The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (Essay Sample)

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Scarlet Letter is a fiction work written in a historical setting in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The story is about Hester Prynne, she conceives a daughter by an adulterous affair struggles in creating new life. It was set in the 17th-century in Puritan town in Boston, Massachusetts between 1642 and 1649. In the month of June 1642, in Puritan town, a crowd of people gathers to witness punishment. Hester Prynne is found guilty of committing adultery and she has to put on a scarlet "A" as a indication of shame. "A" symbolizes adultery and affair. She must stand for three hours on the scaffold, exposed to humiliation by the public. As she approaches the scaffold, most of the women around are angered since she was beautiful and quiet. She refused to tell the name of her father when demanded and cajoled. Hester looks out in the crowd and notices a man and recognizes as her husband who is presumed lost at sea. The husband on seeing Hester’ shame and enquiring about her, he is told about her adultery and he angrily shouts that the child’s father be punished too. She is taken back to her prison cell after declining to name her lover to Reverend John Wilson. She is dismissed from jail by Roger Chillingworth her husband. Hester later settles in a small house in town where she earns a living with her needlework. As an infant, Pearl her daughter is captivated by the scarlet. As Pearl grows up, she becomes capricious and unruly. The church members suggest that the baby should be taken away from her mother but Hester decides to communicate to Governor Bellingham. Hester on appealing to the Reverend Dimmesdale, the reverend convinces the governor allow Pearl to remain under her mother’s care. The health of the reverend began to fail and the people in town are happy to have a newly arrived physician Chillingworth. Chillingworth begins to suspect the illness of the reverend to result from unconfessed guilt. He suspects Dimmesdale to be the father of Pearl and applies physiological pressure on him. Dimmesdale goes to the scaffold where Hester was earlier punished after being anguished by his guilty conscience. He climbs the scaffold and calls Hester and Pearl to join him. He then admits guilty to them but he had no courage to do it publicly. All over sudden Dimmesdale saw a meteor forming a hug...