The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter

by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Book and Movie Comparison

Actually this is part of my assignment for "Extensive Reading" course, but I think it's interesting to share my opinion about the book and the movie version:

1.      How are the stories in the book and movie the same? Support your answer with examples.

      The title is the same although it had been said that the movie was freely adapted from the book.

      The setting also the same, namely the early years of Boston, Massachusetts, when many England-born people came to built the town and brought the customs and religion of old England with them.

For example:

s         The new port, town and settlement.

s         Also in one scene when the Governor asked Hester not to wear too much laces, which it was one example about the loud voices and strong opinion of Englishwomen of those times.   

      The book and the movie tell about a woman named Hester Prynne who should wear a scarlet A letter on her bosom as a sign of “adultery” – a sign of sin.

2.      How are the stories in the book and the movie different? Support your answer with examples.

There are a lot of differences I found between the book and the movie. And I think the movie is totally different from the book, even the ending is different.

The following are some examples of those differences:

      In the book, it is opened with the story about Hester Prynne who was being released from the prison and brought her new-born baby.

In the movie, it is opened with the scene of the death and cremation of an Indian Chief named Massasoit.

      The book was told by a former port official who found an old wooden box consisted of a piece of red material in form of capital letter A and some old papers who told about a woman named Hester Prynne.

In the movie, it is Pearl who acts as the narrator of the story.

      In the book, it does not tell about how did Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale meet or how was their relationship before Hester Prynne being sent into prison.

In the movie, there are several moments of their meetings. For example when Arthur helped Hester to lift her horse-cart that stuck in the mud or when they had arguments in the church library.

      In the book, it was told that Hester sew herself the letter A and she did it in fine way, even the town women thought that “she is clever with her needle”.

But in the movie, there was someone who had made it to be worn by Hester.

      In the book, there are not any murders done by Roger Chillingworth a.k.a Roger Prynne. But in the movie there are two murders done by him to Mituba and Brewster. And even Roger Prynne hung himself; it is not mentioned in the book (Roger Chillingworth died several years after Arthur Dimmesdale’s death and he left his fortune to Pearl).

      In the book, there was no lines about Roger Chillingworth looked for the devil’s mark on Pearl’s body.

But in the movie Roger Chillingworth showed Pearl’s birthmark in a court and lifted the child, even called her the “devil’s child” or “the Satan’s child”.

      There was no war with the Indian people, but in the movie there was one.

      In the book, Pearl reached her age of 7 when Arthur Dimmesdale finally decided to confess. At this age Pearl was able to talk.

In the movie, Pearl was younger and even she could not talk yet.

      In the book, it is said that Arthur were sick of psychological problems, due to his guilt, and finally he was died after confessing that he was Pearl’s father and declaring his affection for Hester.

In the movie, Arthur did not look so ill. Even, it is a happy ending one. Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne are going to have a new happy life in another town, of course with Pearl.

3.      Are some characters described differently in the book compared to the movie? Do any characters act differently? Support your answer with examples.

      For the main characters, I think there is only slight different. Hester Prynne is described almost similar to the book. But Arthur is described a little bit different in the movie, where in the book he should be sick because of his guilt.

Hester Prynne acted differently in several scenes.

For example: In the book, Roger Chillingworth asked Hester Prynne not to tell about himself (about he was Hester’s husband) to her lover (Arthur Dimmesdale). But in the movie, Hester directly told Arthur that her husband was still alive and he was in danger.

      I found some characters that are not mentioned in the book. For example, Brewster, Johnny Sassamon – the Indian, Matuba – the mute slave, Metacomet – the son of Massasoit, Indian tribes, some women of Mistress Hibbins’s friends, and the boy with the drum who followed Hester everywhere.

      Roger Chillingworth or Roger Prynne acted differently in the movie, namely he killed people. However, in the book, it is only told that he acted as a doctor who tried to find the father of Hester’s baby. He did it in psychological way.

      In the movie also showed that Hester makes friend with Mistress Hibbins, however in the book Hester rejected the friendship offer. Even, Mistress Hibbins is not an important character in the book, but she has important role in the movie (she acted as friend, helped Hester when she was giving birth, and even Hester wanted to be hung together with her).

      Meanwhile Arthur Dimmesdale is portrayed extremely different in the movie. He does not look so guilty as in the book where he was really sick due to his guilt.

   

4.      Which version do you like better? Discuss what makes one version better than the other one.

Since the movie is so different from the book so I like the book better than the movie version. In fact, the movie has the drama side (and I do love drama!) and a story about love and a happy ending. However, the book tells more about the psychological and religious side. It tells about Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale in their guilt of sin, in their struggle of love and God. The book tells more about the “scarlet A letter” itself and its meaning that time, hence it is suitable with the title. And it is not really described in the movie.

The book says more about many questions of sin, crime, suffering, and guilt. And I think it is the focus of the author, about the dark side of life. And according to my opinion, the movie cannot show that author’s aim.    

Further reading:

http://www.online-literature.com/hawthorne/scarletletter/