How Does Hawthorne Use Satire In Custom House?

Hawthorne uses many forms of rhetoric to portray his characters, but relies heavily on pathos in the instance of Hester Prynne. She’s a member of an inherently misogynistic society, and because she’s a woman, her every act is scrutinized. As punishment for her act of adultery, Hester is ordered to adorn her chest with a permanent scarlet letter. Although the audience is well aware of the atrocity of the sin she’s committed, Hawthorne’s writing sparks a feeling of empathy within the reader. Throughout the novel, the reader is exposed to several clear uses of pathos.

She receives three punishments from the townspeople, who claim they will free her from her sin. The community orders Hester to go to jail, wear a scarlet letter on her chest, and stand on the town scaffold for hours. Hester wears her scarlet letter proudly on her chest, and endures much suffering because of her public ridicule. Hester is “kept by no restrictive clause of her condemnation within the limits of the Puritan settlement” after she was released from prison, but she chooses to stay (Hawthorne 71). Later, Hester’s child, Pearl, symbolizes the Puritan view of Hester.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the nineteenth century, provides insight into the social stigma surrounding gender equality in his own community and era. Throughout the chapters, Hawthorne's uses Hester to provide a direct reflection to the lives of women in the nineteenth century. Hawthorne employs devices such as specified diction which pertains to each individual character, multiple shifts in the tone used in order to draw attention to shifts in judgment or beliefs of characters, and imagery in order to validate his overall personal belief that women deserve the autonomy and respect that men have possessed for centuries. Hawthorne uses the Scarlet Letter as a novel for social change by characterizing Hester as a woman

In the novel the scarlet letter, the scarlet letter is shown through the use of imagery and figurative language to demonstrate that judgment through society as well as sin is bad while the scarlet is a symbol of sin wrapped in good and beauty. Hester is able to take something that was meant to be a punishment for a crime she committed and turn it into something absolutely stunning. Hawthorne portrayed Pearl

The color red symbolizes death but also paradoxically connotes birth. After she commits adultery, Hester gains Pearl as a result of her sin, but her child is the motivation for her to live to redeem her reputation because Hester does not want her child to live such a dark and ruined life of a sinner. The recognition of the society suggests that Hester’s dedication into labor and attitude of redemption is an act of bravery and she deserves compliments and reinterpretation of the scarlet letter as an award for her strive to live. The redness of the scarlet letter, nevertheless, is a sign of sin and death to Hester. In fact, she perceives the symbol as a “red-hot brand” (147).

However, as you dig deeper, you will see Hawthorne’s true purpose for writing the novel. In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses irony to criticize the Puritan ideals. Hester’s Scarlet “A” is used to show how imperfect the Puritans are. The narrator describes Hester’s scarlet letter when he says: “On the breast of her gown,

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter takes place during the 17th century in the harsh and unforgiving Puritan settlement of Salem, Massachusetts, and follows Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale in the aftermath of an irreversible act. The already married Hester Prynne has given birth to Dimmesdale’s child and has taken the consequences of their actions solely upon herself, refusing to reveal Dimmesdale as the father of her child. Hester’s sacrifice leaves them both with internal and external dilemmas as they try to continue their lives under the scrutinizing and unrelenting watch of their community. Throughout the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes the rhetorical strategies of juxtaposition, paradox, imagery, and diction to highlight

Often times, we interpret a novel at its face value, only reading the text on the page instead of really delving into the true meaning behind that text. Since that meaning is not explicitly stated, different readers can develop different interpretations of the same text. This idea of repeated hidden meanings throughout a novel is classified as a motif, and most of the time motifs are used in order to subtly convey ideas to the reader through seemingly plain text. In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses motifs and symbols to convey subtle ideas, one example being his harsh criticism of Puritan culture. One of the most prominent motifs in his novel is the Black Man, an imaginary being who Hawthorne equates to the devil.

“Pearl took some eelgrass, and … imitated, on her own bosom, the decoration… on her mother’s : A letter “A”, but freshly green, instead of scarlet!”, a quote pulled from Chapter 15, is another attempt by Hawthorne to convey the contrasting ideal of Pearl’s innocence and purity to Hester’s sin. The green of this imitated scarlet letter worn by Pearl is associated with nature and purity, while the scarlet of Hester’s original letter is typically associated with passion and

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was published in 1850. It focuses on the life of the main protagonist, Hester Prynne, living in a Puritan community. Both Yamin Wang and Maria Stromberg offer insight into The Scarlet Letter and analyze multiple aspects of the story.. Both Wang and Stromberg claim that there is an underlying ideology hidden in the texts of the book. Wang approaches the story from a feminist approach and states that Hester represents the feminism in the Puritan community, and she analyzes the Puritan’s outlook on women in their society.

Hawthorne described, “...the scarlet letter, was so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. ”(Hawthorne 51). It symbolized sin because in a puritan society something so beautiful is sinful. It shined like a sin that everyone came to see. While Hester was coming up the scaffold for her public punishment of adultery, the beadle said to her, “Come along,Madam Hester, and show your scarlet letter to the market place.”

Symbolism Within The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne created symbolism throughout The Scarlet Letter in order to develop the theme throughout Hester’s life. Hester is portrayed as a sheltered soul, shunned from society due to her adulterous acts. The red A and her daughter, Pearl, are symbols of Hester’s shame which she bares proudly despite society's harsh judgements. Hawthorne is able to use symbolism to develop themes, characters, and analogies in the Scarlet Letter.

There are various examples of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter, but one of them wraps the whole story together: the meaning of the scarlet letter A. In this passage, Hester Prynne wears an embroidered letter A on her bosom as punishment. At first the A stood for “adulterer”, but the townspeople later gained respect for her and said “Such helpfulness was found in her-so much power to do and to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original significance. They said it meant ‘Able’” (Hawthorne 107).

Bhimani 1 Outline Prescribed Question: How does the text conform to, or deviate from, the conventions of a particular genre, and for what purpose? Text: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Thesis: In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne effectively conforms to the conventions of the gothic genre for the purpose of characterizing the Puritan society as oppressive, portraying the hypocrisy found within Puritan society and highlighting the consequences for not confessing sin.

In conclusion the Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears on her chest had three different meanings throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Adultery, Able and in