literary elements in the scarlet letter. plot 1 takes place over a seven-year period. involves the...
TRANSCRIPT
Literary Elements in The Scarlet Letter
Plot 1Takes place over a seven-year
period. Involves the familiar triangle of
wife-lover-husband Is a struggle between good
and evil, with the eternal souls of the characters at stake
Plot 2Suspense is built around these
questions:Will the identities of the lover
and the husband be revealed?How will the identities of the
lover and the husband be revealed?
Plot 3
The main psychological movement in the novel derives from the husband’s insatiable quest for revenge
SettingBoston in the mid-1600sProvides a framework of rigid
social mores and religious beliefs
a “people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical”
Definition of “mores”
The accepted traditional customs and usages of a particular social group
Moral attitudesManners or ways
Structure
Hawthorne’s form of the novel was writing innovative for 1850
Instead of an ongoing chronicle of events, it is a series of separate, fully realized scenes interspersed with expository chapters
Point of View
omniscientHawthorne reveals both the
inner and outer lives of his characters with asides on social criticism, history and psychology
Major Characters
Hester Prynne 1
Young EnglishwomanHas been living alone in
BostonHer husband has been missing
for several years
Hester Prynne 2Has given birth to a childRefuses to name the fatherShe pays for her sin in many
ways, although she never renounces her love for Dimmesdale
Arthur Dimmesdale A popular and admired young
clergymanRefuses to acknowledge that
he is the father of Hester's childUndergoes intense internal
suffering and becomes prey to Chillingworth’s slow revenge
Roger Chillingworth 1
Hester’s husbandA scholar much older than sheArrives in Boston after years of
captivityFinds that his wife has just
given birth to a daughter
Roger Chillingworth 2
Is the major antagonistThe novel chronicles his
spiritual deteriorationHe takes revenge on
Dimmesdale, whom he suspects, correctly, of being the child’s father
Pearl
the daughterblithe (happy, joyful)
highly intuitive (capable of knowing without deduction or reasoning)
intelligent imaginative
Theme 1 The effects of sin and the
possibility of redemptionHawthorne is interested
primarily in the psychological and social consequences of sin on his characters and in their process of redemption
Theme 1: the effects of sin and the possibility of redemptionHesterThe consequence of sin is
isolation from societyHer redemption is worked out
through a life of patient and selfless work
DimmesdaleConsequence of his sin is
internal anguish caused by his guilt and the psychological torment inflicted by Chillingworth
His redemption comes only with confession
Theme 1: the effects of sin and the possibility of redemption
ChillingworthHis sin is obsession with revenge
and violating “in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart”
The consequence is a gradual shriveling of both soul and body
Redemption escapes him
Theme 1: the effects of sin and the possibility of redemption
Theme 1: Secondary Effect
Insight into the hearts of others is a secondary effect of the sin of all three characters
As eating the forbidden apple brought a kind of knowledge to Eve and Adam
Theme 1: Secondary Effect Insight into the hearts of others Both Hester and Dimmesdale
use this understanding to positive ends
Chillingworth, however, uses his insight to torment the already suffering Dimmesdale
Theme 2: Hypocrisy 1
Hypocrisy appears in the conflict between outer appearance and inner reality
Theme 2: Hypocrisy 2
Depicted in the vindictiveness of the pious women of town toward Hester
Theme 2: Hypocrisy 3
Illustrated in the portrayals of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale
Both live hypocriticallyEach poses as something
other than what they are
Major Symbols 1
The scarlet letter itself is the central symbol
It changes meaning for the people of Boston as Hester steadfastly works out her absolution
The A also becomes the pathway to redemption for Dimmesdale
Major Symbols 2
The scaffoldthe cruel public exposure of
private sinsthe means to redemption
through confession
Major Symbols 3
Elements of nature are used to symbolize good and evil
Evil: weeds, unsightly vegetation, darkness, and shade
Good: flowers, sun, and lightThe forest is a changeable
symbol representing both good and evil
Irony 1Situational Irony is central to
the action of the novelSituational Irony is the contrast
between the intention or purpose of an action and its result
In situational irony, the expectations aroused by a situation are reversed
Situational Irony 1
The guilty Dimmesdale is able to minister brilliantly to his congregation
Situational Irony 2Chillingworth is the wronged
husbandHe might normally claim reader
sympathyBut he turns out to be a fiendA physician who destroys
rather than heals