The Scarlet Letter

1185 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: critical analysis over the scarlet letter

In the first chapter of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, a solitary rosebush stands in front of a gloomy prison to symbolize "some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow" (Hawthorne 56). Serving as a symbol of beauty and solitude, this rosebush foreshadows the dismal tone that will preside over the remainder of the novel and illustrates the beauty of confession and growth in contrast to the suppression and decay apparent within the prison. Hester can be compared to the rosebush due to her growth and inner beauty following her confession of having committed adultery and because she shows passionate and brazen countenance in the face of stern rigidity. On the contrary, Dimmesdale is the prison, confining his guilt of having committed adultery within himself and thus allowing the decay of his soul. It is through immense symbolism, contrasting imagery, and Biblical allusion that Hawthorne creates both a critical and gloomy tone while speaking to the ubiquitous theme that unconfessed sin destroys the soul.

Hawthorne employs Hester's scarlet letter, her punishment for committing adultery, as a powerful symbol that juxtaposes the concealed letter that Dimmesdale must face due to his hidden guilt. In the first scaffold scene, before the crowd has even witnessed Hester or the affliction that is affixed to her breast, some of the women of the town gossip over her punishment. One young woman tells her neighbors, "Let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart," (60) illustrating the fact that Hester feels shame whether or not she is forced to wear the mark. Dimmesdale, on the other hand, does not confess his sin and...

... middle of paper ...

...ul conception. Pearl also provides the only bright and hopeful tone in the novel by personifying the purity associated with confession. It is Hester's confession and freedom from guilt that provides for Pearl's innocence and purity.

Through pervasive symbolism, contrasting imagery, and Biblical allusion, Hawthorne creates a critical and gloomy tone and speaks to the omnipresent theme that unconfessed sin destroys the soul. Through the novel, Hester is a symbol of growth due to her freedom from the torment of unconfessed guilt while Dimmesdale represents the decay of the human spirit that results from unconfessed sin. It is Hawthorne's dark and gloomy tone regarding Dimmesdale in contrast to the hopeful and accepting tone regarding Hester and Pearl that clearly personifies his belief that confession of sin revives the soul and allows for personal growth and empathy.

Show More
Related

  • The Scarlet Letter

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter A Critical Analysis of Hester Prynne The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1849. This novel won him much fame and a good reputation as a writer. In writing The Scarlet Letter, Hawethorne was creating a form of fiction he called the psychological romance. A psychological romance is a story that contains all of the conventional trappings of a typical romance, but deeply portrays humans in conflict with themselves. The Scarlet Letter won Hawthorne great

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter

    805 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scarlet Letter For Every Action There is a Reaction: the Affects of Sin in The Scarlet Letter According to Webster¡¯s Collegiate Dictionary, sin is defined as an action that is or is felt to be highly reprehensible. The average person would agree that it is only in human nature to sin. Therefore the severity of such transgressions is diluted with that simple justification. However, the less frequently discussed and oftentimes the more important issue is the effects of a man or woman¡¯s sin. Nathaniel

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    1030 Words  | 3 Pages

    At first, the Scarlet Letter placed on Hester's dress was meant to show shame or dishonor. But now, represents the outcome of Hester and Dimmesdale's sin. The judgment caused by the Scarlet Letter results in how she looks at society and how society looks at Hester. Pearl is not an ordinary character, she is an intriguing symbol. A symbol is something that stands for, or represents something else. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester gives her daughter the name Pearl because

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter

    1061 Words  | 3 Pages

    Love, affair, disowning! One may think that this is a soap opera, but one is fairly mistaken. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter written by, Nathaniel Hawthorne, love, lies, mistrust are a few of the many situations that confront his characters. In Boston Hester Prynne commits a sin of adultery landing her the punishment of wearing the scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her life. The man whom with she has an affair with is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Roger Chillingworth is Hester’s husband, and he

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    826 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delves into symbolism. A few of the symbols throughout are: the Scarlet “A” embroidered on Hester’s chest, the Forrest (in the daytime), the Forrest (in the nighttime), the prison, the rose growing up by the prison wall and light and dark. Each of these has a certain significance. The “A” is the outward symbol of Hester and Dimmsdale’s sin. It is the tangible, form of punishment. The thing that physically sets Hester apart. This symbolizes

    Read More

  • The scarlet letter

    1762 Words  | 4 Pages

    vengeance revealed in The Scarlet Letter. In an age of sexual repression and conservatism, there is never room for public show of relationships. Emotions and affection are kept hidden from the public eye. With such limitations there is always an urge to break from what is considered proper. From this, lies and deceit are born to cover our mistakes. Hester Prynne stands helpless on a scaffold with her illegitimate daughter Pearl, wearing a blazoned scarlet “A”, making known

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    2520 Words  | 6 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a great piece of literature. It explores problems in society that still occur today. It is fascinating to see how the Puritans punished adultery then and the lack of punishment of adultery in our society now. It shows how all the characters affect Hester and what everyone does in the community. It shows that no one is exempt from any type of crime in that town. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, he analyzes the characters of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    1509 Words  | 4 Pages

    The trouble that one letter can cause to so many people can be described as nothing short of incredible. The power of the scarlet letter can change a life, a community, and be a harder punishment than people will ever understand. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne gives the scarlet letter three significant meanings that are revealed through different scenes within the novel. The Scarlet letter was pushed upon Hester Prynne by a theocratic society, for a sin that she had committed

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter

    622 Words  | 2 Pages

    Scarlet Letter The Puritan Beliefs As Told Through The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne was not a Puritan. But Hawthrone’s forefathers were Puritans, so he had an understanding of their belief system and their basis behind it. He stated that he hoped the sins of his forefathers had been forgiven. Hoping to expose those ideas which he understood, yet despised, Hawthorne purposely presented many important Puritan beliefs as import aspects to the Scarlet Letter. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    1871 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a cult classic. And with good reason. Anyone who simply believes that the title of this book just signifies that the protagonist wears a scarlet “A” on her dress in punishment of her adultery is ignorant. Obviously this paper would not be required if such were true. Instead, The Scarlet Letter is extremely ambiguous. One can argue that the scarlet letter is a character itself. I intend to flesh this out in literary, historic, and symbolic terms. What

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    2428 Words  | 5 Pages

    In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne (Hawthorne 70). Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 90). Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth. In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent

    Read More

  • Scarlet Letter

    1567 Words  | 4 Pages

    the mind of the reader, who then establishes a relation in his or her mind with that object and the message. Hawthorne uses symbolism in The Scarlet Letter extensively to express the underlying truths about the stifling nature of Puritan society and the dispositions of the characters in the novel. Such elements as nature, color, and light; the scarlet letter itself; as well as the scaffold, where the three pinnacles of the plot occur, operate on a firm foundation of symbolism. Nature, color and light

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    1306 Words  | 3 Pages

    Of the many ideas presented in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Crucible by Arthur Miller, and A Different Drummer by William Kelley, all the novels express the importance of the conflicting nature of truth. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne portrays that a person should not lie, even when drastic consequences such as death threaten him or her. However, Miller suggests in The Crucible that people should consider preserving life more important than always speaking honestly. Kelley

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    2790 Words  | 6 Pages

    The aspect of Nature in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter seems to have been characterized to readers with having a mixed blessing. Rather than illustrating Nature in the typical Puritanical manner of the 1600’s, that Nature is downright evil, tying Nature to the “Black Man,” Hawthorne uses a different approach. Instead, Nature is fairly two-sided in that it portrays destructive as well as somewhat therapeutic powers. The text reveals the positive attributes of Nature that the Puritans overlook

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne"s, The Scarlet Letter is a book about a woman, Hester, who moves to Boston from England during the Puritan times. She has a husband, and tells the colonists of Boston he will be arriving to be with her soon. After years go by and he doesn"t arrive, Hester finds another man whom she becomes close to. She becomes pregnant and the town finds out she has committed adultery. She is forced to wear a letter "A," meaning "adulteress," on her bosom for the rest of her life. The book focuses

    Read More

More about The Scarlet Letter

Open Document