Nathaniel Hawthorne is an American author who was born in Massachusetts in the year 1804, he is the author of many notable works in literature which includes The House of the seven Gables, Our Old Home and The Scarlet Letter is the masterpiece among them. The Scarlet Letter plot sets in 17th century, throughout the book the author carries the themes of sin, guilt and legalism. The story opens with a nameless narrator found a book which is marked with the scarlet letter 'A' and it contains a collection of events which happens some two hundred years ago. He wishes to produce a novel with the base of those manuscripts results this entire story.
Author: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Century: 17th Century
Theme: Sin, Human condition, Society and Identity
Major Characters: Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl
Plot Summary
In mid of 17th century, Hester Prynne found adultery and leads to the punishment of wearing the scarlet letter 'A' infront of the town Boston. Hester is a young woman whose husband was lost at sea for a long time and now she found the guilt of adultery, helplessly need to take over the punishment. In the gathering of the crowd she found a man and comes to know that he is her lost husband, he is scholar now practicing medicine and renamed himself as Roger Chillingworth. Hester refused to reveal name and the identity of her affair with another man, her husband refused to show his true self to the people but to Hester. Roger gets angry with Hester and confined to make revenge against the child's secret father.
Hester carries the letter 'A' as a symbol of sin and secrecy for several years, she leads her life by working as seamstress in a small cottage of Boston. She named her child as Pearl, she grown up as a willful child due to her circumstance, so the society wants to take away Pearl from her mother. Hester seeks help from the minister Dimmesdale who is suffering from a heart disease. The minister helps Hester to stay along with her daughter, Chillingworth goes suspicious by this act and wants to find out the relationship between the two. One day while Dimmensdale was sleeping, Chillingworth found out the scarlet letter is also marked in the minister's cloth too as his suspicion was correct.
When Pearl was seven years old, Hester found that Dimmensdale was punishing himself for the guilt made by him. Hester pleased him to stop haunting himself and wishes to go away from Boston and live together as a family and they decided to leave by ship and Hester removed her scarlet letter. Chillingworth knows the plan and also booked a ticket in the same ship they going to travel. Eventually due to illness and frustration Dimmensdale reveal the secret of the affair to the Boston people and died. Chillingworth also dies in the very next year of his death.
Hester took her daughter and made a voyage and the people are unaware of their existence. After many years Hester returned to her hometown wears her scarlet letter and resumes her charitable works. Pearl was married to aristocrat and lives as a family. Hester dies and buried near to Dimmensdale grave with the scarlet letter 'A' engraved tombstone.
Quotations:
"One token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another."
"A pure hand needs no glove to cover it."
"But this had been a sin of passion, not of principle, nor even purpose."
"She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom."
"Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart."
Books to Read..
Quotations:
"One token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another."
"A pure hand needs no glove to cover it."
"But this had been a sin of passion, not of principle, nor even purpose."
"She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom."
"Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart."
Books to Read..
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