Both Uses of
thwart
in
The Scarlet Letter
- These outbreaks of a fierce temper had a kind of value, and even comfort for the mother; because there was at least an intelligible earnestness in the mood, instead of the fitful caprice that so often thwarted her in the child's manifestations.
p. 88.3 *thwarted = frustrated or opposed
- To the high mountain peaks of faith and sanctity he would have climbed, had not the tendency been thwarted by the burden, whatever it might be, of crime or anguish, beneath which it was his doom to totter.
p. 132.1thwarted = prevented
Definitions:
-
(1)
(thwart as in: thwarted her plans) to prevent someone from doing what they want to do; or (less commonly) to oppose someone's efforts
-
(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) meaning too rare to warrant focus:
Much less commonly, thwart can reference a seat of a rowboat.