thesis of the scarlet letter

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The Scarlet Letter Thesis Statements and Essay Topics

Below you will find four outstanding thesis statements / paper topics for “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne that can be used as essay starters. All four incorporate at least one of the themes found in “The Scarlet Letter” and are broad enough so that it will be easy to find textual support, yet narrow enough to provide a focused clear thesis statement. These thesis statements offer a short summary of “The Scarlet Letter” in terms of different elements that could be important in an essay. You are, of course, free to add your own analysis and understanding of the plot or themes to them. Using the essay topics below in conjunction with the list of important  quotes from “The Scarlet Letter”  on our quotes page, you should have no trouble connecting with the text and writing an excellent essay.

Topic #1: Christian Values in the Scarlet Letter

Hester Prynne is scorned by almost everyone in the town when she is found to be pregnant by a man who is not her husband. She bravely bears her punishment and continues to live there. The citizens of the town are very harsh in both their judgment and treatment of her. They want to take Pearl away from her, but are waylaid by Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Because his identity as Hester’s lover is unknown, he is still considered to be a respectable member of the town. He is able to sway the stricter Reverend John Wilson. Yet if Reverend Wilson knew of Reverend Dimmesdale’s sin, he would react differently. Drawing on examples from the book, contrast the two reverend’s ‘Christian values’ set forth by the two reverends contrast.

Topic #2: The Role of the Men

In  Scarlet Letter , the minister is the unacknowledged father of Hester’s child. Hester allows herself to be shunned and punished by the townspeople, but never gives up his name. Hester bears the weight of their sins on the outside because she carries and gives birth to Pearl. The minister brands himself with the letter A on his chest, but does not come forward until several years later. Meanwhile, it eats at him over the years, eventually leading to his early death. In addition, Roger Chillingworth is Hester’s husband who shows up after the adultery has been committed. He is much older than Hester and is going by a different name. He only reveals his true identity to her, then seeks to bring about what destruction he can.  Explore the differences between the roles of husband and lover. Hester knows the ‘true’ identity of each man, yet she keeps it to herself for much of the book. How are Dimmesdale and Chillingworth different? How are the two men alike?

Thesis Statement #3: Symbolism

The Letter “A” that is pinned to Hester Prynne originally stands for adultery, but as Hester becomes more involved in the community, much of the town forgets Hester’s original crimes and claims that it stands for angel instead.  Even though Hester has improved her image with the town, she does not take off the letter until the near end of the novel, and never asks for forgiveness and an end to her ordeal.  The letter A has different connotations for different characters, and evolves through the novel.  Discuss how symbolism plays a role not only in a novel, but in life itself.

Topic #4: The Character of Pearl

Pearl is the person caught in the middle of her parents’ sins. She is shunned and mistreated because of what her mother did. She is also very perceptive of the relationship between Hester and Arthur. She spends her first few years enduring the treatment she receives from the townspeople. She struggles with her parents’ relationship. In the end, Hester takes Pearl to Europe. Pearl ends up marrying well and inheriting wealth upon Roger Chillingworth’s death. Examine how her character is shaped by her first few years—the maturity and understanding that she has of how the world works. Do the move to Europe and the inheritance from Roger Chillingworth somehow make up for her difficult childhood?

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The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel hawthorne.

Welcome to the LitCharts study guide on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter . Created by the original team behind SparkNotes, LitCharts are the world's best literature guides.

The Scarlet Letter: Introduction

The scarlet letter: plot summary, the scarlet letter: detailed summary & analysis, the scarlet letter: themes, the scarlet letter: quotes, the scarlet letter: characters, the scarlet letter: symbols, the scarlet letter: literary devices, the scarlet letter: quizzes, the scarlet letter: theme wheel, brief biography of nathaniel hawthorne.

Historical Context of The Scarlet Letter

Other books related to the scarlet letter.

• Full Title: The Scarlet Letter
• When Written: 1848-1850
• Where Written: Salem, Massachusetts
• When Published: 1850
• Literary Period: Transcendentalism
• Genre: Novel
• Setting: Boston, Massachusetts in the 1640s
• Climax: Dimmesdale's confession and death
• Antagonist: Roger Chillingworth; the Puritans
• Point of View: Third person omniscient

Extra Credit for The Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne and the Salem Witch Trials: Nathaniel Hawthorne was a direct descendent of John Hathorne, (1641-1717), a Puritan justice of the peace. Justice Hathorne is best known for his role as the lead judge in the Salem Witch Trials, in which he sentenced numerous innocent people to death for allegedly practicing witchcraft. Nathaniel added a "w" to his name to distance himself from his infamous ancestor.

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The Scarlet Letter

By nathaniel hawthorne, the scarlet letter study guide.

Published in 1850, The Scarlet Letter is considered Nathaniel Hawthorne 's most famous novel--and the first quintessentially American novel in style, theme, and language. Set in seventeenth-century Puritan Massachusetts, the novel centers around the travails of Hester Prynne , who gives birth to a daughter Pearl after an adulterous affair. Hawthorne's novel is concerned with the effects of the affair rather than the affair itself, using Hester's public shaming as a springboard to explore the lingering taboos of Puritan New England in contemporary society.

The Scarlet Letter was an immediate success for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the United States was still a relatively new society, less than one hundred years old at the time of the novel’s publication. Indeed, still tied to Britain in its cultural formation, Hawthorne's novel offered a uniquely American style, language, set of characters, and--most importantly--a uniquely American central dilemma. Besides entertainment, then, Hawthorne's novel had the possibility of goading change, since it addressed a topic that was still relatively controversial, even taboo. Certainly Puritan values had eased somewhat by 1850, but not enough to make the novel completely welcome. It was to some degree a career-threatening decision to center his novel around an adulterous affair (but compare the plot of Fielding's Tom Jones ).

But Hawthorne was not concerned with a prurient affair here, though the novel’s characters are. Hawthorne chose to leave out the details of the adulterous rendezvous between Hester and Dimmesdale entirely. Instead, he was concerned with the aftermath of the affair--the shaming of Hester, the raising of a child borne of sin, and the values of a society that would allow a sin to continue to be punished long after it would seem reasonable. Hawthorne takes advantage of his greatest assets as a writer--the interiority of his writing, his exploration of thoughts and emotions--and uses them to humanize all the parties involved in the affair, as well as to demonize the thoughts that become consumed by it. Chillingworth, notably, becomes the embodiment of Puritan values, which led people to lynch and destroy in the name of God but motivated in large measure by the people’s own repressed sins of lust, greed, and envy.

The Scarlet Letter also became intensely popular upon publication because it had the good fortune of becoming one of America's first mass-published books. Before The Scarlet Letter, books in America usually were handmade, sold one by one in small numbers. But Hawthorne's novel benefited from a machine press, and its first run of 2,500 copies sold out immediately. As a result, then, The Scarlet Letter benefited not only from its implicit controversial subject matter but also from an unusually large available readership. Readers who agreed or disagreed with the book's choices, however subtly, could spread the word. The novel became the equivalent of a seminal political tract--and the subject of endless discussion and debate, no doubt influencing social change. The novel also benefited because of Hawthorne’s support and respect among New England's literary establishment (he would soon become good friends with Herman Melville). Thus, the novel became popular not only with the masses. It was heralded as “appropriate” reading despite its attention to adulterous love.

The Scarlet Letter has been adapted many times on film, on television, and on the stage. The first film was a 1917 black-and-white silent film, while the most recent--and much maligned--film version opened in 1995 starring Demi Moore and Gary Oldman.

The Scarlet Letter Questions and Answers

The Question and Answer section for The Scarlet Letter is a great resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel.

Scarlet Letter Quotes Please

Her breast, with its badge of shame , was but the softer pillow for the head that needed one. ch 13

Why does Dimmesdale decide to flee with Hester?

Dimmesdale looks beyong his place in the community and embraces his role as a father. He wants his family, so he decides to leave.

who is the elder clergyman who speaks to hester

The elder minister is John Wilson.

Study Guide for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter study guide contains a biography of Nathaniel Hawthorne, literature essays, a complete e-text, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis.

• About The Scarlet Letter
• The Scarlet Letter Summary
• The Scarlet Letter Video
• Character List

Essays for The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter essays are academic essays for citation. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

• The Little Human A Incarnate
• Perception Blanketed by Passion
• Original Sin
• Hawthorne's "Witch-Baby" in The Scarlet Letter
• Hester's Role as Both the Sinner and Saint

Lesson Plan for The Scarlet Letter

• About the Author
• Study Objectives
• Common Core Standards
• Introduction to The Scarlet Letter
• Relationship to Other Books
• Bringing in Technology
• Notes to the Teacher
• Related Links
• The Scarlet Letter Bibliography

E-Text of The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter e-text contains the full text of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

• INTRODUCTORY. THE CUSTOM-HOUSE
• CHAPTER I. THE PRISON-DOOR
• CHAPTER II. THE MARKET-PLACE
• CHAPTER III. THE RECOGNITION
• CHAPTER IV. THE INTERVIEW

Wikipedia Entries for The Scarlet Letter

• Introduction