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The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter
Hermeneutics
Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 masterpiece is America's first psychological novel. Set in Puritan New Englan in the !"00s# $he Scarlet %etter focuses on the effects of sin an guilt through the life of Hester Prynne# who gives &irth to a aughter after committing a ultery# refuses to i entify the father# an wor's to forge a new life an new i entity. (ecause of the &oo''s sym&olic# imaginative# an nonrealistic slant# it is usually classifie as a romance rather than as a novel. The Scarlet Letter is a tale of a ultery an punishment )the titular scarlet letter* in !+thcentury (oston. Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel# pu&lishe in !850# e,plore the themes of sin an righteousness# love an hate# intolerance an ignity. -t was a social commentary that is still relevant to ay. Hawthorne's novel has &een translate to film numerous times# in a .freely a apte . !//5 film irecte &y 0olan 1off2. Hawthorne &egins his story as Hester Prynne is release from prison# 3aile for the crime of a ultery. She gave &irth to her aughter# Pearl# while in prison. Hester Prynne refuse to reveal the i entity of the man who impregnate her# so the town fathers eci e to force her to wear a scarlet letter .A. every ay to ma'e her shame pu&lic. $he 0everen 4immes ale# wrec'e with guilt for his role in Hester's affair# grows wea' an mentally fragile un er the &ur en of his terri&le secret. Hester's thought5to5&e5 ea hus&an arrives in town un er an assume name an secretly ta'es his revenge upon his wife an her lover. 6hile the story 3umps right into the action of Hester's rama# it fails to enlighten the rea er on the main characters' pasts. 6ho was Hester Prynne &efore she arrive in America7 How was her marriage to 8hillingworth7 6hat is 4immes ale's &ac'groun an how i he come to have an affair with Hester Prynne7 6e get vague clues at &est. $he film wor's to she some light on these matters. -t is a common &elief that films are always of lesser 9uality than the &oo's they are a apte from. - thin' it is mainly true# &ut there are always e,ceptions. - fin the novel an the film of The Scarlet Letter to &e of near e9ual 9uality for several reasons. $he novel has a &etter narrative structure than the film# &ut the film tol a more complete story. $he movie is tol through the eyes of Pearl# while the &oo' is tells the story in thir person. :nli'e the novel# the movie shows how Hester Prynne an 0everen 4immes ale meet# fall in love# an their affair. -n the movie# &ut not in the &oo'# ;istress Hi&&ins an Hester &ecome frien s. %ater in the movie we see Hester<s hus&an <s progress after &eing 'i nappe &y the -n ians. -n the novel# we are not intro uce to 8hillingworth until he arrives in the town. $he first hour or so of the film focuses on the time &efore Hester's imprisonment# when she first arrive in town an met the 0everen 4immes ale. -t also e,plains why 8hillingworth was thought to &e ea an why he su enly appeare in town after so much time ha passe . :nfortunately# this section of the film which tries so har to fill in some gaps in Hawthorne's story oes so at a langui pace an the scenes are mostly ry an ull. Hawthorne's novel i not tell enough of the story an 1off2's film tells too much. 6hen novels are ma e into movies# they are often change to accommo ate the times or the irector<s wishes. Story lines# settings# an even mannerisms of the characters may &e change . $he Scarlet %etter is no e,ception. -n the !//5 version starring 4emi ;oore as Hester Prynne# the story line is change in several parts to enhance the emotion an impact of the film. ;ost of the similarities
&etween the &oo' an the movie are foun towar the mi le of the movie an the ma3ority of the iscrepancies were at the &eginning an en of the film. -n the mi le of the film we see many similarities. Hester<s punishments were the same. 0everen 4immes ale punishes himself in &oth stories. $he mannerisms of the characters are the same. 8hillingworth iscovers who Pearl<s father is an attempts to estroy him. 4immes ale an Hester meet in the woo s to tell of their love for each other. $he film en s with another group of ifferences. $here is a trial in the film of ;istress Hi&&ins who is accuse of &eing a witch. Hawthorne's Hester Prynne is not as fully reali=e as - woul have hope # &ut compare to 4emi ;oore's ren ition# it is remar'a&le. Hawthorne tells us little of Prynne &efore the events of the &oo'# an we rarely get any insight into her inner nature# only her responses to the circumstances that surroun her. However# actions o spea' lou er than wor s an her actions are a mira&le. Hester commits the car inal sin of any woman of her ay> she thin's for herself. She thin's a&out women's role in society# human nature# an the ivinity of people. Hester helps the poor ) espite her own circumstances* an she greatly cares for her aughter. She oes not emoni=e her oppressors? instea she sets an e,ample to others &y living a 9uiet an ignifie life in the face of oppression.No one woul ever accuse this Hester Prynne of &eing a pru e# &ut - thin' the filmma'ers swung too far from Hawthorne's novel in her portrayal in an effort to mo erni=e her an ma'e her e,citing . -n the &oo'# Hester 3ust grits her teeth an &ears it# accepting her punishment an going a&out her life as &est she can# &ecause a la y5Puritan oesn't have a whole lot of options. Hester wears her .A. for the remain er of her life# an serves to comfort an ai those spurne &y the Puritanical community mostly &ecause she ha no other options. ;oore's Hester comes off more li'e a catch5all feminist. She insists that she i nothing wrong# an that the rest of the town is wrong. She itches her .A. at the en of the movie an moves away@with 0everen 4immes ale an Pearl# no less@to live happily ever after as a li&erate la y.- i en3oy Aary Bl man's portrayal of Arthur 4immes ale# however. $he 4immes ale of the novel was wea'# whiny# an not very &right. - coul scarcely &elieve Prynne woul see enough of a man in him to &e him. (ut Bl man# not e,actly famous for his rugge goo loo's# &rings a certain charm an effervescence to the role. His 4immes ale is smart# no&le# an wrac'e with guilt though he is never wea'. He constantly challenges Prynne in her ecisions an ta'es a stan when it matters. - can see why the film Hester fell for him. Bther a aptations as the one in C0!0's instant hit Easy A put a fresh spin on the ol classic. $his loose interpretation is all a&out a nice high school stu ent who han les a &a rumor in the worst way possi&le. Plus it has the a e &enefit of emonstrating how Hawthorne's i eas a&out 3u gment an hypocrisy are still alive an well in to ay's worl . 4espite all the ifferences that were present in the movie# the &asic i ea of the &oo' was &rought through to the au ience. $he main ifference &etween the two stories is the amount of time covere . $he novel &egins with Hester in prison# while the novel &egins long &efore that with Hester<s arrival. $he film was a goo interpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne<s story.(oth the movie an the &oo' versions of the famous American piece of literature# $he Scarlet %etter# &y Nathaniel
Hawthorne# hel true to the common characteristics of a typical romance. 0omance as it may seem# woul usually involve love# &ut that is a common misconception. A true romance is a story that portrays a fantasy that has nature an many weir an e,otic aspects. $he movie variation of $he Scarlet %etter# is very similar to the &oo'# it was surprising &ecause most &oo's to movies get change to some egree. Although the movie an the &oo' were so close it i have some ifferences. although the Scarlet %etter an Easy A share many similarities# they also iffer in many ways as well. (oth the movie an the &oo' show the main character eal with struggles# &ut they eal with the struggles in their own ways. $he Scarlet %etter an Easy A &oth show the effect of sin on a person. $he two wor's show how har the characters lives &ecome after their sin. Dou also see guilt come into play. -n the Scarlet %etter guilt ta'es a toll on 4immes ale an rives him to eathE -n Easy A# guilt ta'es effect on Blive an causes her to tell the truth in the en . Altogether though# &oth the &oo' an the movie have a happy en ing. However# the Scarlet %etter an Easy A have a tremen ous amount of ifferences. -n $he Scarlet %etter Hester accepte her sin from the very &eginning for what it was. -n Easy A# Blive i not want to accept her sin# an in &y oing so commits another sin. Also in $he Scarlet %etter Hester oes not see' revenge# instea she 'eeps the i entity of the father a secret. -n Easy A# Blive see's for revenge in the very en in attempt to clear her name. -n conclusion# while the Scarlet %etter an Easy A &oth have many things in common# the two of them also have many ifferences from each other. -n &oth wor's they are a&le to help people# &ut in Easy A# Blive also helps herself out. $he two of them are very much ali'e &ut in the en un er very tight microscope the two turn out to &e completely ifferent. .Easy A. is a movie that is loosely &ase on Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel# .$he Scarlet %etter.. -n the movie# the protagonist# Blive Pen erghast# can &e seen as the parallel of Hester Prynne. Bne of the first similarities &etween these two characters is that they &oth wear a re .A. on their chests. (oth Blive an Hester wear this mar' &ecause of their se,ual &ehaviors that are eeme inappropriate &y their societies. 6hile Hester was force &y her Puritan society to wear this mar'# Blive voluntarily wears it as a sign of efiance. -n &oth the movie an the &oo'# Blive an Hester are &oth assigne certain roles that their societies consi er them as. Blive is seen &y her school as a promiscuous girl an Hester is seen as an a ulterer. (oth characters assume these roles that their societies have put on them an oes not try to fight this la&eling. $hey &oth live with this suppose infamy that they have &een put on with. However# 3ust li'e how Hester 's .A. gra ually &ecame a sign of her &eing .a&le. an .ai .# for those who 'now the truth# Blive similarly &ecame a channel of help for un er ogs an other trou&le people in her school.$here are many similarities> $he main character# a female# ma'es a poor choice &y society's stan ar s# an nee s to live with the conse9uences. A particularly religiousFspiritual group is hell5 &ent on elivering those conse9uences.$he main character &ecomes an outcast# an eals with the situation with her hea hel high. She is also very intelligent# an attempts to o goo unto others espite her social stan ing. Also# they &oth wear re A's sewn onto their tops. $he ifferences are also aplenty> Blive is not pregnant# an in fact# has never ha se,.She has a family support system .Hester's 0e A stan s for .a ultery. while Blive's stan s for# um# .awesome.7 Blive tries to get her male .partners. to tell the truth a&out their relationship# an in fact# she very pu&licly a mits the truth to everyone.She really gets the guy in the en . $here are some very clear ifferences in how the movie an the &oo' epict events in the Scarlet %etter. $he ifference &etween the two pro&a&ly result from the ifference in cultural &ac'groun an social values. $he mo ern &ac'groun of the movie gives it more fle,i&ility an allows the points to &e e,presse to a greater e,tent. $he attitu e of the main characters clearly e,presses the
ifference in etermination that is cast &y time. Blive in .Easy A. &rings the rumor to its greatest e,tent an actually nourishes the growth of the rumor &y falsely a mitting that she is actually getting pai to have se,. Bn the other han # Hester oesn't try o gain more attention than she has alrea y gaine . She tries to change her stan point &y wor'ing har er than &efore in or er to give other people a impression of a strong an in epen ent mother. $he other ma3or ifference &etween Hester an Blive is their position in the surroun ing that they are in. -n the &eginning of the movie# Blive states that she is someone that catches no attention. Blive has a eep esire to &e popular amongst her peers# so she eci es to let the rumors grow to the point that she coul n't ta'e it anymore. Blive tries to fit into her peers# &ut she chooses the wrong way an is isolate . Hester hol s a ifferent position. Puritans are &orn into a strict society an eviating from the Puritan way of life was consi ere a crime. Hester &ecomes an outcast of the Puritan community an she slowly fin s her way &ac' through har wor'. Hester oesn't try to gain more attention through her actions# &ut she oes inten to alleviate her feeling of guilt. $he way the two characters resolve their respective pro&lems is ifferent as well. Blive completely ignores the rumors in the en an finally proves that they are false. Hester a mits the crime that she performe # &ut she wor's to pay those crimes off. $his ifference also results from the society that they live in. 6ith ifferent e,pectation comes ifferent actions. $he e,ample of Hester an Blive prove this to &e correct. n &oth the movie an the &oo'# Blive an Hester are &oth assigne certain roles that their societies consi er them as. Blive is seen &y her school as a promiscuous girl an Hester is seen as an a ulterer. (oth characters assume these roles that their societies have put on them an oes not try to fight this la&eling. $hey &oth live with this suppose infamy that they have &een put on with. However# 3ust li'e how Hester 's .A. gra ually &ecame a sign of her &eing .a&le. an .ai .# for those who 'now the truth# Blive similarly &ecame a channel of help for un er ogs an other trou&le people in her school. Hester<s story shows us the cruelty an hypocrisy of authority# the angers of 'eeping secrets# the futility of flight from our own history. As - re5rea the &oo'# &egan to see why teachers woul imagine it a useful one for high school stu ents# espite its rather age prose. $he &est lesson# - thin'# is that Hester a apts to her circumstances. E,pecte to grow G imme an o&scure &y a isastrous clou # HHester<s etractorsI were astonishe # an even startle # to perceive how her &eauty shone out# an ma e a halo of the misfortune an ignominy in which she was envelope .J0emaining an outcast# Hester raises her aughter Pearl alone# refusing to name the chil <s father.Pearl# Gan imp of evil# em&lem an pro uct of sin#J grows up a living em&o iment of the scarlet letter K truthful# fearless# an utterly cut off from societal constraints. -n Easy A# Emma Stone<s Blive &ecomes &oth Hester an Pearl at once# &oth Angel of ;ercy an wil impish outcast.Agreeing to 'eep secret after secret# Blive fin s herself li'e Hester Gma e the common infamy# at which all man'in was summone to point its finger.JAn when she as's at last to &e free from her we& of concealment# Blive fin s herself &etraye or a&an one &y the same people she has helpe # which &ecomes the premise for the &est literary 3o'e -<ve ever seen in a movie. - woul say that even though $he Scarlet %etter an Easy A were &oth &ase on the same thing# they are completely ifferent.