Rhetorical Devices in The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter takes place in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 17th century. The novel addresses the moral dilemmas of personal responsibility in the lives of its characters. With literary techniques Hawthorne works into his romanticized fiction a place of special meaning for nature. He uses the rhetorical skills of Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne throughout the novel to help reveal the true colors of his characters and rhetorical devices such as figurative language as in the personification of nature to give his work a strong narrative voice.

While it is evident Dimmesdale has great rhetorical skills, Hester Prynne’s exquisite play on words is more subtle but just as important in the development of their personalities. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is artfully mastered in language, which is important as a Puritan Minister. Many people said [Dimmesdale’s preaching] affected them like the speech of an angel and the narrator practically gives him “the gift of tongues” (Milliman 1). He appeases the crowd by saying to Hester Prynne, “[see] the accountability under which I labor” which is meant to shame her for the adultery she has committed but also “secretly” confesses his equal participation in her sin (1). His audience, the people of Boston, perceives accountability as responsibility of what a minister must relay to his congregation and not as the truth of his wrong doing (1). Hester Prynne also uses a double entendre as she tells Dimmesdale to speak for her when Wilson and Bellingham try to remove Pearl from her care. The men think she is merely asking her minister for support, not asking of her lover to own up to the responsibility of their child. This cry for help reminds Dimmesdale that his “sympathies...

... middle of paper ...

...hey manage to speak eloquently while also having secret conversations without others noticing. Also, with the use of figures of speech, the novel's natural environment can provide additional points of view for narrative voice and theme. In addition to Hawthorne's effort to bring these two worlds into a more concise focus surfaces in his fiction in the form of personification of nature as well as the smaller detachments in Puritan society, the development of his characters rhetorical skills showcase the hypocrisy of Dimmesdale and the resilience of Hester Prynne.

Works Cited

Daniel, Janice B. "`Apples Of The Thoughts And Fancies': Nature As Narrator In The Scarlet Letter." Atq 7.4 (1993): 307. World History Collection. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.

Milliman, Craig A. "Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter." Explicator 53.2 (1995): 83. Literary Reference Center. Web. 15 Apr. 2014.