Entry 18
"The glow, which they had just before beheld burning on his cheek, was extinguished, like a flame that sinks down hopelessly among the late decaying embers" (Hawthorne, Chapter 23).
Hawthorne uses a simile here. He compares the fainting of the blush and life on Dimmesdale's cheeks to a fading fire among dead ashes. It gives the reader great imagery and also explains just how the fire within him dies so quickly after his sermon. Dimmesdale put his entire being into delivering such a brilliant sermon.
Entry 17
"...they gazed wonderingly and admiringly at Pearl, as if a flake of the sea-foam had taken the shape of a little maid, and were gifted with a soul of the sea-fire, that flashes beneath the prow in the night-time" (Hawthorne, Chapter 22).
This is an excellent metaphor for Pearl's personality and character. Sea foam is typically seen as something pure and innocent. It can also be viewed as an item of beauty, due to Aphrodite being born from the sea foam in Greek mythology. By saying that Pearl is made of sea foam, we can infer that her character contains those traits. The metaphor also speaks of Pearl's stubborn and strong-willed side when speaking of sea fire.
Entry 16
"Yet, if the clergyman were rightly viewed, his strength seemed not of the body. It might be spiritual and imparted to him by angelical ministrations. It might be the exhilaration of that potent cordial which is distilled only in the furnace-glow of earnest and long-continued thought" (Hawthorne, Chapter 22).
From these words, you can catch the real impact Hester's suggestion of leaving and beginning anew had on Dimmesdale. His body language and composition has changed completely. Hawthorne is saying that it isn't a matter of medicine that has given him his new strength--it was the saving grace of Hester Prynne's words.
Entry 15
"The decision once made, a glow of strange enjoyment threw its flickering brightness over the trouble of his breast. It was the exhilarating effect--upon a prisoner just escaped from the dungeon of his own heart--of breathing the wild, free atmosphere of an unredeemed, unchristianised, lawless region" (Hawthorne, Chapter 18).
I find this quote to be very significant, especially to Dimmesdale's character development. He's been having this terrible pain and guilt in his heart for the past seven years, but it has finally lifted once the light of hope has been shone on him. He can finally be happy with Hester and Pearl and receive the closure he needs.
Entry 14
"Woman, woman, thou art accountable for this! --I cannot forgive thee" (Hawthorne, Chapter 17).
Dimmesdale's character is partially revealed through these words he spats at Hester. He blames Hester ultimately for the sin they committed. He speaks like she forced him into the affair, and it makes the reader resent him for such a statement. It's equally both their faults that Dimmesdale is forced to contain such guilt inside of himself, and that Hester has to wear the scarlet letter.
Entry 13
"So strangely did they meet in the dim wood that it was like the first encounter in the world beyond the grave of two spirits who had been intimately connected in their former life, but now stood coldly shuddering in mutual dread, as not yet familiar with their state, nor wanted to the companionship of disembodied beings" (Hawthorne, Chapter 17).
This quote offers a simile to explain Hester and Dimmesdale's relationship after seven years of secrecy. They haven't been able to speak to one another privately in such a long time. And they've both been suffering on their own. They aren't used to each other's presence, so they feel a bit cold and awkward towards each other.
Entry 12
"Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of the heart" (Hawthorne, Chapter 15).
This practically breathes the motive of the Romantic Era, which was when the novel was written. It speaks of rebelling against the norm of society. In colonial times, when the book was set, love was rarely the reason behind marriage. Many marriages were for money. But here Hester exclaims that men should never ask for marriage unless the passion between both partners is present.
Entry 11
"...they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin for which she had borne so long and dreary apenance, but of her many good deeds since" (Hawthorne, Chapter 13).
This is a relatively large change in plot. Hester is no longer the suffering woman, but someone prideful. No longer is she the black sheep of the town, but someone kind and influential. The fact that they even see the letter itself differently is a significant point on its own. Things have changed over the seven years that have passed.
Entry 10
"It is to the credit of human nature that, except where its selfishness is brought into play, it loves more readily than it hates" (Hawthorne, Chapter 13).
I think this quote has a lot of meaning, especially within the story itself. Hawthorne speaks the truth here about the line between love and hate. For most people, it takes a lot to truly hate someone with all of your being, but only a little to love someone. I believe that this describes the relationship of Dimmesdale and Hester perfectly. Hester loves him and doesn't hate him for his decision to stay in the dark. I think this quote can also tie into a theme of the novel.
Entry 9
"At first, his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now there was something ugly and evil in his face" (Hawthorne, Chapter 9).
This quote, in context, is talking about Chillingworth. From this, we can go along with Hawthorne's view on inward and outward appearance. Hawthorne is directly telling us that Chillingwoth has become dark and evil since his first appearance in the town. Ever since he has become friends with Dimmesdale, something has changed in Chillingworth.
Entry 8
"A man burdened with a secret should especially avoid the intimacy of his physician" (Hawthorne, Chapter 9).
This quote really struck me as a universal sort of warning given by Hawthorne. Not only does it speak to Dimmesdale, but to the reader as well. The quote also foreshadows what will happen between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. It's possible that Chillingworth will discover that Dimmesdale is Pearl's father.
Image Source:
Blue Stethoscope. Enhanced Medical Care. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://www.enhancedmedicalcare.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Blue-Stethoscope.jpg>.
Entry 7
"Then why--since the choice was with herself--should the individual, whose connexion with the fallen woman had been the most intimate and sacred of them all, come forward to vindicate his claim to an inheritance so little desirable?" (Hawthorne, Chapter 9).
Hawthorne's tone really glows and shines here. It gives us, not only his pride in Hester, but his sudden defending of Dimmesdale. The author offers sympathy and understanding. He understands why Dimmesdale wouldn't come forward to confess when it would cost him everything.
Entry 6
"Although she hid the secret from herself, and grew pale whenever it struggled out of her heart, like a serpent from its hole" (Hawthorne, Chapter 5).
Hawthorne uses an excellent simile here. The simile compares the secret contained within Hester's heart, her unknown lover's name, to a snake trying to wriggle its way out of a hole. It speaks that, though Hester doesn't want to kill, she is conflicted to wanting to spill the truth regardless. The simile does a good job of conveying that message.
Entry 5
"Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast--at her, the child of honourable parents--at her, the mother of a babe that would hereafter be a woman--at her, who had once been innocent" (Hawthorne, Chapter 5).
Hawthorne uses parallelism in this quote. By repeating the phrase "at her" over and over again, he is using emphasis. He is emphasizing how Hester will be criticized and looked down upon for the rest of her like, and that everything she carries is a symbol of the sin she's committed.
Entry 4
"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" (Hawthorne, Chapter 5).
With this quote from the text, we get foreshadowing directly about Hester's future. From the moment she walks out of that prison door, she knows that life isn't going to be easy, for herself or Pearl. Hester couldn't rely on time passing to heal her or cleanse her of her sin. She would have to deal with it for the rest of her life. It's saying that she must trudge forward or be swept up by her shame and swallowed.
Entry 3
"When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own, and saw that she appeared to recognize him, he slowly and calmly raised his finger, and made a gesture with it in the air and laid it on his lips" (Hawthorne, Chapter 3).
Immediately, this leads the reader to believe that this man has some sort of connection to Hester, that he has some sort of involvement in her secret. My initial thought was that this man was her lover, who had yet to confess his sin of adultery alongside her. But, further reading down, I concluded that this man is her husband, who had finally made it to the New World, only to witness something he could not believe. It's truly ironic that he happened to arrive just as his wife is condemned for adultery and holding a child in her hands that is not his.
Image Source:
Power of Silence. Diginomica. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://diginomica.com/2014/07/23/sound-silence-drown-unisys-painful-transition-cloud-enabled-world/#.VEWDCbDF_5w>.
Entry 2
"'At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead. Madame Hester would have winced at that, I warrant me. But she--the naughty baggage--little will she care what they put upon the bodice of of her gown!'
'This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die; is there not a law for it?'" (Hawthorne, Chapter 2).
These quotes show how much Hester's adultery has impacted the town. All of the women feel that she should have gotten a worse punishment than the A on her chest. It gives you a lot of insight to just how much adultery is condemned in the Puritan society, how it is seen as a crime worthy of death. Not even public shaming is enough in the townspeople's minds. They believe that Hester should be branded or even killed for her sin. This portion also foreshadows the terrible shame that will be inflicted upon Hester by her fellow people and how she will be treated by others.
Image Source:
The Scarlet Letter (1926). IMDb. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0017350/>.
Entry 1
"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" (Hawthorne, Chapter 1).
I chose this first quote because I feel that it holds a lot of meaning. I think that Hawthorne spent the first chapter talking just about this rose bush to symbolize later events in the book. The fact that something so beautiful and pure can grow in front of a dirty place, like a prison, is very ironic. Also the last piece of the quote about the prisoners seeing the rose bush is like a final farewell from the earth and the last sight of beauty before they are condemned. This quote also serves as a great source of imagery.
Image Source:
Red Rose Bush Eva Thomas. Red Rose Bush Photography. Web. 20 Oct. 2014. <http://becuo.com/red-rose-bush-photography>.
