The Scarlet Letter Project

1. The Scarlet Letter Project Based on the book The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne George Dudich Period A-B

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne On July 4, 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning in the town of Salem, Massachusetts. He was the only boy out of he and his two siblings. Nathaniel’s father passed away at sea in 1816, so he his, mother, and his two sisters, went to live with his mother’s family, the Mannings, who also lived in Salem. Nathaniel attended Bowdoin College, against his will, because his Uncle Robert Manning insisted that he did. In Nathaniel’s early twenties, he added a “w” to his last name to hid the fact that he was related to the only judge in the Salem witch trials, which dealt with people accused of witch craft, who never apologized for his actions. Hawthorne’s first job out of college was as the editor of the American Magazine of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge in 1836. Hawthorne joined the transcendentalist Utopian community at Brook Farm in 1941 so he could earn enough money to marry his lover, Sophia Peabody. The two had three children together; two girls, Una and rose, and one boy, Julian. When Hawthorne was appointed as the Surveyor for the District of Salem and Beverly and Inspector of the Revenue for the Port of Salem in 1846, he had difficulties writing, he admitted. In 1848, Hawthorne’s mother passed away. He described it as “the darkest hour I have ever lived.” Hawthorne’s return to writing came in 1850, when he published The Scarlet Letter. It became a best seller almost instantly in the United States. Hawthorne wrote many other novels and short stories including the novel The House of the Seven Gables which poetic critic James Russell Lowell described as "the most valuable contribution to New England history that has been made.”. He even considered it to be better than Hawthorne’s best selling book The Scarlet Letter. Sadly, on May 19, 1864, Hawthorne died in his sleep, in Plymouth, New Hampshire while visiting the White Mountains located in Mount Washington. Edgar Allan Poe was a fan of Hawthorne saying, “The style of Hawthorne is purity itself. His tone is singularly effective—wild, plaintive, thoughtful, and in full accordance with his themes... We look upon him as one of the few men of indisputable genius to whom our country has as yet given birth.” Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is frequently read by students all of the United States. He has made on impact on the world of writing, and is truly missed. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne

3. Character Profile: Hester Prynne Adultery was considered a mortal sin back in the 17th century; Hester Prynne committed this sin. Hester was married to a man named Roger Chillingworth, who she lived with in London, England for a while. Her husband, Roger, supposedly had “business” to attend to, so he had Hester move to Massachusetts. Hester lived there by herself for quite some time. This is where she committed the sin of adultery. Hester is described on page 50 as a woman who is very attractive “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes.” While in Massachusetts, she met Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who also found her to be very attractive. The two had an affair which led to the impregnation of Hester. Hester claimed she never had real feelings for her husband as she stated on page 69. She was arrested for her crime and was forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” for “Adultery” on her chest so everyone would know what she had done. Many judged and shunned Hester for her wrongdoings.

4. Character Profile: Continued Luckily, Hester was a very independent woman. She and her daughter, Pearl, lived on the outskirts of town for seven years. Despite the peoples actions towards her, she never lost her pride. She wore her “A” with dignity. Hester never did reveal the fact that Dimmesdale was the father. He himself revealed this, as this guilt ate him alive and finally drove him into his death. Hester moved over seas for a while, but returned later on. When she returned she was no longer looked at as a criminal. Instead, people admired her for the way she acted during her situation. Many people began coming to her for advice and help. She was now admired. “And, as Hester Prynne had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Women, more especially,- in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion,- or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought,- came to Hester’s cottage, demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy! Hester comforted and counseled them the best she might.” [Page 234] The shame bearing the scarlet letter disappeared. It was worn with pride the rest of her life. The way she dealt with the circumstances defines her character. And for her character, she was looked up to.

5. Conflict Analysis: Arthur Dimmesdale Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale lived with the fact that a young woman, Hester Prynne, whom he had committed adultery with, was taking all of the blame for her crime. She had not revealed the fact that it was he who was her child’s father. The guilt of this ate away at Arthur over the years. He suffered substantially mentally and his physical health would soon diminish as well. Hester wanted to reveal that he was the father, but also did not want to because of the fear of other people’s reaction. The guilt he felt on the inside made his sermons very powerful as he let out all of his pain in them. This caused him to become very liked by people. Page 28 states “While thus suffering under bodily disease, and gnawed and tortured by some black trouble of the soul, and given over to machinations of the deadliest enemy, the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale had achieved a brilliant popularity in his office.” Dimmesdale finally did reveal himself as the father of Pearl and as an adulterer. After giving yet another powerful sermon, Dimmesdale ripped off his shirt, which then revealed a scarlet letter “A” just as Hester wears. Dimmesdale then collapses and dies. The father of Hester’s child, Pearl, was finally revealed.

6. Theme Sinning. Nobody can say they have never sinned before. Many people sin a daily basis. Sins come in all sizes. Perhaps you committed a rather small sin lately, such as lying to your parents about doing your homework. Or maybe your sin was much larger. Every action has a reaction. This means for every decision you make, there is a consequence. It may be a good consequence, or it may be a bad consequence. It all depends on whether you made the right decision or not. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne just so happened to make the wrong decision. She committed the sin of adultery; disloyalty to her spouse. Prynne had an affair with another man, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, which lead to her impregnation. Hester, of course, made a wrong decision, and had to pay the consequences of being judged, shunned, and ridiculed. Arthur also committed a sin himself. Not only did he take part in the act of adultery, but he also did not confess to being the father of Hester’s child, who was eventually named Pearl. Hester had to take the consequences of committing adultery herself, while he got of scot-free. However, every action has a reaction. Dimmesdale had to live with the guilt of knowing that he had not taken some responsibility for his actions. The guilt literally ate him alive, His sin was too much for him to bear. He grew sicker and sicker. Finally when he did admit his sin, he passed away. His made the initial wrong decision, and he had to pay the consequence for his sin. The theme of The Scarlet Letter is simple. It is sin. Everyday we face decision, as did both Hester and Dimmesdale. We can either make the right decision, or the wrong decision. In this case, both characters made the wrong decision. Because of these, both paid the consequences following these decisions. Everybody sins at least every once in a while, but its in everybody’s best interest to keep it to a minimum.

7. Personal Reflection Personally, I did not enjoy reading The Scarlet Letter. It certainly did not spark my interest, as it was very bland to me. I did however learn from this novel. What I learned was that it is best to simply tell the truth. Dimmesdale decided not to confess to his sin, and he ended paying for it throughout the book as the guilt was eating him alive. By hiding his sin, his consequence ended up much larger; death. If had just admitted to his actions, his fate would have been much different. I myself can relate to Pearl in this novel. I can relate to her for a few reasons. As a small child, I myself was also rather quite. Also, I was curious, just as she was. Pearl was also a clever child, just as I was, because she was able to figure out that Dimmesdale was indeed her father without any hints or someone telling her so. I would recommend this book to somebody with a very extended vocabulary, as many of the words used in this book are quite large and confusing. My grandmother may enjoy this book because she is a big fan of reading and also would understand much of the vocabulary used in the novel. The Scarlet Letter is definitely a good fit for her.