major themes of the scarlet letter :: essays research papers

Many of the major themes of The Scarlet Letter are introduced in the opening scene. Some of these themes were sin, nature's kindness to the condemned and the dreary lifestyle of puritan society. The first chapter has little action but it sets up these major themes. The tone of the whole story was set in this chapter. The opening scene of The Scarlet Letter, many major themes were introduced. One of the major themes of The Scarket Letter was sin. Much of Puritan society was based on sin. The first thing built in the town was the prison. There was a gathering outside ofthe elaborate prison. The prison was a major emphasis in the town. This was portrayed in part by "...have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetary, and another portion as the site for the prison." The prison was the first priority for the town to build. Sin and crime was the major emphasis of the town. Sin was a major theme of The Scarlet Letter. Another major theme introduced in the forst chapter was nature's kindness to the condemned. The prison was very bleak and worn down and old. It was very unforgiving for the prisoners. The only sign of hope was a rosebush that grew near the prison. "But on one side of the porta land rooted almost on the threshhold, was a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of june, with its delicate jems, 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." Nature was the only thing kind to the condemned. This theme was very important later in the book when Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl met in the forest. A major them in The Scarlet Letter was nature's kindness to the condomned.