What is the significance of the prison in The Scarlet Letter?

What is the significance of the prison in The Scarlet Letter?

The prison door in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is so much more than a weather-beaten slab of wood. It represents the struggles and follies of a new society, and the constraints against which its inhabitants were forced to strive.

Why were the townspeople gathered in front of the jail?

Hester prynne was being punished and having to stand in front of all the townspeople. Describe haw the women in New England are different from the generations of the women before them? The new generation is having to be put to work to help their family survive.

What purpose does Chapter 1 the prison door serve?

It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.

Why is the town gathered in the marketplace scarlet letter?

Echoing the novel’s beginning, the narrator describes another public gathering in the marketplace. But this time the purpose is to celebrate the installation of a new governor, not to punish Hester Prynne.

What does the prison door symbolize in The Scarlet Letter quizlet?

This appears in the sky after Dimmesdale and Hester meet in the woods. Dimmesdale thinks it means that he should wear a scarlet letter too,that God is exposing his sin to the world, and sees it as a sign of his mutual sin. The red rose by the prison door is symbolic of Hester.

Where do the citizens of Boston gather at the start of the novel?

Terms in this set (30) Where do citizens of Boston gather at the start of the novel? To where is Hester led in Chapter 2? They gather in the center of town, and Hester is led to the scaffold.

Why are the townspeople at first pleased to see Chillingworth living with Dimmesdale What do people eventually say about Chillingworth?

Why are the townspeople at first pleased to see Chillingworth living with Dimmesdale? – People say that Chillingworth is the devil, come to wage battle for Dimmesdale soul.

What happens in Chapter 2 of the Scarlet Letter?

Summary: Chapter 2: The Market-Place As the crowd watches, Hester Prynne, a young woman holding an infant, emerges from the prison door and makes her way to a scaffold (a raised platform), where she is to be publicly condemned.

What was the punishment in the Scarlett Letter?

To watch a lazy servant or rebellious child to be publicly whipped, a religious heretic was to be beaten out of town or an Indian (drunk on the settler’s whiskey) was to be lashed out bak into the woods, or lastly it could be a witch (like old Mistress Hibbins, the foul- tempered widow of the local judge,) was to be hanged

What are the faces in the crowd in the Scarlet Letter?

The faces in the crowd are grim, yet familiar, since Puritans gathered often to watch criminals be punished. The narrator says that the Puritans considered religion and law to be almost identical. Puritans, like the prison, are supposed to hate sin, but seem to thrive on it.

What does the Scarlet Letter do to Hester?

As the crowd stares at Hester, the crowd focuses on the scarlet letter, which transfixes everyone. The letter sets Hester apart, enclosing her in “a sphere by herself” outside the watching crowd. The letter isolates and distinguishes Hester. In a sense, it defines her identity.