Scarlet Letter Literary Criticism Essay - 883 Words

Scarlet Letter Literary Criticism nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;All great stories have thorough reports from several different literary critics, what do they have to say on The Scarlet Letter? The Scarlet Letter in the nineteenth century is comparable to early twentieth century and late twentieth century criticism. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Early nineteenth century critics think the story was a tremendous work of art. A â€Å"Review of New Books† thought the story is â€Å"a genuine native romance† (Ripley 295). This is shown through the struggle of Hester and Arthur to have a secret love affair and find time to see each other periodically throughout the story. Ripley believes The Scarlet Letter is his greatest work by â€Å"imposing splendor of†¦show more content†¦This was very interesting, because it is a different twist to the normal happy story. The people in the story as a whole are spoken of. The people in the story were more symbolic than just a character, â€Å"very picturesquely arranged,† mainly because the story isn’t about them, but what they stand for (James 29). For instance, Pearl is the living sin. Nineteenth century criticism is positive to the story. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Early twentieth century criticism continues what took place in nineteenth century criticism, to be very optimistic about the story, but takes a deeper look into the main characters. Mark Van Doven points out the greatness of the characters. He explains Pearl in a short, but fascinating way, â€Å"Pearl has something supernatural about her. She may even be the devil’s child (Van Doren 135). Pearl, the living sin, haunts Hester at times with her tricky questions. Van Doren says of Dimmesdale, â€Å"Dimmesdale’s purpose, still do not give him peace. The blood comes, but not his soul, for there is no penitence. He tortures, but cannot purify himself† (131). He is a sad character in this story. It seems like all he does is suffer and suffer. Either way, Arthur would have been tortured, either physically or mentally. If he came out early on, they would have killed him, but he kept it in, so he suffered mentally. Hawthorne did this magically. V an Doven speaks highest on Hawthorne’s work of Hester, â€Å"Hester becomes a heroine, almost a goddess, into when theShow MoreRelatedThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1397 Words   |  6 Pages John Graves Professor Connie Caskey English 251: American Literature I 8 February 2016 The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 which is based on the time frame of the Puritans, a religious group who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630’s. The Puritans were in a religious period that was known for the strict social norms in which lead to the intolerance of different lifestyles. 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