The Scarlet Letter Project

1. The Scarlet LetterProject Based on the book “The Scarlet Letter” By: Nathaniel Hawthorne Matthew Magliocca Period 7 08/30/13

2. Nathaniel Hawthorne had a very successful life. He was born on July 4th, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clark Manning. His family was very strict about the Puritan Religion. He added a “W” to his surname to try to disassociate himself from his ancestors after learning that his ancestors oversaw the Salem witch trials. His father died when he was only four years old of yellow fever. After his father’s death, Nathaniel, his mother, and his two sisters moved in with relatives of his mother, living there for 10 years. In 1816, Hawthorne’s Uncle Richard and Uncle Robert built his family a house in Raymond, Maine to live in. In 1819, he was sent back to Samuel Archer’s High School which was located in Salem. In 1821, with the financial support of his Uncle Robert, Hawthorne was sent to Bowdoin College mainly because of its relatively inexpensive tuition rate. After graduating from college with a master’s degree in English composition, Hawthorne then moved back in with his mother and began writing. He strengthened his writing skills by writing many short stories & poems. In 1828, Hawthorne anonymously published his first novel titled Fanshawe.In 1836, Hawthorne was given the opportunity to edit The American Magazine of Useful & Entertaining Knowledge. Nathaniel had several different jobs throughout his career. These jobs included working at The Boston Custom House, being a surveyor for the district of Salem, & being a correspondent secretary in Salem. While he worked, he still kept writing novels, short stories, & even poems. Hawthorne married Sophia Peabody on July 9, 1842, at a ceremony in the Peabody parlor on West Street in Boston. Nathaniel and Sophia Hawthorne had three children together with the names of Una, Julian, & Rose. In 1848, he had a difficult time coping about his mother’s sad death. Also during this time, Nathaniel admitted that he was having a difficult time writing. Hawthorne returned to writing and published The Scarlet Letter in March of 1850. D. H. Lawrence, a 20th century writer said, “There could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter.” Other then The Scarlet Letter, he also wrote many other fantastic novels such as The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, and The Marble Faun. He also wrote many classic short stories throughout his life. His most famous three were Twice-Told Tales, Grandfather’s Chair, & Tanglewood Tales. Almost all of his stories & novels were based upon the Puritan religion. Poet John Greenleaf Whittier said, “He admired the weird and subtle beauty in Hawthorne's tales.” Unfortunately, Nathaniel Hawthorne died on May 19th, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Many years after his death, he was inducted into the “Hall of Fame for Great Americans” in 1900. NathanielHawthorne Source of INFO: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nathaniel_Hawthorne

3. Hester Prynne is a woman who had been shunned upon in her community for committing adultery. Due to her committing adultery, she could have been sentenced to death. Instead of getting executed, she instead had to wear an “A” on all of her clothing symbolizing that she was an adulteress. She also had to stand on a scaffold for the whole town to make fun of her. The reason why she wasn’t sentenced to death was mainly because she was pregnant with her daughter Pearl. Several people wanted to know who the father was of her daughter, but she did not reveal who he was. Her husband she cheated on was Roger Chillingworth. They lived to together as husband and wife back in Europe. Roger and Hester both were going to emigrate from Europe to Massachusetts. Hester was sent first, and Roger had to stay back until he finished some business arrangements in Europe. Her husband never showed up, which led her to have an affair. The man she had an affair with was Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, whom impregnated Hester. If Hester would have told the town who the father of Pearl was, she would ruined Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale’s reputation completely. Hester not revealing the identity of Pearl’s father showed that she had great loyalty. Hester knew she had sinned hugely against her husband, but she never had any real feelings for her husband. On page 69, she said, “Thou knowest that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any.” Hester lived many years on the outskirts of town with Pearl. She had no support or help raising Pearl ever. She was a very strong and independent woman though. When ever people gave her rude stares, or said horrible things, she did not let anything get to her. Seven years after the birth of Pearl, Hester & Reverend Dimmesdale plotted in the forest to steal away on a ship to Europe. They mainly wanted to leave town so that they could live with Pearl as a family. On page 182, Hester said to Reverend Dimmesdale, “Let us not look back. The past is gone!” After she said that, she ripped the letter “A” off her bosom. She also took the formal cap off that confined her hair, and let her beautiful hair show. Shortly after she did that, she had to put the “A” back on, and hid her hair under the cap again because Pearl did not recognize her. Reverend Dimmesdale did indeed reveal the truth about Hester and him to the public at the election ceremony. He told the truth about them two on the scaffold, where Hester was laughed at seven years ago. Immediately after he did that, he died. Many people did not believe what he said though. After that, Hester and Pearl left Massachusetts, and disappeared. Hester then returned back to Massachusetts many years later alone, and continued her charity work. Many people came to her for assistance, and looked at her with respect. She later died, and was buried next to Reverend Dimmesdale. Character Profile: Hester Prynne

4. Conflict Analysis Hester Prynne has had various conflicts throughout the story. One of the major problems she had was with Governor Bellingham. Hester and Pearl both went to Governor Bellingham’smansion. Along with them being there, Mr. Wilson, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth were also all there. “Hester Prynne” said Governor Bellingham, fixing his naturally stern regard on the wearer of the scarlet letter, “there hath been much question concerning thee, of late. The point hath been weightily discussed, whether we, that are of authority and influence, do well discharge our consciences by trusting an immortal soul, such as there is in yonder child, to guidance of one who hath stumbled and fallen, amid the pitfalls of this world. Speak, thou, the child’s own mother! Were it not, thinkest thou, for thy little one’s temporal and eternal welfare that she be taken out of thy charge, and clad soberly, and disciplined strictly, and instructed in the truths of heaven and earth? What canst thou do for the child, in this kind?” (Page 101) “I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this.” Hester replied. (Page 101) The governor responded, “Women, it is thy badge of shame! It is because of thy stain which that letter indicates, that would transfer thy child to other hands.” (Page 101) Mr. Wilson then tried to see whether Pearl was educated well on Christian knowledge by asking her a few questions. Pearl did not do so well with the questions Mr. Wilson asked her. “This is awful!” cried the governor, slowly recovering from the astonishment into which Pearl’s response had thrown him. “Here is a child of three years old, and she cannot tell who made her! Without question, she is equally in the dark as to her soul, its present depravity, and future destiny! Methinks, gentlemen, we need inquire no further.” the governor said. (Page 102) “God gave me the child!” cried she. “He gave her in requital of all things else, which he had taken from me. She is my happiness!—she is my torture. Ye shall not take her! I will die first!” Hester protested. (Page 103) “My poor woman, the child shall be well cared for!—far better than thou canst do it!” said the not unkind old minister. (Page 103) Hester then told Reverend Dimmesdale to help her out. Reverend Dimmesdale then mentioned, “There is truth in what she says. God gave her the child, and have her, too, an instinctive knowledge of its nature and requirements,--both seemingly so peculiar,--which no other mortal being can possess. And, moreover, is there not a quality of awful sacredness in the relation between this mother and child?” (Page 104) “Well said, again! I feared the woman had no better thought than to make a mountebank of her child!” cried good Mr. Wilson. (Page 104) Because Reverend Dimmesdale gave that speech, Governor Bellingham decided to let Hester keep her child, solving this conflict. Before the conflict was solved though, it really scared Hester into thinking that she was going to lose her daughter. The consequence of this conflict was that Roger Chillingworth now gained the impression that Reverend Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl. This is one of the many conflicts that Hester Prynne faced in The Scarlet Letter.