Please choose ONE Question (25 points max) from this section:

1. Please compare Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter to the 1995 movie of the same title and discuss in detail a) how the historical and cultural context in which the novel was written and the film produced might have influenced the different focus as well as the main values and/or underlying philosophies stressed in the two versions of the Scarlet Letter and b) which of the two versions you find more successful and why.

2. One of the main topics in both the novel and in the movie version of the Scarlet Letter is love. Please discuss in detail how the love between Hester and Arthur is depicted in the two versions and what obstacle(s) and antagonist(s) the main characters have to fight against. Think in this context also about the differences in frame, plot, structure, setting & context, characterization, outcome, as well as symbolism. Use details and examples to support your argument!

3. Please imagine that one of the main characters from the novel meets the same main character of the 1995 movie:fictional dialogue in which the two characters discuss who they are in these two versions. Make each character point out in particular his or her motivations and values as well as the changes he or she is going through in the course of the events.