Essay about Scarlet letter chapter 5 - 2647 Words

Chapter Five: Hester at Her Needle Summary Hester is released from prison and finds a cottage in the woods, near the outskirts of the city, to set up her new life. Hawthorne comments on the fact that she does not avail herself of the opportunity to escape to a new life without shame in some other city. He remarks that often people are irresistibly drawn to live near the place where a great has occurred. He further comments that even if that is not the reason, Hester may have been inclined to remain in Boston because her secret lover still lived there. Hesters skill at needlework, earlier shown in the fine way that she displayed the scarlet letter, allows her to maintain a fairly stable lifestyle. However, her reputation as an outcast†¦show more content†¦Whereas at first it represented Hesters adultery and also her needlework skills, it now takes on two more meanings. Foremost, the letter begins to represent the hidden shame of the community. Thus preachers will stop in the street and give sermons when they see Hester. The letter therefore becomes an example of crime and acts a deterrent for others in the community. However, Hawthorne indicates that Hester is now able to see when other people sympathize with her. Thus the letter serves as a gateway into other peoples secret crimes, and acts as a focal point for the shame of the entire community.. The letter can thus also be interpreted as a symbol of shame shared by everyone, rather than by Hester alone. The treatment of Hester almost reaches a low point in this chapter. She is cut off socially in the sense that she has no friends and lives in an isolated cottage. In addition, Hester becomes an outcast which even the children mock, causing her more pain. Hawthorne indicates that even though Hester spends time helping to make clothes for the poor, they treat her badly in spite of her good intentions. Her choice of habitation is crucial to the symbolism within the novel. The forest represents love, or the wilderness where the strict morals of the Puritan community cannot apply. Thus, when Hester makes her home on the outskirts of the city, directly on the edge of the woods, she is putting herself in a place of limbo between the moral and the immoral universes.Show MoreRelatedScarlet Letter Chapter 52684 Words   |  11 PagesChapter Five: Hester at Her Needle Summary Hester is released from prison and finds a cottage in the woods, near the outskirts of the city, to set up her new life. Hawthorne comments on the fact that she does not avail herself of the opportunity to escape to a new life without shame in some other city. He remarks that often people are irresistibly drawn to live near the place where a great has occurred. He further comments that even if that is not the reason, Hester may have been inclined to remainRead MoreHow Is Hester Prynne A Feminist Novel989 Words   |  4 Pagesstarted by the novel, The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne took a path with the character Hester Prynne that took many by surprise. Hester Prynne from the acclaimed novel, The Scarlet Letter, is one of American Literature’s first and influential feminist characters that shows superiority while being fearless and having an influence on modern literature and culture. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is accused of adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest. While HesterRead MoreAnalysis Of The Book The Scarlet Letter 1404 Words   |  6 PagesThis novel has a total of 24 chapters, not including the preface and an introduction. The author organizes the novel by starting the reader at the middle of the story, where Hester Prynne is in custody for adultery. Then, the author proceeds to elaborate on how and why Prynne is in her current state and continues in chronological order. In other words, Hawthorne utilizes a narrative structure where the scarlet letter, A, is an extended metaphor that symbolizes a multitude of things: adultery, sinRead MoreSymbolism Of The Scarlet Letter753 Words   |  4 PagesThe Scarlet Letter: Symbolism of the Scarlet ‘A’ Symbolism has many different meanings, and the Scarlet ‘A’ in â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† has many different meanings as well. Hester Prynne is the main character who is forced to wear the scarlet letter as remembrance for the crime and the sin that she has committed. This letter completely ruined her reputation in her community. How could a small piece of fabric do so much harm? This letter was a representation of something much greater than the letter ‘A’Read MoreSummary Of The Scarlet Letter 1485 Words   |  6 Pages The Scarlet Letter Reading Journal Chapters 2-3 Hester Prynne is first introduced by an angry crowd of people calling for her death. It seems as Hester has done something terribly wrong, something unforgivable. It gave me mixed thoughts, because I had no idea what she had done that made these people so furious, she could be innocent for all I, or any of the characters, know. Hester’s babe was compared/contrasted to the Scarlet Letter on herself, showing that her babe, not the Letter, was theRead MoreThats What1831 Words   |  6 PagesEnglish Test 5 Chapters 1-6 flashcards | Quizlet quizlet.com/30846533/english-test-5-chapters-1-6-flash-cards/ Quizlet What conclusion can you draw from the fact that every new colony must provide a prison and cemetery at once? Many bad people come to the colonies that ... what conclusion can you draw from the fact that every new ... www.chacha.com/.../what-conclusion-can-you-draw-from-the-fact-that-e... Every new colony must provide a prison and a cemetery in The Scarlet Letter draws the conclusionRead MoreSummary Of The Scarlet Letter 1436 Words   |  6 PagesThe Scarlet Letter Journal 1 I empathize most with Reverend Dimmesdale. He had to live with the secret of his sin for many years. He also was a reverend and had to preach about sins every Sunday and so was reminded constantly of what he did. In fact he felt so guilty about receiving no punishment while Hester was cursed with the letter that he â€Å"inflicted a hideous torture on himself† by carving the letter A into his own chest (Hawthorne 176). He has also had to endure much from Roger ChillingsworthRead MoreSummary Of Hester Prynne By Nathaniel Hawthorne1219 Words   |  5 PagesChapter 2-3: Hester Prynne is a young woman who was put in jail for the crime of adultery. In the first introduction Hester is perceived as someone who does not care what other people think of her and will stare down the barrel of a gun. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, compares Hester to her babe by showing how they are both shunned by the people viewing them. Hawthorne contrats them when Hester stands upon the scaffold with her head held high, while her babe cries out. As Hester walks out of herRead MoreEssay on Scarlet Letter Study Guide1628 Words   |  7 Pages11 The Scarlett Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne Chapters I and II 1. What two necessities, according to Hawthorne, must the founders of a new colony provide immediately? - Prison and a cemetery 2. Under whose footsteps was the rose-bush outside the prison supposed to have sprung up? Sainted Anne Hutchinson 3. What kind of spectacle have the townspeople of Boston gathered to witness? The public humiliation of Hester Prynne 4. What is the significance of the scarlet letter A which is embroideredRead MorePuritans in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay1427 Words   |  6 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne opens his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, in the midst of the action. The novel begins with a crowd of Puritan Bostonians waiting anxiously outside the town jailhouse, hoping to see convicts, sinners, and their overall hated fellow citizens be publicly punished and shamed. This is a classic example in medias res, which translates from Latin to mean â€Å"in the middle of things,† according to Encyclopedia Britannica. The concept of introducing a plot while it is occurring and