While reading the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, I came across many quotes I didn't really understand but I knew that they have an important meaning to them. I would reread them but sometimes I just couldn't figure out what the words were actually saying. Because of the language that Nathaniel Hawthorne used to write the Scarlet Letter made this a challenge to figure out some of the meaning of quotes throughout this book. One of the quotes that I thought was important but wasn't sure is "When we last spake together, said Hester, now seven years ago, it was your pleasure to extort a promise of secrecy, as touching the former relation betwixt yourself and me" (111) After reading this over and over again and looking up some of the words I didn't understand made it more clear. I'm not totally sure if I got the meaning of it right but I tried to break the quote down and figure it out. I think Hester is talking about her relationship with her husband and how they promised to keep a secret about it. I'm not sure if this is correct but I picked out words like betwixt and extort and looked them up to find what this quote was trying to say.
Another quote I took apart is " It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge, calmly replied Hester. Were I worthy to be quit of it , it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport" (110). I looked up the meaning of magistrates and purport when i didn't understand this quote. After I looked up the meaning of these words I got that Hester was explaining the scarlet letter and how she would want the meaning of it to fade on its own or the meaning would turn into something else. She would rather it be seen differently then have it taken off. She knows what she did and she takes full responsibility and wears it without complaint. I really like this quote because of how independent and strong she has gotten when wearing the scarlet letter. She doesn't want a way out of it unless she has deserved it by showing people who she really is and changing the meaning of it herself by proving to the people around her.
Throughout the Scarlet Letter I took the quotes that were difficult for me and broke them apart to find the real meaning of them. It really helped me understand the deeper meaning of things and the story's conflicts. If people picked out the quotes and took the time to understand them it would really help them if they were struggling through this reading. It helps me a lot and I suggest the reader should take the time to reread and understand what is the most difficult for them to fully recognize what they are reading.
I really like how you are able to work through this difficulty by taking a closer look at these very important quotes. I agree with your analysis here. I'd like to add this quote to your analysis, "In permitting this, I have surely acted a false part by the only man to whom the power was left me to be true!" Hester is acknowledging her guilt in keeping her marriage a secret and pleading with Chillingsworth here to stop 'badgering' Dimmesdale. Her use of the word "true" here is interesting to me because it reveals how Hester feels about Dimmesdale. She is speaking to her husband and yet this word shows her devotion is clearly with Dimmesdale, for he is the man to which she had hoped to be true. Hester is well aware that Dimmesdale's inner turmoil will be the death of him and she regrets the part she has played in his demise.
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