Synopsis and Summary of the Scarlet Letter
Uploaded by srheric on Apr 23, 2007
Synopsis and Summary of the Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the mid 19th century is considered “the first great American novel and Hawthorne’s best work”(Thompson 312) The setting of the novel was in Boston in the 17th century, when Puritanism was in full effect. The author of the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne, changed his name from Hathorne to Hawthorne because he was ashamed that he was in direct line of decent of Judge Hathorne who had been one of the persecutors in the Salem witch trials. It was said by Keith Nelson, a writing critic, that Hawthorne’s style of writing is contemporary, yet still old fashioned. It is contemporary because Hawthorne was fascinated by the truth, but the truth was not always recognizable. The way in which it is still old fashioned is that he wrote in moral allegory. In this style of writing, the author assigns a value to a particular character. It has a hidden meaning and is used to present a universal lesson. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl all take on specific values which we can learn from.
Hester Prynne takes on a role of dignity. She implies restraint in conduct prompted less by obedience to the theocracy she was under, but by a sense of personal integrity. We first find her walking through the townspeople with her baby in her arm up towards the scaffold because her punishment for committing adultery was to wear the “scarlet letter” for life and stand on the scaffold for three hours to make her feel ashamed. Instead of looking down and trying to cover the scarlet letter embroided on her bosom “she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and a haughty smile, and a glance around ….repaid them all with a bitter and disdainful smile.” She also displays another sense of irony because she decorated her scarlet letter with “fantastic flourishes of gold-thread.” Under normal circumstances, one would have no held their head high and meticulously beautified their mark which reveals that they have sinned. Hester has an inner strength to defy both the townspeople and the local government when she confronts Governor Bellingham on the issue of Pearl’s guardianship. She defiantly pleads, “God gave her into my keeping. I will not give her up … I will die first.” As the novel progresses even the...