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The relationship between Hawthorne and the scarlet letter
The relationship between Hawthorne and the scarlet letter
What is hawthorne trying to convey in the scarlet letter
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Symbolism is defined as the use of of symbols to express or represent ideas in works of art, literature, etc… Nathaniel Hawthorne was an expert in the use of symbolism. The Scarlet Letter is full of symbols which are crucial in understanding the underlying moral and religious concepts that lurk beneath the Puritan society. Some examples of the symbols embedded in the story are the Scarlet A, the meteor, and Pearl..
The scarlet letter is given to Hester after she is condemned an adulterer. Her punishment is to wear the letter “A”, which is stitched in gold and scarlet. The letter is intended to intended as a symbol of shame, since adultery was severely frowned upon and most adulterers were put to death. However, as time passes, the meaning of the symbol slowly changes. Hester did everything in her power to help the world when it needed her. As Hawthorne puts it, “None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty…” (Hawthorne 114). The people found so much helpfulness in her that many people did not interpret the letter A by its original significance. Instead, they viewed the scarlet letter as Able. Hawthorne intended to use the scarlet letter to show how Hester changes over the course of the novel. The Puritans also see this change; however, they do not what goes on when she is by herself.
Another symbol that is linked with the scarlet A is the meteor. The Puritans always attempt to see symbols in nature, which they interpret as messages from God. In Chapter 12, Dimmesdale shrieks while standing upon the scaffold; the scaffold where Hester was condemned. He cannot take the guilt which is gnawing at him inside and he is desperate to seek release. However, the shriek was only a figment of his imaginat...
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.... The community sees Dimmesdale as a saint, while Hawthorne portrays him as a morally weak person who cannot confess his sin. Everyone sees Chillingworth as a betrayed husband who is betrayed by his wife. However, Hawthorne shows him to be an evil-minded person who is so consumed with vengeance and hatred that he cannot live when his victim dies. His only purpose in life is to make Dimmesdale’s life miserable; so when the minister dies, Chillingworth has no purpose left so he dies as well. The story of the scarlet letter is extremely relatable in the modern era. People often do not realize that everyone has his/her own story and that people should not jump to conclusions without knowing that story. The kid that is always angry and is always bullied? He could be having family problems. So this is my message: don’t judge a book by its cover, judge a book by its story.
First, Hester is a main symbol in the book and she is a symbol of sin, confession, shame, and repentance. The first two symbols Hester represents are shame and sin. She has committed adultery and was forced to stand on the scaffold for public humiliation. She has to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’. The scarlet letter ‘A’ stands for adultery and is a symbol of shame. Hester is forced to wear this so she will always be reminded of the sin she has committed and so everyone knows that she has committed adultery. Although Hester has to wear the scarlet letter, she is a very strong, independent woman even without a male influence in her life. Hester is also a symbol of strength because she has to hold all of the shame and punishment in the sin that her and Reverend Dimmesdale committed. On Election Day Reverend Dimmesdale gives his sermon and people say it is the most powerful speech he has ever given. They think that
The central theme in The Scarlet Letter is that manifested sin will ostracize one from society and un-confessed sin will lead to the destruction of the inner spirit. Hawthorne uses the symbol of the scarlet letter to bring out this idea. In the novel, Hester is forced to wear the scarlet letter A (the symbol of her sin) because she committed adultery with the clergyman, Dimmesdale. Because the public's knowledge of her sin, Hester is excluded physically, mentally, and socially from the normal society of the Puritan settlement. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small cottage where she makes her living as a seamstress. Though she is known to be a great sewer amongst the people, Hester is still not able to sew certain items, such as a new bride's veil. Hester also has no interaction with others; instead she is taunted, if not completely ignored, by all that pass her by. Despite the ill treatment of the society, Hester's soul is not corrupted. Instead, she flourishes and improves herself in spite of the burden of wearing the scarlet letter and she repeatedly defies the conventional Puritan thoughts and values by showing what appears to us as strength of character. Her good works, such as helping the less fortunate, strengthen her inner spirit, and eventually partially welcome her back to the society that once shunned her.
In the beginning, the scarlet letter represents the sinful nature of Hester’s crime, as revealed through the thoughts and feelings of Hester and the townspeople towards the letter. When first wearing the letter in public, Hester portrays herself as indifferent towards the town’s harsh language and detest for her, despite still feeling the intensity of her punishment internally. Hester portrays herself as indifferent towards the town’s harsh language and detest for her, and strong in the difficult conditions. By “wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she…with a burning blush, and…haughty smile…looked around at her townspeople and neighbours” (Hawthorne, 80).
In the beginning of the novel, the "A" symbolized shame and punishment. One villager voiced his opinion on the "A" when he stated, "At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead"(p.59). The villagers saw the "A" as public punishment. They saw Hester as lucky because her punishment was not harsh enough. Another villager saw Hester in a new light when she said, "She hath good skill in her needle...but did ever a woman...contrive such a way of showing it!...What is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen meant for punishment?" The "A" made clear what the villager's Puritan principles were and showed the Puritans judicial system in action. When Hester embroidered the "A" beautifully, she mocked their judgment. Thus, the villagers saw Hester has prideful. The "A" also exposed the Puritan's hidden shame. Hester recognized this when Hawthorne said, "She felt an eye- a human eye - upon the ignominious brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief, as if half of her agony were shared."(p.89). A few villagers saw the letter and Hester as a constant reminder of their own sin. Hester was the torturous representation of the lust that they kept hidden inside. The Scarlet letter was seen as a symbol of shame yet caused the villagers to see Hester as fortunate, boastful, and as a symbol of their own faults.
Six Works Cited In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, the meaning of the letter "A" changes throughout the novel. This change is significant as it indicates the personal growth of the characters as well as the enlightenment of the townspeople. When the novel begins, the letter "A" is a symbol of sin. As the story progresses the “A” slowly transforms to a symbol of Hester’s strength and ability. By the end of the novel, the letter “A” has undergone a complete metamorphisis and represents the respect that Hester has for herself.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's bold novel, The Scarlet Letter, effectively employs three major symbols: light, dark, and the scarlet letter. The novel relies heavily on light and dark symbolism to represent the eternal struggle of good versus evil.
In The Scarlet Letter, symbolism in the symbolism in this novel plays a large part in the novel, in the scarlet letter “A” as a symbol of sin and then it gradually changes its meaning, guiltiness is symbolic in the novel, and of course the living evidence of the adulterous act, Pearl. The actions of Pearl, Dimmesdale and fate all return the letter of Hester. They give Hester the responsibilities of a sinner, but also the possibility to reconcile with her community, Dimmesdale and the chance to clean her reputation.
“Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used by the author to represent abstract ideas or concepts.” Symbolism in literature is the depth and hidden meaning in any piece of work. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a powerful and evocative novel laced with symbolism. The most obvious is the symbol of the scarlet letter itself, representing Hester’s sin of adultery. Hawthorne’s other symbols are less obvious and are very often obscured in the novel.
One of the main symbols of the novel is the basis for the title of the novel itself. Hester Prynne's scarlet letter is attached to her dress, and appears "in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery with fantastic flourishes of gold thread" (Hawthorne 60). The letter is said to have "the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself" (Hawthorne 61). The letter seems to be the focal point of Hester's figure, and the townspeople obsess about the blazing red sign of her sin for a long time after Hester's ignominy.
A symbol is an object used to stand for something else. Symbolism has a hidden meaning lying within it; these meanings unite to form a more detailed theme. Symbolism is widely used in The Scarlet Letter to help the reader better understand the deep meanings Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays throughout his novel. He shows that sin, known or unknown to the community, isolates a person from their community and from God. Hawthorne also shows this by symbols in nature around the town, natural symbols in the heavens, and nature in the forest.
The purpose of the scarlet letter is not fulfilled according to the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. It was put upon Hester’s bosom to claim her unholiness but instead the "punishment" served as a way for Hester to grow stronger. The townspeople were the first to see first introduction of Hester. She was looked down on since the branding of the letter “A” upon her bosom. She was a "figure of perfect elegance" compared to the Puritan women of "brief beauty" (Hawthorne pg.: 55, 57). Right from the start, Hester appears to be different from those around her, suggesting a rebellious attitude to the traditions and customs of the time where church and state were still considered to be the central government at the time. She was different from others due to her nature of her being. Hester wasn’t like all other women. If another woman were to be branded an adulteress, that woman would have probably try to keep her sin away from the townspeople and forever keep their peace. Hester on the other hand, had the bravery and boldness in her that did not frighten her to show off what she did wrong. She may have had the intention that...
Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes its form.
In the first chapters of the novel, Hester was punished to wear an "A" on her chest at all times. The "A" is a punishment for the adultery she committed with the towns own Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Instead of making it into something that people looked down upon, as something horrific and disgusting on her chest, she made it look like a beautiful, gleaming gem. She made it out of the most gorgeous sparkling gold threads that caught everyone's eye. A quote in chapter two described the scarlet letter as "so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself." That shows how she is a confident and very individual person. No other woman would have as much courage as she did to make a punishment into an attraction.
One of themes that Hawthorne conveys in The Scarlet Letter is that society is more willing to forgive people who ask for forgiveness with humility and generosity than those who demanded it as a right. This theme was conveys using Hester Prynne, a young women who committed adultery. This was considered to be one of the worst crime someone could commit in the Puritan society during the eighteen hundreds, where she resides in. As punishment, Hester was required to wear a scarlet letter "A" upon her garment in order for everyone to recognize her crime. Her society had condemn her, they believed that she "has brought shame upon all of us, and ought to die..."(59) Yet, as time went by, because of the way in which Hester carried herself wearing the scarlet letter, the symbol had taken a new meaning. Although, when the scarlet letter was first place on her bosom it was a symbol of Hester's crime, burden, seclusion, and shame. However, as a result of Hester's generosity and humility the scarlet letter had come to symbolize Hester's strength, philanthropy, and gained her very high respectability in her society.
"The common definition says that a symbol is a sign or token of something… We take symbols like these pretty much for granted. They are a part of everyday experience. In literature, matters are a little more complicated. Literary symbols usually don’t have instantly recognizable meanings. Rather they take their meanings from the work of which they are part" ("The Scarlet Letter" 8). An example of symbols that most take for granted would be the rosebush, which Hawthorne selects a flower from as an offering to the reader, to the elfish child Pearl, to the scarlet letter A; these are all symbols that Hawthorne uses. The average reader may take it for granted, but each symbol within this novel has a purpose. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses all of these symbols to build his story, to make it come to life. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is created around the different symbols within the novel.