Both Uses of
novel
in
The Scarlet Letter
- Some of the briefer articles, which contribute to make up the volume, have likewise been written since my involuntary withdrawal from the toils and honours of public life, and the remainder are gleaned from annuals and magazines, of such antique date, that they have gone round the circle, and come back to novelty again.
p. 42.5 *novelty = quality of being new
- Thus Roger Chillingworth scrutinised his patient carefully, both as he saw him in his ordinary life, keeping an accustomed pathway in the range of thoughts familiar to him, and as he appeared when thrown amidst other moral scenery, the novelty of which might call out something new to the surface of his character.
p. 114.6novelty = newness (in perspective)
Definitions:
-
(1)
(novel as in: a novel situation) new and original -- typically something considered good
-
(2)
(meaning too common or rare to warrant focus) meaning too common or too rare to warrant focus:
More commonly, novel is used as a noun to refer to a work of fiction that is published as a book. In the form novelty, the word can refer to an inexpensive, mass-produced item of interest such as a toy, trinket, or item given away to advertise.