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

The scarlet letter book