Scarlet letter

             Upon reading both the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne and viewing the film produced by Roland Joffe, there are many differences that the reader and viewer can immediately point out. Some of these differences are time frame, characters, imagery, etc.
             At the beginning of the film, Hester arrives to the New World as she did in the novel, but she does not arrive at the ominous prison door she passed through on her way to the scaffold. Many characters were added to the film, many at which were main characters in the book. Mituba, Hester's mute slave, Brewster, the undisciplined rule- breaker, Goody Gotwick, the representative of the community's "Self-righteous (pious) Women," and Minister Cheaper, the powerful church leader who attempted to serve as judge of the community's morals. Mistress Hibbins' relationship with Governor Bellingham, in the novel, prevented her persecution, while in the film; no family ties protected her from the cruel witch trials of the 1600s. Her character progressed in the movie small to playing a major role. She, like Hester, was the only character in the movie that acted upon her personal beliefs. Dimmesdale's character was stronger in the film, less tormented. Unlike the novel, he longed for Hester to name him as his co-conspirator and despised that fact of keeping their love a secret. In the book his reaction was completely different, " She will not speak!' murmured Dimmesdale, who, leaning over the balcony, with his hand upon his heart, had awaited the results of his appeal (ch.3).
             In the film, Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale move to the Carolinas to begin a new life, while in the novel, Pearl lives a full life, her mother working for the community and her father dying on the scaffold. In my opinion each ending in their own way in better. In the making of the movie, which was based upon the novel, Joffe created his own work, changing and adding t...

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Scarlet letter. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 17:42, March 28, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/11080.html