Alliteration In Scarlet Letter

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D.H. Lawrence’s essay, “On The Scarlet Letter”, analyzes Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter with an attitude of distaste. Lawrence has this attitude because he believes Hester Prynne takes pride in her actions as an adulteress and should not be honored for them. D. H. Lawrence uses textual allusions, a sarcastic tone and condescending alliterations to criticize the wrong portrayal of Hester as a redeemer when she is an adulteress.
Textual allusions are used by the author to display his opinions of Hester. D. H. Lawrence mentions how many people can be deceived by Hester’s self placement as the “Divine Maternity...whose infant was to redeem the world” when in actuality she is an adulteress, not a saint. (Lawrence 31) The allusion to The …show more content…
Lawrence to explain the urgency to realize the consequences Hester deserves. Lawrence uses alliterations when he mocks how many see Hester as, “ Abel, Abel, Abel, Admirable”. (Lawrence 22) He emphasizes the name Abel to explain that many view Hester as a victim. By using a biblical reference of a victim, Lawrence mocks Hester. He is stripping Hester of her bravura of false purity as he comically lauds her. Lawrence similarly writes that “the human spirit...all begins with A. Adulteress. Alpha. Abel. Adam. A. America”. (Lawrence 27-29) Lawrence is criticizing Hester’s actions by calling her strong terms that display that she is of sin. The alliteration creates emphasis for the reader to focus on the points that the author mentioned. These words are powerful weapons that pierce Hester’s pure image. Alliterations emphasize Lawrence’s point that Hester should not be venerated since she is the perpetrator of sin.
D. H. Lawrence believes that Hester is not the heroine of The Scarlet Letter, but rather she is the villain. Lawrence uses textual allusions, a sarcastic tone and condescending alliterations to convey to the reader that Hester is evil. The author creates emphasis with these devices so the reader can easily understand the message in a concise manner. With these tools, D.H. Lawrence convinces people that Hester is a villain and should not be
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