For this post, I'd like you to select a passage from chapters 1-6 that you find particularly interesting and/or important. Think especially about passages that connect with character development or symbolism.
Begin the post with the passage and citation
Then analyze the heck out of it!
What Romantic qualities does it have? Symbolic? Stylistic? What does it reveal? What does it connect with? (Just some ideas to get you thinking...)
Do NOT analyze a passage that has already been done! Feel free, though, to respond to any of your peers' ideas.
Remember to sign your name.
Certain it is that, some fifteen or twenty years after the settlement of the town, the wooden jail was already marked with weather-stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front. The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else in the new world. Like all that pertains to crime, it seemed never to have known a youthful era. Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.
ReplyDeleteHawthorne begins the novel by highlighting the hypocrisy that was prevalent in the Puritan era. The first thing the settlers do when they establish this utopian society is construct a jail and cemetery. He points out that the jail has already been occupied and shows signs of wear, even though it’s a new building. The settlers knew that sinners were inescapable, and the idea of original sin is really accentuated. This passage bleeds symbolism, as the prison was built on the foundation of “unsightly vegetation”. The black flower symbolizes the corruption present within the society. However, in the midst of the ominous and gloomy surroundings is the rose bush. The rose bush in the ground symbolizes the novel’s theme of strength and courage during harrowing times. He connects the rosebush to the wilderness of Boston, proclaiming that it could be a vestige of the wilderness. Obviously the Puritan laws don’t apply in the wilderness. Anne Hutchinson is supposedly responsible for the rose bush, and she was exiled for not believing in Puritanism and preaching Antinomianism. The rose is an obvious symbol for Hester Prynne, who parallels Hutchinson for sharing martyr-like qualities. This passage ultimately introduces the underlying themes of sin and hypocrisy and symbols that are interwoven throughout the novel.
-Alyssa Canderozzi
“When the young woman--the mother of this child--stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress. In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore, and which was of a splendour in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony” (50)
ReplyDeleteHawthorne uses a lot of symbolism in his stories. In some stories it is hard to tell what’s symbolic about it but Hawthorne basically gives it to you in his writing. The Scarlet Letter that is attached to her gown, on her chest, seems to be a symbol of her sins and the fact of adultery. Puritans believed that sinners should be punished as Alyssa mentioned. In later chapters, Dimmsdale tells Hester that the prison is going to let her remove it but she refuses because that would saying that she wants to escape her shame, she wants to live with it. She didn’t have an issue showing the crowed the letter on her chest. Hester wasn’t afraid of what she had done. When she was being humiliated in front of the cities person, she showed off her letter and her baby. This passage tells us about Hester’s personality because of how she presents herself to the townspeople as well.
This also connects the sermon we read in class in a way. If you don’t follow what god says you will be punished for you actions and that is what is happening in the story of the Scarlet Letter as well
~LIndsay B
I LIKE CEREAL-anon
Delete"The young pastor's voice was a tremulously sweet, rich, deep, and broken. The feeling that is so evidently manifested, rather than the direct purport of the words, caused it to vibrate within all hearts, and brought the listeners into one accord of sympathy. Even the poor baby, at Hester's bosom, was affected by the same influence; for it directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms, with a half-pleased, half-plaintive murmur. So powerful seemed the minister's appeal that the people could not believe but that the guilty one himself, in whatever high or lowly place he stood, would be drawn forth by an inward and inevitable necessity, and compelled to ascend the scaffold.
ReplyDelete--"Speak woman!" said another voice, coldly,and sternly, proceeding from the crowd about the scaffold. "I will not speak!" (63-64)
In this long passage that I picked out a variety of themes and symbols are present. First of all, when Hester is in the middle of the town with everyone watching, two women are arguing over what to do with Hester. It seems like they think they have a say when in fact (at that time) they did not. This means that women were extremely oppressed at the time because they were not allowed to speak most of the time and have a say in something. Also, This passage illustrates the way that Hester's demeanor and character was thrown out by her crime and exposed to be judged by all that knew of her situation. Despite the good within her and the way she tried to present herself, the people were judgemental of only what they knew: her crime. Her character was disregarded for this reason. I think that this caused people to make very unfair judgments. Hester was defiantly crushed by other people's thoughts and actions.
-Tadas Buivydas
"The grass-plot before the jail, in Prison Lane, on a certain summer morning, not less than two centuries ago, was occupied by a pretty large number of the inhabitants of Boston, all with their eyes intently fastened on the iron-clamped oaken door. Amongst any other population, or at a later period in the history of New England, the grim rigidity that petrified the bearded physiognomies of these good people would have augured some awful business in hand. It could have brokened nothing short of the anticipated execution of some noted culprit, on whom the sentence of a legal tribunal had but confirmed the verdict of public sentiment. But in that early severity of the Puritan character, an inference of this kind could not so indubitably be drawn...In either case, there was very much the same solemnity of demeanor on the part of the spectators; as benefitted a people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical, and whose character were so thoroughly interfused, that the mildest and the severest acts of public discipline were alike and made venerable and awful." (46)
ReplyDeleteThis passage is from the beginning of chapter two. I found it quite significant for a myriad of reasons. Hawthorne continues to introduce the reader to the plot and setting. The reader still is questioning who is going to emerge from inside the prison and what crime or sin has been pursued. As I mentioned in class yesterday, I found the prison door to be symbolic of the Puritan era. As described in Alyssa’s passage, the iron-clad prison door is weathered and aged. This door portrays the strict and harsh ideals of the era, which revolved around religion. Anyone who committed sin was to be punished and humiliated. Sinners were put onto display on the scaffold for all the public to see. At the time, religion and law were nearly the same thing. In the present, prison is used only for those who break the law. (since we have freedom of religion) However back then, anything that went against the Puritan ideals and religion was punished. In a nutshell, the prison door symbolizes the fusion of church and state during the era (as well as the harsh ideals.) Stylistically, the passage assists in characterizing the Puritans as a whole by describing the anticipation of crowd awaiting Hester’s exit. It also depicts the harshness of punishment received by sinners. The idea that all sins were punished equally represents the Puritan ideal that all sins are marked equal in the eyes of God. As Lindsay mentioned, this connects to “Sinners in the hands of an Angry God” because it claims that everyone must face punishment for sinning and that all sins are equal. Overall, I believe that this passage is an excellent representation of the Puritan ideals.
-Steph Madigan
" But little Pearl was not clad in rustic weeds. Her mother, with a morbid purpose that may be better understood hereafter, had bought the richest tissues that could be procured, and allowed her imaginative faculty its full play in the arrangement and decoration of the dresses which the child wore, before the public eye. So magnificent was the small figure, when thus arrayed, and such was the splendor of Pearl’s own proper beauty, shining through the gorgeous robes which might have extinguished a paler loveliness, that there was an absolute circle of radiance around her, on the darksome cottage-floor. And yet a russet gown, torn and soiled with the child’s rude play, made a picture of her just as perfect." (82)
ReplyDeleteThis pasage was one that caught my attention. At first, I thought I was going to write about the jail and the symbolism that scene contained but this passage, i believe, is quite crucial and telling of the rest of the story.
First of all, Hawthorne begins this story with immense detail that is all dark, dreary and seems to be consumed in evil. This was the first passage I read that actualy had a hint of light, joy and beauty to it. "shining through the gorgeous robes which might have extinguished a paler loveliness, that there was an absolute circle of radiance around her, on the darksome cottage-floor." This one line hcontradicts the entire first 70 pages of the story and I think it is almost a symbol of hope. Hester is excellent at needlework but no longer can use her talents because it is not accepted in society, but she can use these talents towards her daughter. It not only represents the love she has, but it allows for a possibilty of a future for this shunned child.
This passage also brought a sense of joy that had not been seen in the past pages. Hester had been ashamed of her past and lived in a cottage seperate from all others in her town in an attempt to maintain her seclusion. However, to me, this passage was almost a way of Hawthorne allowing her to break free from these restraints. Now that she had a beautiful, happy daughter that had a wonderful life to live, the stares, glares and judgements of everyone else in town no longer mattered. I am not sure on how this story is going to play out, but I assume that these feelings will be important in her future actions.
"He presented the cup to Hester, who received it with a slow, earnest look into his face; not precisely a look of fear, yet full of doubt and questioning, as to what his purposes might be. She looked also at her slumbering child. I have thought of death, said she,-having wished for it,-would even have pryed for it, were it fit that suchs as i should pray for anything, ere thou beholdest me quaff it. See! It is even now at my lips."(68)
ReplyDelete**Hawthorne's precise style of word choice used in this encounter between Hester and the physician helps to give insight to the train of thought that the character is undergoing. When Hester receives the cup from the physician,the way she looked at him is described as an, "earnest look into his face; not precisely a look of fear," By saying this, the reader can conclude that whether the drought is deadly or not, Hester is not much worried. The mood of the passage is further enhanced by Hester's glance at her sleeping child. This simple action by Hester creates a mood of sorrow and regret. When Hester begins to speak of her thoughts of death, she says she would have prayed for it, were someone like her worthy to pray for anything. Hester's words allow us to understand her own thoughts about herself. She clearly feels remorse, but she also has a sense of worthlessness. She warns the physician that she will drink the drought, deadly or not, and with that takes a sip.
Ahh Sarah! I was going to do that one too! But I'll do another one that jumped out at me.
ReplyDelete"But, on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him."
In this passage the narrator talks about the rose bush on the side of the prison door. They made a statement saying that the rose bush would greet the prisoners coming in. I think the rose bush is natured way of showing sympathy and kindness to them. This is a symbol of hope for them and happiness during their saddest times in the jail. This caught my eye right away because, why would you want such a plant that gives off beauty for the criminals to enjoy? I think that in this first chapter, the rose shows life at the prison. The description talks about the thornes and the dark, gloomy, stained walls. The atmosphere is very dull. But then it talks about this rose bush which gives off a different vibe. This made me think of it as a possible foreshadow which we find out later. We also talked for a minute in class about the thornes. Every rose bush has it's thornes. It shows that something so beautiful can be ironically misleading.
This passage really jumps out to me because Hawthorne does such a good job making Hester Prynne "human". This passage really adds to the characterization of Prynne and allows the reader to easily sympathize with her. While i was reading this, i really felt for her and almost wanted to jump into the book and help her. It really shows that Hester is just a women who is being tried for a mistake she has made and although she's holding herself strong, she's terrified of what's to come, and for me that was super relatable because i could see myself in a lot of her.
ReplyDeleteI also really like this passage because Hawthorne uses objects and ideas with fixed perceptions and really uses them in a sense that goes completely against their profiles. Hawthorne begins the passage with "Her prison door was thrown open, and she came forth into the sunshine". Generally sunshine is perceived as something good so it makes the reader think that a change of luck will come for Ms. Prynne but then Hawthorne throws in "which, falling on all alike, seemed, to her sick and morbid heart, as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast" which really throws you, as the reader threw a loop because he takes something thats perceived as so honest and good and makes it describe something so horrible.
-Holly Alessi
oh shoot, when i originally typed it and posted it, it wouldn't go threw so i immediately started retyping what i had said originally so i wouldn't forget so i didnt bother with the passage, SORRY. Okay heres the passage:
ReplyDelete"Hester Prynne's term of confinement was now at the end. Her prison-door was thrown open, and she came forth into the sunshine, which, falling on all alike, seemed to her sick and morbid heart as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast. Perhaps, there was a more real torture in her first unattended footsteps from the threshold of the prison, than even in the procession and spectacle that have been described, where she was summoned to point its finger." (72)
"It seemed to argue so wide a diffusion of her shame, that all nature knew of it; it could have caused her no deeper pang, had the leaves of the trees whispered the dark story among themselves,- had the summer breeze murmured about it,- had the wintry blast shrieked it out loud!" (79)
ReplyDeleteThis passage really stood out to me because of Hawthorne's mention of nature. It almost made Hester's already horrible situation even worse because it broadened her infamy. In a lot of tough situations, it seems that people can escape their horrors in nature, because nature doesn't judge, but when Hawthorne described the trees and the breeze whispering about her, and the "wintry blast" shrieking about her, it gives the reader a whole new perspective on the loneliness and fear Hester must be feeling. I also thought Hawthorne's use of nature to emphasize the conflict was really interesting. It reminded me of the native american stories we read, where nature played a big role.
Ah sorry I didn't tell my page # is 46
ReplyDelete"Thy heavenly Father sent thee!" answered Hester Prynne.
ReplyDeleteBut she said it with a hesitation that did not escape the acuteness of the child. Whether moved only by her ordinary freakishness, or because an evil spirit prompted her, she put up a small forefinger and touched the scarlet letter.
"He did not send me!" cried she, positively. "I have no Heavenly Father!"
This passage stood out to me particularly while I was reading for many reasons. Throughout chapter six especially, Hester wonders whether her misdeed will inherently have an effect on her daughter's mental state, even going so far as to question whether or not her daughter is human or some kind of demon. While at first this seems to the reader like simply a mark of the times, it becomes apparent as the chapter continues that Hester may be right. Pearl exhibits decidedly demonic qualities throughout the chapter, described often as "elivish" and "imp". However, her most unnerving trait is her shockingly developed hatred for the townspeople and their children. Pearl seems to be very very aware of her and her mother's isolation, and is making the first connections between the red letter on her mother's chest and their social standing by showing fascination for it.
I was convinced that Hester was wrong about her daughter until I read this passage. The fact that Pearl proclaims so surely that she "has no heavenly father" gives me the idea that Hester may not be so far off after all. What I'm wondering is whether Pearl's hatred is a response to the treatment she receives or evidence of actual "demonic" presence?
"Hester could only account for the Childs character- and even then most vaguely and imperfectly- by recalling what she herself had been, during that momentous period while Pearl was imbibing her soul from the spiritual world, and her bodily frame from its material of earth… Above all the warfare of Hester's spirit, was perpetuated in Pearl. She could recognize her wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in her heart" (83).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage Pearl is compared immensely to her mother. But Pearl's character is also developed and tied closely together to the act in which she was created, adultery. Adultery is a crime, and a sin, but also passionate, and full of love. Pearl develops a fiery temper and even fights kids of her age, but she is very close to and loves her mother. Her "wild, desperate, defiant mood" which is much like her mother, is the disobedient nature that reflects the sinful passion that led to her birth.
Hawthorne connects Pearl back to a puritan society a number of times. The puritans believed that nothing good could come from an act that is so evil, which is why Pearl is not accepted in their society. Her soul is from the "spiritual world" but her "bodily frame" is from the earth. I think that this is interesting because it seems as though god had a different perspective than the puritan society while creating Pearl. Pearls own body frame was created by the artificial constructions of nature. As a result Pearl is very pretty, and I believe god wanted to give her a chance in this society to fit in. However, due to the society continuously shunning her and the personality in which she has developed after her mother; Pearl is portrayed exactly how society wanted her: sinful and evil.
-Emma
"We have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion. How strange it seemed to the sad woman, as she watched the growth, and the beauty that became every day more brilliant, and the intelligence that threw its quivering sunshine over the tiny features of this child! Her Pearl — for so had Hester called her; not as a name expressive of her aspect, which had nothing of the calm, white, unimpassioned lustre that would be indicated by the comparison. But she named the infant "Pearl," as being of great price — purchased with all she had — her mother's only treasure! How strange, indeed! Man had marked this woman's sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself. God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child, whose place was on that same dishonoured bosom, to connect her parent for ever with the race and descent of mortals, and to be finally a blessed soul in heaven! Yet these thoughts affected Hester Prynne less with hope than apprehension. She knew that her deed had been evil; she could have no faith, therefore, that its result would be good. Day after day she looked fearfully into the child's expanding nature, ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity that should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owed her being" (81-82).
ReplyDeleteIn this passage, Hester's child, Pearl, is described as a symbol. Pearl is the result of a crime that, back then, was unforgivable. The narrator begins with "we have as yet hardly spoken of the infant" as if Pearl was not important before. But as the passage goes on, you see the importance and symbolism of the child. The narrator describes the appearance of Pearl as being innocent and beautiful, but her psychological appearance is yet to be discovered. Hawthorne previously explained and implied that adultery is a heinous crime that the Puritan society was strongly against. Pearl, being the result of such a crime, raises the question, can goodness come from an act of evil? The Puritans would believe that Pearl is inherently evil because of the immoral act that she is the product of. This is exactly what Hester is afraid of. Near the end of the passage it says, "Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child's expanding nature, ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity..." Hester's fear of Pearl's nature turning evil is a result of her guilt. Pearl represents the guilt that Hester feels for committing adultery.
“Be that as it might, the scaffold of the pillory was a point of view that revealed to Hester Prynne the entire track along which she had been treading since her happy infancy. Standing on that miserable eminence, she saw again her native village, in Old England, and her paternal home; a decayed house of gray stone, with a poverty-stricken aspect, but retaining a half-obliterated shield of arms over the portal, in token of antiquity gentility. “(55)
ReplyDeleteThis passage comes right at the end of chapter two, right after Hester’s been forced to mount the platform and begin her ordeal of standing there for the three hour duration. I thought this was a significant passage because it’s one of the first that she’s reflecting on the events herself, the first time the reader is hearing her thoughts as opposed to those of people around her. She starts to think back to her past, showing that she seems to have little or no true remorse for what she did, rather than think on what she’s done, she instead choose to think on thinks that once were. This almost seems contradicting to what I would have expected Hawthorne to do, because so much of his writing is based off of the ideas of guilt and sin, I would have assumed even if outwardly she was being stoic and such, inwardly these pangs of guilt, of a sense or moral wrong doing would show up in her thoughts. Also, the last part of that passage “but retaining a half-obliterated shield of arms over the portal, in token of antiquity gentility.” It seems to be offering a protective image, one she can almost hide her thoughts behind, as if this mental image will keep her strong during her ordeal, keeping her mental resistance at its peak.
~ Stephanie Brown
"Yet there were intervals when the whole scene, in which she was the most conspicuous object, seemed to vanish from her eyes, or, at least, glimmered indistinctly before them, like a mass of imperfectly shaped and spectral images. Her mind, and especially her memory, was preternaturally active, and kept bringing up other scenes than this roughly hewn street of a little town, on the edge of the Western wilderness; other faces than were lowering upon her from beneath the brims of those steeple-crowned hats. Reminiscences, the most trifling and immaterial, passages of infancy and school-days, sports, childish quarrels, and the little domestic traits of her maiden years, came swarming back upon her, intermingled with recollections of whatever was gravest in her subsequent life; one picture precisely as vivid as another; as if all were of similar importance, or all alike a play. Possibly, it was an instinctive device of her spirit to relieve itself, by the exhibition of these phantasmagoric forms, from the cruel weight and hardness of the reality." pg 54-55
ReplyDeleteThis passage stuck out to me, not necessarily because of great importance to the story, but because I found it very interesting to read how Hester coped the ridicule and belittling that the townspeople were throwing at her. After reading about the townspeople that were so eagerly gathered outside of the prison upon her initial departure from the prison, ready to humiliate and tear her down for the sin she committed, it made me wonder how she could deal with such criticism. Since Hester will not reveal the name of the father to anyone, she has to bear double the insults and scorn all on her own; everyone's eyes are on her. I couldn't fathom having a whole town against me and I was intrigued to see how one person would handle such isolation and humility. Hester, as Hawthorne explains, starts reminiscing while she stand on the scaffold. By recalling all these old memories Hester is able to block out what is around her. The townspeople blur out and all that is left are her thoughts. I believe that by writing and detailing Hester's thoughts, Hawthorne made this scene easy to relate to. If I was in Hester's situation I probably would have done something similar to block out the harsh words being thrown at me. This passage reveals interesting details about Hester, as well as Hawthorne's detailed and thorough writing style.
"But now, with this unattended walk from her prison-door, began the daily custom; and she must either sustain and carry it forward by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink beneath it. She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief. To-morrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the next; each its own trial, and yet the very same that was now so unutterably grievous to be borne. The days of the far-off future would toil onward, still with the same burden for her to take up, and bear along with her, but never to fling down; for the accumulating days, and added years, would pile up their misery upon the heap of shame."
ReplyDeleteThis passage was really powerful in my eyes because it explained the struggle Hester would have to face once out of prison. While in confinement, Hester knew that- or assumed- that the public had been speaking harshly of her sin, but hearing it, living through it, would be different once she was released. The sentence "She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief" describes the suffering Hester would have to deal with on a daily basis because she had nothing to look forward to. When "the same burden" is mentioned, I think that could be symbolic of three things: Pearl, the "a", and the guilt she felt about the adultery committed. Even recognizing that three separate issues could be the "burden" exemplifies that Hester's life after prison would not be an easy. This passage seems to be foreshadowing for the trials Hester will face later in the book, for "days and years" to come.
The chapter called The prison door has a very large amount of symbolism that sets the mood for the whole story.
ReplyDelete"Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street,was a gras plot, much overgrown with burdock, pigweed, apple peru, and such unsighlty vegetaion, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne black flower of civilized society, a prison"
This quote shows the goods and bads of the society and is a stong examlpe of this books symbolism. BY JONNY D
"The door of the jail being flung open from within, there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and gristly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand. This personage prefigured and represented in his aspect the whole dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law, which it was his business to administer in its final and closest application to the offender. Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand, he laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman, whom he thus drew forward; until, on the threshold of the prison-door, she repelled him, by an action marked with dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will. She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquainted only with the grey twilight of a dungeon, or other darksome apartment of the prison."(49)
ReplyDeleteThis passage really stood out to me because of the description of Town-Beadle and Introduction of Hester and her baby. When the passage is describing the enforcer, it uses very descriptive language and creates a vivid portrayal of the scene. It also uses alot of harsh words to describe him, similar to his harsh enforcement of the religous laws. Using terms such as, "...the grim and grisly presence ..." and "...the whole dismal severity of the Puratanic code of law...", it generates almost and unsettling feeling within me as I read it. Even reading the word puritanic immeadiatly inffluenced me to think of satanic rituals and whatnot, which was facilitaed through the use of such aggresive language. This also connects with the bond between Religion and Law, where even the enforcer is of a religious nature. This also presents Hester as having a somewhat passionate nature and slightly impetious by stepping out of the prison without "aid" when it reads, "...she repelled him, by ana action marked with natural dignit and force of character...". This shows Hester slightly diffrently than after she is pubicly codenmed and becomes alienated from the community. This is when she becomes more contemplative and "wiser" through her experiences. I found this passage to both reinforce my beliefs about the Puritan culture and society of the time, as well as introduce me and get me thinking about what Hester's personality might of been before her condemnations and tribulations.
"Good master Dimsdale," said he, " the responsibility of this womans soul lies greatly with you. It behooves you, therefore, to exhort her to repentance, and to confession, as a proof and consequence therof." (62)
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting segment in the book. The govenor comes to make the woman confess even after her trial and sentance has been laid off. The govenor is left to his own devices and can intimidate her with religion and power all he wants. Even after both the ministers speak Hester still stays strong and doesnt tell them who it was. I wonder if it is her protecting him or standing her ground as a woman
“Now it was a heard of diabolic shapes, that gained and mocked at the pale minster, and beckoned him away with them; now a group of shining angels, who flew upward heavily as sorrow-laden, but grew more ethereal as they rose. Now came the dead friends of his youth, and his white-bearded father, with a saint like frown, and his mother, turning her face away as she passed by. Ghost of a mother- thinnest fantasy of a mother- methinks she might yet have thrown a pitying glance towards her son! And now, thought the chamber with these spectral thoughts had made so ghastly, glided Hester Prynne, leading along little Pearl, in her scarlet garb, and pointing a forefinger, first at the scarlet letter on her bosom and then at the clergyman’s own breast .” (132)
ReplyDeleteHawthorns idea and representation of sin is the thing that first jumped out at me from this passage. The minster, thought to be one of the most “godly” ( not sure if that’s a real word or not) among all of the people in the town is clearly suffering, and in previous pages, Chillingworth has spoken about how it appears to be an affliction of the soul and mind rather than one of the body. In this passage though, the main focus is on how Dimmesdale is looking at himself. Almost contemplating on the facts of what he has done and then, the reactions of his mother, father and old friends, all just disappointed in him. But, I think that Hawthorn is showing a truly important point, that no one is immune from sin, even the best of us, a theme that’s echoed in “The Minister's Black Veil “. There’s also the very obvious symbolism that other people have pointed out in other passages of Pearl being dressed in scarlet, once more, echoing the idea that she is a living symbol of human sin, she is the outcome of human weakness.
~ Stephanie Brown