Essay - The Scarlet Letter Introduction the Puritan Era During Which the...

The Scarlet Letter

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The Puritan era during which the action of Hawthorne's (1961) The ***** Letter takes place embodied a society in which ***** individual and his or her actions were often pitted against a soci*****l order determined to stamp out behaviors it considered immoral. Hester Prynne is pilloried by the *****wn fat*****s for having committed adultery. She is led forth from prison, with an embroidered scarlet "A" on her bosom and her love child in ***** arms, to a pillory where she is forced ***** endure three hours of humiliati*****. While waiting in Boston for the arrival of her husband, Roger Prynne, Hester has committed ***** with an unknown male (Arthur Dimmesdale). While being pilloried, Hester spies her much older ***** in ***** crowd. Now Roger "Chillingworth," ***** husb*****d convinces Hester to refrain from identifying him.

Hester will ***** seven long years ***** ignominy and shame, wearing her ***** "A" and surviving by doing needlework and helping the poor and needy. ***** Chillingworth passes himself off as a physician and vows vengeance upon the man that is ***** daughter Pearl's father. Even when told ***** can remove her scarlet letter, Hester refuses as she is not repentant and ***** only the identity of ***** love to conceal. Her lover, Arthur *****, is a minister who ********** confess ***** culpability. Chillingworth comes ***** suspect Dimmesdale is Hester's lover, moving in with him in the guise of a physician to poison and *****rture Dimmsdale. To protect Dimmsdale, Hester eventually reveals his identity to *****. ***** ***** Dimmesdale plan to escape ***** the tyranny of Puritan *****, but their plans are foiled by Chill*****gworth who books passage on the same ship. To ***** the clutches of Chillingworth, Dimmesdale mounts the pillory with Hester and Pearl and acknowledges his daughter and, thereby, finding salvation. He dies as ***** grants him a kiss. Chillingworth, robbed of the target of his revenge, dies a year later.

The ********** of sin, evil, and redemption pervade The Scarlet Letter. ***** ***** Dimmesdale have *****ned and both ***** pay penance for their sins. However, Hester and ***** find ***** because their sin was committed out of passion and based on love. In contrast, Chillingworth does not find salvation ***** his sinful actions ***** evil and ***** totally on revenge. The ***** Letter seems to suggest that evil stems from the close relationship between ***** ***** hate. There is no evil in Hester and Dimmesdale's making love or even in the misguided actions of the ig*****rant Puritan town fathers. However, the carefully plotted ***** precisely directed revenge ***** Chillingw*****th is evil. While Hester and Dimmesdale's actions are accountable to earthly authority, the revenge of Chillingworth ***** unaccountable to earthly authority because ***** it remains evil in nature.

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The love***** of Hester and Dimmesdale creates enormous suffering for ***** Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester ***** willing ***** bear ***** burden of her sin, refusing to be repentant ***** a ***** ***** considers God sent. Dimmesdale suffers horribly from his