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Published in 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter describes many details of the life of a woman in a Puritan community and her conflict with their beliefs. Immoral events committed were harshly treated in those times; today these situations are dealt with up-to-date solutions. A Hollywood version of the novel was created in 1995 to visually illustrate the story but left room for comparison. Both the book and movie contain similarities and differences in point of view, plot, and symbolism. The point of view in a story is important for visualization of the plot. In the novel Hawthorne narrates the story of Hester Prynne and her sin of adultery making his point of view third person omniscient.
He speaks of Hester like an outsider watching upon her life through a lucid glass window. This opposes the movies point of view which is told by Hester's daughter, Pearl, with a first person limited prospect. Pearl speaks of her mothers life and romance with her father as she has heard the tale of love and suffering. She speaks of Hester's life from a personal standpoint, including her thoughts and feeling into the situation of which she speaks. In the movie Pearl speaks of her living in the Carolinas with her family toward the end but in the novel Hawthorne did not mention it for the reason that he was not in a first person perspective of Hester and Pearls lives. Comparison occurs in the plot of the film version and book of The Scarlet Letter.
The theme of the story is one of the few things that stays of similarity. Hester Prynnes tale of her unfaithful mishap of adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimesdale remains the same. However, details and scenes were added to the movie to provide more interesting information to the modern audience. Unalike from the novel, the movie concentrates mostly on the strict Puritan belief and life style rather than on Hester's sin.
We immediately are aware of Hester's affair with Arthur in the beginning of the movie as opposed to in the book where it is revealed to us as a surprise toward the end. Through out the film we are exposed to the reprimanding and strict ways of the Puritan leaders that make her love for Arthur a difficulty to happen. Hawthorne's view mainly focuses on the A on Hester's chest along with the torture it brings in full description. Symbolism is a significant part in both the adaptation and novel. The main feature of this imagery is portrayed in the scarlet colored letter that Hester is to wear as punishment of her wrongdoing. All through the movie, for visual advantage, more symbols are made aware for understanding to the audience.
A red canary leads Hester into the forest bringing her to find Arthur bathing nude in the river thus symbolizing the temptation that she would later encounter. The red canary also appears when they are performing their act of love portraying lust, sin, and according to the Puritans: the devil. Not seen in the film was the symbolism of the rose bush by the prison door. It portrayed the remaining beauty of the world before entering the ugliness and harshness of closed doors and punishment. Adultery and other intense sins have been seen or heard about from literature and our surroundings of people in society for many years. No matter how the story is told or presented it will always have the same meaning, however, the details will always be different.
Who knows, you might even find some differences in the similarities.
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Research essay sample on Point Of View Scarlet Letter
