The Scarlet Letter

1. Author and works

The Scarlet Letter is considered to be the American author Nathaniel Hawthorne's
masterwork. Born in Massachusetts, this is probably the reason the action of the book takes place
there. His other well known works include The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale
Romance and Twice-Told Tales.

2. Plot, setting, characters

This romance is an 1850 fiction set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, Massachusetts, during
the years 1642 to 1649. First and foremost, the novel starts with the scene of Hester Prynne, the
story's protagonist, who is at the customs, which symbolizes the fact that she has to cross a border
in order to be accepted by the scoiety. She is a young married woman whose husband was presumed
to have been lost at sea on the journey to the New World. Hester begins a secret adulterous
relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, the highly regarded town minister, and becomes pregnant
with a daughter, whom she names Pearl. She is then publicly vilified and forced to wear the scarlet
letter 'A' on her clothing to identify her as an adulteress, but loyally refuses to reveal the identity of
her lover. She accepts the punishment with grace and refuses to be defeated by the shame inflicted
upon her by her society.

3. Themes
• Identity
a) Hester Prynne
- fixed name: Hester
- name by marriage: Prynne
- appearance: beautiful, young
- family: one girl, Pearl
This theme can be easily observed due to the fact that the Puritans force Hester to wear the
scarlet letter A as a symbol for her sin, so that her identity is associated with her actions. On the
other hand, she is never required to remain in Boston. Hester’s behavior is premised on her desire
to determine her own identity rather than to allow others to determine it for her. To her, running
away or removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power over her: she would
be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and something from which she desires to escape.
Instead, Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet letter as a symbol of her own experiences and character.
Her past sin is a part of who she is; to pretend that it never happened would mean denying a part of
herself. Thus, Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into her life.

b) Arthur Dimmesdale
- name: fixed
- professional: minister, town leader
- family: Pearl's father
Dimmesdale represents society’s ideal individual. He’s a minister, and is supposedly holy.
However, he defies society’s standards and becomes what he preaches against, a sinner.
Dimmesdale also faces the difficulty of dealing with the guilt, which takes a physical toll on his
body as he is unsure who he is and how he fits in society since he has sinned. At one point,
Dimmesdale becomes so overcome with grief he stands on the scaffold where Hester received her
punishment and cries out in pain against his will. He begins harming himself in an attempt for
redemption.

c) Roger Chillingworth
 - name: firstly, by marriage, then he changed it in order not to be associated with Hester
- profession: doctor
- appearance: in contrst with Hester and Dimmesdale, ugly and old
- family: Hester's former husband
In society, Chillingworth was well received because was a doctor who seems willing to
improve Puritans' health conditions. In reality, Chillingworth was a cold and evil man who was
spending the remainder of his life enacting revenge. While the town thinks of him as goodhearted
and kind, he has many instances where he is comparable to Satan. Not only does he discover a mark
that etched Dimmesdale's chest, but he also pretends to take care for Dimmesdale, providing him
with herbs that never once helped cure him.

• Betrayal
There are two main examples of betrayal in the story and Hester is at first the one who
commits the sin, but later, she and Pearl are those betrayed.
To begin with she has an adultress with Dimmesdale, and this is why she receives the letter
A, as a response to the community’s system of judgment and punishment. The child has been sent
from God, or at least from nature, but the letter is merely a human contrivance.
In addition to this, even though Hester did not betrayed her lover when she was asked who
was the father of her child at the scaffold, under no circumstances does he take a stand. A a result,
the woman has to endure the society's punishment alone.

• Sin
The Puritan elders insist on seeing earthly experience as merely an obstacle on the path to
heaven. Thus, they view sin as a threat to the community that should be punished and suppressed.
However, Hester and Dimmesdale’s experience shows that a state of sinfulness can lead to personal
growth, sympathy, and understanding of others. A good example would be the scene when the man
tried punished himself for the adulteress after he admitted what he had done. Paradoxically, these
qualities are shown to be incompatible with a state of purity. I assume this beacause of the Pearl's
refusal to kiss her father unless he admits that she was her daughter. As her name suggests, she is
the symbol of purity and innocence.

• Revenge
When Chillingworth found out that his former wife had a relationship, he became willing to
take revenge. This is why he threatened Hester that he would reveal her lover's identity. Moreover,
he did observe Dimmesdale's inner conflicts and eventually found out that it was him the one his
former wife had a relationship with, after he moved in the same house with the man. His desire to
take revenge is to strong that a year after Dimmesdale had passed away, he also dies, because he
had no one to punish anymore.

V. Differences between film and book

FilmBooknarrated by Pearlunknown narrator, who found the story of the letter in the custom house,
and is telling the audience the storywe see Dimmesdale and Hester met, fall in love, and commit
their affair.we do not see the relationship between Dimmesdale and Hester unfold; it all occurs
before the novel begins. When we first meet Hester, she has already had Pearl and is being
punishedAt the end, Mistress Hibbins (who has become good friends with Hester) is charged as
being a witch and Dimmesdale and Hester are able to escape together and run away to
CharlestonHester and Hibbins are not friends and since Dimmesdale dies after his Election Day

Sermon, they do not run away and live Happily Ever After. ASTA O SA FIE UN
TABEL
 VI.Conclusion
All thing considered, the themes of identity, sin, betrayal and revenge are of uttmost
importance in this story. Although written almost 150 years ago, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet
Letter contains concepts and insights relevant to contemporary readers. The themes of alienation
and breaking society’s rules are ones to which many teenagers can readily relate.