PAPER Topics

Start of Term Paper
Set in seventeenth-century Boston, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is abotu consquences of hidden and open sin. Hester Prynne commits adultery against her husband with Arthur Dimmesdale, a young clergyman. As part of her punishment, ....

Middle of Term Paper
... Dimmesdale, and Pearl (Baym 84). However, the only true letter is the letter that hester wears on her breast (Baym 86). The "A" is Hester's armor of pride, but is also her emblem of suffering (Martin 114). Baym also states that knowing what the letter means is what the novel is all about (86). The red "A" clearly stands for adultery. Puritan society sees the "A" as a symbol of guilt, Hester's infraction of their moral code (HArt 95). Hester is given the punishment of wearing the letter instead of being put to death because she is young and comes from a prominent family. However, the pain and heartache that the "A" brings to her ...