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A crowd of men and women assembles near a dilapidated wooden prison. The narrator remarks that the founders of every new settlement have always sought first to build a prison and a graveyard. He adds that this particular prison was most likely built upon the founding of Boston and describes prisons as the "black flower of civilized society."
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Characters - The Scarlet Letter Chapter 1 Summary & Analysis...
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The Scarlet Letter presents a critical, even disdainful,...
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One rainy day, the narrator discovered a peculiar package in...
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The Scarlet Letter begins with a prelude in which an unnamed...
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In the manner that Hawthorne describes it, the prison embodies the unyielding severity of puritan law: old, rusted, yet strong with an "iron-clamped oaken door." Puritan law is coated, in this account, in the rust of tradition and obsolete purpose. But despite the evolution of society, the laws have not kept up.
The descriptive language in reference to the prison door — ". . . heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes" and the "rust on the ponderous iron-work . . . looked more antique than anything else in the New World" and, again, ". . . seemed never to have known a youthful era" — foreshadows and sets the tone for the tale that follows.
The descriptive language in reference to the prison door — “. . . heavily timbered with oak, and studded with iron spikes” and the “rust on the ponderous iron-work . . . looked more antique than anything else in the New World” and, again, “. . . seemed never to have known a youthful era” — foreshadows and sets the tone for the tale that follows.
In Chapter One of "The Scarlet Letter", Hawthorne describes the prison as the "black flower" of civilized society.He ironically points out that the Puritans felt they had a utopian society, yet ...
A summary of Chapters 3–4 in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Learn exactly what happened in this chapter, scene, or section of The Scarlet Letter and what it means. Perfect for acing essays, tests, and quizzes, as well as for writing lesson plans.
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How does Hawthorne describe the prison?
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Why does Nathaniel Hawthorne call the prison a black flower?
Why did Hawthorne set aside land for a cemetery and a prison?
How does Hawthorne describe Hester?
How does Hawthorne set the mood for the story of human frailty and sorrow?
The Puritan women waiting outside the prison self-righteously and viciously discuss Hester Prynne and her sin. Hester, proud and beautiful, emerges from the prison. She wears an elaborately embroidered scarlet letter A — standing for "adultery" — on her breast, and she carries a three-month-old infant in her arms.
