrates have
awarded? Marry, I trow not!'”
(Chapter 2, Page 78)
Summary:
These quotes show how
the townspeople think of
her but reveals what she
actually does. The second
quote says that Hester
has well educated her
daughter leaving her to be
a suitable mother, and the
first quote shows how she
sacrifices her time to make
clothing for the poor.
Summary:
This is shows the different effects
of Dimmesdale throughout the
story. This shows how he didn't
stand up for himself when the
governor asked who the father
was of Pearl, but then he
punished himself to help feel
purified, finally at the end of the
story he confesses to the town of
his actions of sleeping with a
married woman.
Setting:
Scaffold
Quote 1:
"There can be no outrage, methinks,
against our common nature-whatever be
the delinquencies of the individual,-no
outrage more fragrant than to forbid the
culprit to hide his face for shame; as it
was the essence of this punishment to
do. In Hester Prynne's instance, however,
as not unfrequently in other cases, her
sentence bore, that she should stand a
certain time upon the platform"
(Chapter 2, Page 86)
Quote 2:
“'Then, and there, before the
judgement-seat, thy mother,
and thou, and I, must stand
together! But the daylight of
this world shall not see our
meeting!'”
(Chapter 12, Page 240)
Quote 3:
“'Hadst thou sought the whole
earth over,' said he, looking
darkly at the clergyman, 'there
was no one place so secret,no high place nor lowly place,
where thou couldst have
escaped me,-save on this very
scaffold!'”
(Chapter 23, Page 400)
Summary:
The Scaffold was
meant to a place for
punishment for those
who committed a sin or
a crime. But really, the
scaffold showed the
positive, happier
moments in the book,
like uniting Hester
Pearl, and
Dimmesdale as a
family.
Through the entire storyline of The Scarlet Letter the actions of the characters, they changed the meaning of what was wrong, and made what
was right. The setting of the Scaffold is a place to crush people's souls, a place of pain and torture to be upon. Through the actions of Hester,
Pearl, and Dimmesdale, they made memorable experiences out on the scaffold to each other, and throughout the town. Yet these experiences
were not negative live they should be, but and uplift to each other. Hester Prynne was considered the ultimate sinner of the entire town. She
was thought of as a hussy and unworthy for bringing in satins child to the world by committing an affair, which is a sin and against the town's
rules. But through the actions of how she raised Pearl, showing how suitable of a mother and person she is; and making clothes for the poor,
by her own freewill, proves how warmhearted and how worthy she is of a person. Dimmesdale preaches to the townspeople and is judged as
the saint of the town, but little do they know of his secret affair with Hester Prynne. If they knew about what happened between them then his
career and life would be ruined. After the governor calls to the town of who the father of Pearl is he does not answer him making him a coward.
By punishing himself, it brings him closer to purity, but is never fully satisfied. At the end of the story he confesses of his sins, leaving the
townspeople questioning who Dimmesdale really is and what they should trust. The Scarlet Letter, worn by Hester Prynne, is a symbol of
shame and sin. By her wearing it, it is suppose to bring her great guilt, and it works. The townspeople do agree with what the original meaning
of the Scarlet Letter, but it all changes through Hester's actions of good in the town, making the town believe that the A stands for Able.
Hawthorne's literature has lead me to believe that who a person is can be changed through their actions amongst others, leading people to
change their mind of their original thought.
Created using Inspiration® 9 by Inspiration Software®, Inc.
Symbolism:
The Scarlet Letter
Quote 1
“Children, too young to comprehend
wherefore this woman should be shut
out from the sphere of needle t the
cottage-window, or standing in the
door-way, or laboring in her little
garden, or coming forth along the
pathway that led townward ; and,
discerning the scarlet letter on her
breast, would scamper off, with a
strange, contagious fear.”
(Chapter 5, Page 126)
Quote 2:
“'Woman, it is thy badge of shame!'
replied the stern magistrate. 'It is
because of the stain which that
letter indicates, that we would
transfer thy child to other hands.'”
(Chapter 8, Page 172)
Quote 3:
“The letter was the symbol of her
calling. Such helpfulness was
found in her,-so much power to do,
and power to sympathize,-that
many people refused to interpret
the scarlet A by its original
signification. They said that it
meant Able; so strong was Hester
Prynne, with a woman's strength.”
(Chapter 13, Page 254)
Summary:
The symbol of the
Scarlet Letter was the
punishment and
badge of shame.
Through Hester's
actions of wearing it
proudly and doing
good deeds
throughout the town,
she turned around the
meaning of the Scarlet
Letter and made it a
positive symbol for her
to wear.