How to Write About Character in The Scarlet Letter
Analyze one of the four main characters in The Scarlet Letter. Come to some conclusion about them and defend it using the text as your evidence. Feel free to use your knowledge of Puritan culture and religion you've gained from The Concise Anthology of American Literature.
We can determine a fictional character's qualities four ways &emdash;
€ by what they say & think,
€ by what they do,
€ by what other characters say about them,
€ by what the author says about them.
Using the above as evidence, we can make a few quick determinations, such as
€ who is the protagonist & antagonist,
€ is the character "round" (fully developed & real) or "flat" (indistinguishable from their group or class: the women at the prison door who greet Hester are flat characters, representing the range of Puritan reaction),
€ is the character dynamic or static; i.e., does the character grow or change through the story, or is the character merely incidental,
€ is the character a stereotype or an archetype; i.e., is the character a stock figure (the tough cop, the evil villain, the swashbuckling hero) or is the character "a basic model from which copies are made"? To better distinguish, think of Hester Prynne. She is not a stereotype in that she is much more than a "whore with a heart of gold," or a "wronged woman." Still, in her role as an artist, she represents an original type (archetype) &emdash; all artists.
€ how real are the characters? Judge this regarding qualities such as probability, plausibility & verisimilitude.
Questions to Consider
1. Some men categorize women into two categories: madonna & whore. Is Hester one, the other, or both or neither? Is she a tragic heroine?
2. Someone once remarked that people either love Hester or are afraid of her. Is this a fair statement?
3. What is Hester's attitude toward her sin? Is her attitude toward it essentially fixed or does it evolve? Is it confused in the sense that it is always subject to certain emotional pressures of her situation?
4. What are some of the complexities involved in trying to assess the effect of isolation on Hester?
5. Compare & contrast Hester with Mistress Hibbins as women on the edge of society.
6. Why did Hester choose to stay in Boston after her disgrace? Why did she decide to return after she had left for Europe?
7. Is Hester or Arthur Dimmesdale the main character of the novel?
8. Is Dimmesdale merely a hypocrite or is he more? Evaluate his reasons for not confessing. How valid are they?
9. How do Dimmesdale & Chillingworth differ as men of intellect & study?
10. How is Dimmesdale's limited understanding of God (that God is a God of punishment & not of love) delay him from confessing his sin?
11. What role does God play in Dimmesdale's life? Do you feel that the relationship between Dimmesdale and his religion is an essentially straightforward one that has become complicated by his sin, or is it actually a complex one?
12. What keeps Dimmesdale from confession for so long? What makes him confess when he does?
13. Defend or attack this statement: "Dimmesdale is half in love with death."
14. Does Hawthorne mean for Dimmesdale to be a sympathetic character? Explain.
15. Does Hawthorne give a sympathetic dimension to his portrait of Chillingworth, or does he wish him to function purely on the level of demonic evil? Defend your choice.
16. Is Chillingworth's demonism psychologically credible or can it only be comprehended on the level of moral allegory?
17. Trace the evolution of Chillingworth's relationship to Dimmesdale.
18. Is Pearl amoral or immoral? In other words, is her nature neutral (beyond morality) or wicked & wild? Is there a third alternative?
19. What are the difficulties in trying to understand Pearl as a child of nature?
20. Some critics feel that Pearl is not a real child at all, that she is only an animated symbol; others feel that although she does have a symbolic function she is also, nevertheless, a psychologically credible portrait of a child brought up in unnatural circumstances. With which position do you agree?
21.What is Pearl's symbolic function in the novel?
22. Discuss the growth & development of one of the four main characters, looking at all their sins & at their progression toward salvation or damnation.
Structure:
Introduction
1. Your introduction may begin with a brief identification of the character followed by any noteworthy problems or challenges in defining the character's qualities. Then offer a THESIS sentence in which you state the point your essay is attempting to prove. Then offer a TOPIC SUMMARY which presents the organization of your evidence.
Body
2. The first sentence is your TOPIC SENTENCE in which you state the point you will prove. Follow it immediately with the textual evidence. Use brief direct quotes to back up your topic sentence. Then show how it proves your topic. Finally, relate it to your thesis.
3. Same as above
4. Same as above
Conclusion
5. Quickly summarize your three topics, then come to some synthesis -- a coming together of all your points into some new idea. Leave your readers with a definite, conclusive, fairly irrefutable point regarding the character in question -- a point that, until you illuminated it, had been obscure to them.