# data[].attributes.headline
"But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester's life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too" (Hawthorne 174). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester's life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too" (Hawthorne 174). 

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"'Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!" (Hawthorne 172). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"'Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!" (Hawthorne 172). 

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"...'in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what - for my own heavy sin and miserable agony - I withheld myself from doing seven years ago... Come, Hester - come! Support me up yonder scaffold'" (Hawthorne 167). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"...'in the name of Him, so terrible and so merciful, who gives me grace, at this last moment, to do what - for my own heavy sin and miserable agony - I withheld myself from doing seven years ago... Come, Hester - come! Support me up yonder scaffold'" (Hawthorne 167). 

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"In her was visible the tie that united them. She had been offered to the world... as the living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret they so darkly sought to hide..." (Hawthorne 136). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"In her was visible the tie that united them. She had been offered to the world... as the living hieroglyphic, in which was revealed the secret they so darkly sought to hide..." (Hawthorne 136). 

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"Such was the sympathy of Nature – that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, nor illuminated by higher truth – with the bliss of these two spirits! Love, whether newly-born, or aroused from a death-like slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world" (Hawthorne 133). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"Such was the sympathy of Nature – that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, nor illuminated by higher truth – with the bliss of these two spirits! Love, whether newly-born, or aroused from a death-like slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outward world" (Hawthorne 133). 

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"The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers - stern and wild ones - and they had made her strong..." (Hawthorne 131). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers - stern and wild ones - and they had made her strong..." (Hawthorne 131). 

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"Then the very nature of the opposite sex, or its long hereditary habit, which has become like nature, is to be essentially modified before woman can be allowed to assume which seems a fair and suitable position" (Hawthorne 107). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"Then the very nature of the opposite sex, or its long hereditary habit, which has become like nature, is to be essentially modified before woman can be allowed to assume which seems a fair and suitable position" (Hawthorne 107). 

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"...'this morning on the scaffold where evil-doers are set up to public shame'" (Hawthorne 102). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"...'this morning on the scaffold where evil-doers are set up to public shame'" (Hawthorne 102). 

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"...the appearance of an immense letter - the letter A - marked out in lines of dull red light. Not but the meteor may have shown itself at that point...but with no such shape as his guilty imagination gave it, or, at least, with so little definiteness, that another's guilt might have seen another symbol in it" (Hawthorne 100). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"...the appearance of an immense letter - the letter A - marked out in lines of dull red light. Not but the meteor may have shown itself at that point...but with no such shape as his guilty imagination gave it, or, at least, with so little definiteness, that another's guilt might have seen another symbol in it" (Hawthorne 100). 

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"The truth was, that's a little Puritans, being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived, had got a vague idea of something outlandish, unearthly, or at variance with ordinary fashions, in the mother and child, and therefore scorned them in their hearts..." (Hawthorne 60). 

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"The truth was, that's a little Puritans, being of the most intolerant brood that ever lived, had got a vague idea of something outlandish, unearthly, or at variance with ordinary fashions, in the mother and child, and therefore scorned them in their hearts..." (Hawthorne 60). 

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"But she named the infant 'Pearl,' as being of great price - purchased with all she had - her mother's only treasure!" (Hawthorne 57). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"But she named the infant 'Pearl,' as being of great price - purchased with all she had - her mother's only treasure!" (Hawthorne 57). 

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"Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast... as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (Hawthorne 50). 

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"Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast... as the figure, the body, the reality of sin" (Hawthorne 50). 

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"She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquaintance only with the grey twilight of a dungeon..." (Hawthorne 33). 

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"She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, who winked and turned aside its little face from the too vivid light of day; because its existence, heretofore, had brought it acquaintance only with the grey twilight of a dungeon..." (Hawthorne 33). 

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"The door of the jail being flung open from within their appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine..." (Hawthorne 33). 

# data[].attributes.subject
"The door of the jail being flung open from within their appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine..." (Hawthorne 33). 

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"Meagre, indeed, and cold, was the sympathy that a transgressor might look for, from such bystanders, at the scaffold" (Hawthorne 31). 

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"Meagre, indeed, and cold, was the sympathy that a transgressor might look for, from such bystanders, at the scaffold" (Hawthorne 31). 

# data[].attributes.body
The scaffold is another symbol in the book that has an evolving representation. In the beginning of the book, the scaffold represents a place of humiliation. Hester and Pearl are forced to stand there in front of the town, for public humiliation was part of Hester's punishment. As the characters evolve, the scaffold changes from a place of humiliation to a place of reconciliation. In the end of the book, Dimmesdale goes to the scaffold and confesses his sin before his death, changing the meaning of the scaffold.

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While Pearl is her own character, she also is a symbol of her parent's infidelity. Pearl is more than just a punishment to her mother, for she is also seen as a blessing. Pearl gives Hester the strength to live on after the humiliation she faces from the town. It is because of Pearl that Hester and Dimmesdale are able to grow from their mistake and change the meaning of the scarlet letter.

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The meteor represents different things to different characters in the book. To Dimmesdale, the meteor is representing him righting his wrong of not standing with Hester and Pearl seven years earlier. To others, the meteor represents an angry sign highlighting the sins of the family. Lastly, because the meteor's light was cast over the whole town, it could be saying that everyone sins.

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In the beginning of the book, the scarlet letter worn by Hester is meant to symbolize shame and sin. However, towards the end of the book, the letter's meaning changes. The letter "A" starts off standing for "Adulterer," but ends up standing for "Able." As Hester's identity grows, the scarlet letter holds less meaning to her. It originally brings her suffering and loneliness, but ends up bringing her rejuvenation.

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Hawthorne uses the motif of day versus night or light versus dark to categorize the book's events. The events that go on during the day, or appear in the light, are socially acceptable, for the eyes of the town are watching. The events that go on during the night, or happen in the dark, are trying to be concealed and hidden, for they are not acceptable in the eyes of others.

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Hawthorne creates two settings in the book that have very different meanings. The town represents order, rules, and civilization, where everything is seen and, therefore, can be punished. The forest represents a place where human authority does not exist. The forest is a safe place of escape for Hester, for she is free of society's rules and punishments.

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In the book, Hawthorne explores the theme of female independence. He does this through Hester, who takes care of herself and Pearl on her own and boldly faces her consequences. Being a single and working mother was not at all common during that time and challenges what the Puritans believed about family life. Over the course of the book, Hester becomes comfortable with standing up for herself and her daughter, portraying a level of female independence unknown to the town.

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The theme of being true to oneself is shown through both Hester and Dimmesdale. For Hester, she learns throughout the book to change the meaning of the scarlet letter and abandon the shame given from the town. For Dimmesdale, he learns to own up to his mistakes and be honest. When he reveals that Pearl is his daughter, he is finally being true to himself and sets his guilt free.