Nathaniel Hawthorne writes The Scarlet Letter and demonstrates the controversial topic through the scarlet letter “A”, which is owned by Hester Prynne. The letter represents sin, adultery, righteousness, and abilities throughout the story. Besides the major themes, there is the significance of Mother Nature expresses the essential relationships between main characters, the contrast to the Puritan society, and changes in several different situations. It forms the lightened society and brings honesty back. Hester has imprisoned, and there is the rose-bush on the outside of prison-door. Therefore, one of the Nature of importance is the rose-bush. It only appears twice in the entire story. However, it determines some substantial connections to …show more content…
The rose-bush mainly represents hope at the prison-door where criminals enunciate sin and punishment. It also has a connection with Hester, Pearl, and Puritan society. The rose-bush explains at the end of the chapter as “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 34). It foreshadows the empathy for Hester through a change of mind of the society from “Adulterer” to “Able” as “fragrance and fragile beauty” (Hawthorne 33) and “sweet moral blossom” (Hawthorne 34) of the rose-bush. The quote is a presage for not only the later story but also the change of Hester. Moreover, it represents Hester’s strength as a woman and a mother, which connects to how Hester maintains it to end her ignominy and torture of the letter “A”. On the other hand, regarding the relationship between the rose-bush and the Puritan society, it presents as “the black flower of civilized society” (Hawthorne 33). It emphasizes that the reality of the society is not ideal, although Puritans thought they have lived in a beautiful community because the first building they construct is the prison. Therefore, the author offers the idea of the contrast between the rose-bush and the black flower which is the symbol of the society. The rose-bush is symbolizes a beautiful object which brings the light to the dark society. Furthermore, …show more content…
It hides their existences from Chillingworth and ignominy. Its appearance is distinct from the Puritan society since it is the God’s area. First of all, the forest has been a symbol of freedom in the Puritan society as “Such was the sympathy of Nature-that-wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, nor illumined by higher truth -with the bliss of these two spirits!” (Hawthorne 139). It explains the woodlands provides the freedom from the rule of the society. It is the only place Hester is now able to remove her letter from her bosom and discuss a plan to escape with Dimmesdale from the ignominy and Chillingworth. Regarding the forest, Nathaniel Hawthorne criticizes The author criticizes the Puritan society as the corruption because the citizens deviate from the proper life, although the Puritans are supposed to follow the God’s guidance. Thus, the forest asserts how dark the society has been, and differs from what God created. In the woods, a brook represents a contrary connotation of the
The Scarlet Letter is a tale of constant trial and punishment. For Hester Prynne, there is no escape from the shame and belittlement she has been forced to endure within puritan society. However, like the puritans who had escaped prosecution by migrating from England to the New World, characters in The Scarlet Letter can escape the prosecution of puritan society by visiting the forest. It is a symbolic realm that embodies freedom and privacy, and the only sanctuary for those who seek liberty to express their true nature, whether it be through acts of love, or heresy. The forest as a symbol of escape from puritan society is persistent throughout the novel through its use by the witches and the Black Man, Dimmesdale and Hester?s interactions there, and Pearl?s union with nature there.
Irving and Hawthorne both explore the role the forest has on their Puritan communities and main characters. Irving’s story focuses the forest as a place where the devil is while cutting and burning trees. Irving’s depiction of the forest is very dark, and the forest itself is more a swamp than a traditional, lush forest. Irving describes it as, “thickly grown with great gloomy pines and hemlocks, some of them ninety feet tall, which made it dark at noon-day…(Irving, 178).” He also uses adjectives like “stagnant”, “smothering”, “rotting”, and “treacherous” to describe his story’s forest.
Throughout the life of Emily Grierson, she remains locked up, never experiencing love from anyone but her father. She lives a life of loneliness, left only to dream of the love missing from her life. The rose from the title symbolizes this absent love. It symbolizes the roses and flowers that Emily never received, the lovers that overlooked her.
They see the forest as a place only for the Devil and his minions. Yet, while the Puritans see it as an evil place, it is used as a good place for the ones who the Puritans consider as being evil, or unworthy of being in their sacred community. It is this ever present community embodied again as a forest. The forest is accepting of all of the misfits and outcasts of the mainstream society. “The environment affords Pearl safe surroundings in which to roam and play… [and] is where two lovers are allowed to be alone for the first time in seven years without the frowning disapproval or condemnation of their human peers” (Daniel
A large fraction of the opening chapter is appointed to the rosebush and to some weeds that grow next to the prison. Hawthorne assumes that a wild rose beside the prison door may help to symbolize some fresh virtuous blossom, that may be found along the path, or relieve the drowning ending of an account of human fragility and anguish (Waggoner 119).
These definitions of this age old symbol, the rose, evolved over time as cultures came into contact with what has now called the Language of the Flowers. This “language” first appeared in the East and was used as a form of silent communication between illiterate women in harems. During the Victorian era this form of communication began to move towards Western Europe. The first compilation of this language was written in French and then was later translated into English. (Seaton, ).The Victorians used this new method of communication to express love, sorrow and much more through the flowers that they cultivated and bought. This language of flowers or rather the use of flowers to symbolize different messages can certainly influence a story if one has knowledge of this method and chooses to interpret it in this manner.
The forest is generally sought out as a place where no good happens in many stories such as Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. It is no different in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. It is where many mysterious things reside in the wilderness. The town in the book can contrast the forest as a sanction where people are are immune from the darkness. They differ, but they also aid in conveying the bigger themes of the story. Some people might see the forest as a “happy place” for Hester and Pearl, but it should really be looked upon as a place of sin when comparing it to its foil, the town, which in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter contrasts to aid in the themes of the nature of evi, civilization versus wilderness, and identity
When Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the forest, they discuss their true feelings about their experiences since Hester was branded with the scarlet letter. Hawthorne describes how, “No golden light had ever been so precious as the gloom of this dark forest” (192). The rare presence of light in this otherwise dark situation symbolizes the relief both Hester and Dimmesdale feel after sharing the truth about Dimmesdale’s torturous guilt and Hester’s marriage to Chillingworth. In every scene previous to this one, the forest is associated with witchcraft, evil, darkness, and secrets. This prior association is contrasted by the shedding of sunshine on the sinful pair after releasing the last of their secrets. This scene is a turning point in the novel and shows how despite Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin and the consequences they’ve had to suffer for it, they are able to find some peace in the fact that they have confided in each other and fully admitted their
It among all the other montages is symbolic of the different magnifying events in the story. There is no actual rose in the story, only the word “rose” appears four times. The first two with the use as a verb. The next two occur at the very end, “A thin, acrid pall as of the tomb seemed to lie everywhere upon this room decked and furnished as for a bridal: upon the valance curtains of faded rose color, upon the rose-shaded lights, upon the dressing table, upon the delicate array of crystal and the man 's toilet things backed with tarnished silver, silver so tarnished that the monogram was obscured. (Faulkner 5.4)”
First it is necessary to examine how nature is identified with sin against the Puritan way of life. The first example of this is found in the first chapter regarding the rosebush at the prison door. This rosebush is located "on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold"(36) of the prison. The prison naturally is the place where people that have sinned against the puritan way of life remain. Then Hawthorne suggests that the roses of the rose-bush "might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him"(36). This clearly states that Nature is kind to prisoners and criminals that pass through the prison doors. Hawthorne strengthens this point by suggesting two possible reasons for the rosebush's genesis. The first is that "it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness..."(36), while the second reason is that "there is fair authority for believing [the rose-bush] had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson..."(36). By Hawthorne's wording it appears as if he is emphasizing the second reason because he suggests there is "fai...
The historical setting is highly significant in the novel since it is intertwined with the public’s belief and values, which shape overall themes of the novel and the main characters’ traits. The main setting of the novel takes place in New England during the middle of the seventeenth century, and the setting is the essential factor that develops the core conflicts among Hester, Dimmesdale, and the Puritan society; in fact, the historical setting itself and the society within it is what Hawthorne intends to reveal to the reader. New England in the seventeenth century was predominately organized around religious authorities, and indeed, a large portion of the population had migrated to the colony of New England with religious purposes. Therefore, the strict and religiously centered historical setting is well demonstrated through Hester’s townspeople when Hester commits adultery. The church authority and the townspeople require Hester to wear the large “A” embroidered scarlet letter, which symbolizes adultery. This act is aligned with the historica...
Pearl, Hester's child, is portrayed Puritanically, as a child of sin who should be treated as such, ugly, evil, and shamed. The reader more evidently notices that Hawthorne carefully, and sometimes not subtly at all, places Pearl above the rest. She wears colorful clothes, is extremely smart, pretty, and described as impish. More often than not, she shows her intelligence and free thought, a trait of the Romantics. One of Pearl's Favorite activities is playing with flowers and trees. The reader will recall that anything affiliated with the forest was evil to Puritans. Hawthorne, however, thought that the forest was beautiful and natural. "And she was gentler here [in the forest] than in the grassy- margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother's cottage. The flowers appeared to know it" Pearl fit in with natural things. Also, Pearl is always effervescent and joyous, which is definitely a negative to the Puritans. Pearl is used as a symbol mirroring between the Puritanical views and the Romantic ways.
The forest represents a refuge from society for Hester Prynne and Minister Dimmesdale. At the same time, it symbolizes nature’s role as a shelter from society. This adds to the themes that society as a whole is morally deprived and nature is essentially good. It becomes a place where they are unshackled from Puritans’ strict law that is corrupted. Once under the forest’s shelter, they are then permitted to meet and speak heart fully to one another. Moreover, Prynne resides in the outskirts of Boston in the forest area. By doing so, Prynne is demitting everyday direct contact with the other town’s people. This adds to the two themes by making the readers view the forest as a mother trying to protect Hester and Dimmesdale from society’s wickedness.
The rose is initiated earlier as a symbol for Monica, when she plucks one and shows it to David, and at the end he picks one as a reminder of her. Teddy senses the importance of the roses for the mother and the child as he tries to bond with them. Monica’s husband, Henry, is the character that represents a clearer picture of the story.
Traditionally, forests or woods are used to symbolize the wild and untamed, and the inhabitants are usually depicted as savages or outlaws. Hawthorne uses the forest to depict the things that Puritans are meant to avoid and that are forbidden; things that will make them sinful or turn them into savages or outlaws. He describes the "mystery of the primeval forest" and he states that the forest is a "mystery", which contradicts what the Puritans want in their society, uniformity (125). The forest symbolizes what they do not want, a change from the path that everyone must follow. Change is not tolerated in their religion; change is their evil. The forest represents this change; it is wild and untamed, not uniform. To become curious and want to explore, and stray off the path, and venture into the "mysterious forest," would be the ultimate sin, such as Hester's sin.