The Scarlett letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts a romance genre exemplifying the story of Hester Prynne who conceives a daughter through an affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of sin, and guilt and morals. In reference to the film version of the Scarlett Letter the screenwriter detracts in various scenarios of the story in the matter of sequence of events. However the film justifies validity of the author’s original intent in the storytelling of the novel.
Based on the movie the beginning of the film alters in comparison to the novel, the movie opens with a discussion between the town’s magistrates and a local Indian tribe. Furthermore it demonstrates Hester’s arrival from England. The book, however, begins much later with Hester’s precession from prison. The movie is told through the eyes of Pearl, than oppose to the novel is exemplified in third person. This key points a change by the speaker in the film to enhance the emotion and impact.
According to the novel and film both epitomizes Hester’s portrayal as a sinner of committing adultery, although evokes how she endured all oppression and neglect of the puritan society or judgmental critics and demonstrated no mercy or shame due to her love for Dimmisedale. In spite of Hester’s tolerance of exuberant brutality and excessive manipulation of Chillingworth’s abusive power. The novel and film both subjectively percepts Hawthorne’s visual themes of sin and dignity by depicting Hester’s will of impact righteousness, loyalty which consequently upraised her to a superior evolution and position to “able”.
In reference to the film and novel the contrast between both shows how Hester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale meet, fall in love, and their affair. The occurrence differed than in comparison to the novel, Mistress Hibbins and Hester become friends. Later in the movie it demonstrates Hester’s husband’s progress after being kidnapped by the Indians. In the novel, Chillingworth’s appearance is not introduced until he arrives in the town. This change in scenario may differ in the audience prediction of Hester and Dimmesdale’s love not fulfilling the author’s intent of exemplifying their intimate and profound love they mutually concealed of.
Despite all the differences that were present in the film, it justified the basic principles of the author’s original intent. Overall in the scarlet letter, Hawthorne demonstrates the influence that public opinion has on an individual as various characters in the book allow it to consume their lives. Just as, Hester, who endures the suffering the community imposes for her sin while Dimmesdale imposes his own suffering because he cannot bear to reveal his sin to the community. Chillingworth disclosure as he refuses to reveal his true identity risking his reputation and public opinions. All due to the characters tolerance of public torment.