The Scarlet Letter Essay Topics
Below I have given you several essay topics on The Scarlet Letter. Choose one and
compose an essay in response to the questions it raises. The essay should be 3-5
pages in length, should be carefully proofread, and should follow the guidelines defined
by MLA. Due Monday, October 14, 2013, at the beginning of class.
1. Explain how The Scarlet Letter may be read as a “psychological novel.” You may
want to focus on the psychological nature of one or two characters, or you may
want to trace a particular aspect of psychology across a number of characters.
You should familiarize yourself with at least some basic concepts of psychology
(repression, the unconscious, etc.) and the appropriate terms used to describe
them.
2. Do you consider Hester to be a strong female character? Or, to put it in another
way, is The Scarlet Letter a feminist novel? You will need to provide, first, your
own definition of the term “feminist” before you move on to your argument about
the topic.
3. What is the significance of nature in The Scarlet Letter? What are some of the
ways in which Hawthorne use aspects of nature or natural settings in the novel,
and what do you make of these representations?
4. What do you make of Hawthorne’s character Pearl? Although she at first appears
to be a secondary character in the novel, Pearl figures significantly into many of
the novel’s key narrative events. How do Pearl’s actions represent her distinct
identity? What is Pearl’s significance in the novel as a whole (and do not forget to
consider what happens to Pearl at the conclusion of the narrative)?
5. The novel makes extensive use of symbols. Discuss the difference between the
Puritans’’ use of symbols (the meteor, for example) and the way that the narrator
makes use of symbols. Do both have religious implications? Do symbols
foreshadow events or simply comment on them after the fact? How do they help
the characters understand their lives, and how do they help the reader
understand Hawthorne’s book?
6. Children play a variety of roles in this novel. Pearl is both a blessing and a curse
to Hester, and she seems at times to serve as Hester’s conscience. The town
children, on the other hand, are cruel and brutally honest about their opinion of
Hester and Pearl. Why are children presented as more perceptive and more
honest than adults? How do children differ from adults in their potential for
expressing these perceptions?