Symbolism And Symbolism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

1549 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Hawthorne's use of symbolism

Discuss Hawthorne’s use of symbolism and its significance to the theme of the novel The Scarlet Letter?

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter a tale of sin and redemption was set in the seventeenth century in the New World Boston, Massachusetts. From this, Hawthorne was able to effectively illustrate the effects of Puritanism that was found there through his characters throughout the novel. This essay will be to show how Hawthorne’s characters are affected by religion through the use of symbolism as well as its implication to the theme of the novel. In the novel, Hawthorne was able to manipulate the significance of symbols using the domino effect starting with Dimmesdale and Hester’s affair multiple times as it enabled to show development for the …show more content…

The scarlet red on the cloth symbolizes the sin that was committed and the love that Hester had for her daughter Pearl. The gold that outlines around the scarlet letter “A” makes Hester’s sin seem less immoral. Hawthorne’s use of imagery is used to signify the fact that goodness can come out of the damaging situation that took place. From this, the symbolic meaning of the letter changes throughout the novel from “Adulterer” to “Able” and finally to an “Angel”. This illustrates that at the start, Hester was labelled with the scarlet letter as a punishment for adultery. “The letter was the symbol of her calling…They said that it meant Able so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman 's strength." (13.168). As the novel develops, she embarks on understanding and respecting the humanity of those who surrounded

Show More
Related

  • The Scarlett Letter: Compybols And Symbolism In The Scarlet Letter

    1319 Words  | 3 Pages

    Symbolism plays a very important part in Scarlet Letter because it helps to identify characters and the main ideas of the story. It can help a reader to visualize and understand the meaning of the story better when there are symbols to help explain the meaning of something. Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne, Pearl, and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale as symbols all throughout the book. They are the main characters of the story and they all overcome some difficulties in the end. They all have important roles in the book.

    Read More

  • Janie and Hester: Dealt Unfair Hands But Played the Game

    838 Words  | 2 Pages

    Beginning with the very first words of The Scarlet Letter the reader is thrust into a bleak and unforgiving setting. “A thong of bearded men, in sad-colored garments,” that are said to be “intermixed with women,” come off as overpowering and all-encompassing; Hawthorne quickly and clearly establishes who will be holding the power in this story: the males (Hawthorne 45). And he goes even further with his use of imagery, painting an even more vivid picture in the reader’s mind. One imagines a sea of drab grays and browns, further reinforcing the unwelcoming feeling this atmosphere seems to inheren...

    Read More

  • A Comparison of "The Scarlet Letter" and "The Minister's Black Veil"

    730 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout his literary endeavors, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes symbolism to present a certain theme that pertains to human nature and life. In his works, The Scarlet Letter and "The Minister's Black Veil", Hawthorne uses symbolism to present a common theme pertaining to religion; that though manifested sin will ostracize a person from society, un-confessed sin will destroy the soul.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - Symbolism in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    603 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism several times in the book, The Scarlet Letter. Some examples of this are when they talk of the scaffold, the brook, the forest, and the sunshine. The one that I will discuss is the sunshine. Hawthorne uses sunshine in the novel to symbolize purity and hope several times throughout the book. In one scene of the book, Pearl requests that Hester grab some sunshine and give it to her to play with. Hester then replies, "No, my little Pearl! Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee." (p.104) Hester has no sunshine to give Pearl because she has committed adultery and is not pure. Another example is when Hester and Pearl are taking a walk through the forest when a dark cloud came over the sky and Pearl said, "Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom." Pearl says this just innocently playing around, not having a clue of exactly how right she is. She says that the sun fears the "A" and avoids the impurity of it at all costs, even disappearing from the sky. Later in that walk, Hawthorne again shows how the sun refuses to be around Hester and her sin. Hester tells Pearl to run off and catch the sun and so she sets off at a great pace and, in her innocence, she seemingly catches it and stands right in the midst of it. Hester comes over and attempts to come over bask in the sunshine and Pearl says, while shaking her head, "It will go now." Hester replies, "See! Now I can stretch out my hand and grasp some of it," but "As she attempted to do so, the sunshine vanished." This shows how the sun, being pure, adorned the Pearl in her innocence, while it shunned Hester for her impurity. Hawthorne shows the symbol of sunshine best in the chapter appropriately titled, "A Flood of Sunshine." In this particular scene, Dimmesdale and Hester are discussing what Dimmesdale will do about the current situation with their relationship. Dimmesdale announces that he will leave the community, and he must do it alone. In the heat of the moment Hester declares that he will not have to go alone, and she takes off her bonnet and throws down the

    Read More

  • Essay on Imagery and Symbolism in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    827 Words  | 2 Pages

    In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes imagery to convey that Dimmesdale can represent Puritan Society rather than the round character that can be seen on the surface level. This is seen through the imagery and symbolism of hypocrisy, Dimmesdale as a Christ figure, and the scarlet letter.

    Read More

  • Metaphors Throughout The Scarlet Letter

    682 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hawthorne manages to create many metaphors within his novel The Scarlet Letter. The rose bush outside the prison door, the black man, and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold, which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters, the crowd or more minor characters, and what truth or punishment is being brought forth.

    Read More

  • Outline For The Scarlet Letter Essay

    1053 Words  | 3 Pages

    5. The Scarlet Letter portrays the radical role of religion within the early stages of America. Nathaniel Hawthorne is essentially a transcendental whistleblower in society, depicting the absurdity and irrationality of religion through Hester Prynne’s extreme retribution from her congregation and clergymen.

    Read More

  • Insight into Puritan Society Illustrated in Hawthorne's Novel, The Scarlet Letter

    1159 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlett Letter is an American Classic and has proved to be a great contribution to American Literature. Hawthorne has allowed his readers insight into a Puritan past that held strict principles and unyielding consequences that he was all too familiar with and haunted by these horror stories of his heritage led by his own ancestors. In composing this tale Hawthorne presents a realistic image of the 16th Century and threads the importance of his knowledge of the Transcendentalist movement which brought focus to the nature of life and the right of individuals to pursue their natural desire a great contrast to the Puritanic existence he was so custom to. Although the author Nathaniel Hawthorne had doubts about the seriousness of his work, his novel The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, gained huge recognition and notoriety because of its insight into a changing American culture and the issues that would shift its' direction. Hawthorne was born in 1804 on July fourth in Salem Massachusetts. Hawthorne’s heritage went back six generations in Salem where he was raised and reared for manhood. His own ancestors had been there to judge in the Salem Witch Trial of the seventeenth century. This undoubtedly was one of the many things that shaped and influenced this American author’s style in this and many of his other works.

    Read More

  • Symbolism Used in The Scarlet Letter

    1071 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

    Read More

  • Summative Essay

    754 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. American Literature. Vol. 1. New York: Penguin Academics, 2004. 592-778. Print.

    Read More

  • A Character Analysis of Pearl in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1496 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a book of much symbolism. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the book is Pearl, the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Throughout the novel Pearl develops into a dynamic symbol; one that is always changing. In the following essay, I will explore Hawthorne's symbolism of Pearl from birth, age three, and age seven. Also, I will attempt to disprove the notion that Pearl is branded with a metaphorical scarlet letter "A" representing amorality; instead she represents the immorality of her mother's adultery.

    Read More

  • Use of Symbols and Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    1224 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Isolation Through Symbolism in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

    690 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Moral and Social Themes in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    648 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, there are many moral and social themes develped throughout the novel.  Each theme is very important to the overall effect of the novel.  In essence, The Scarlet Letter is a story of sin, punishment and the importance of truth. One theme which plays a big role in The Scarlet Letter is that of sin and its effects.  Throughout the novel there were many sins committed by various characters.  The effects of these sins are different in each character and every character was punished in a unique way.  Two characters were perfect examples of this theme in the novel.  Hester Prynne and The Reverend Dimmesdale best demonstrated the theme of the effects of sin.

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    912 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...

    Read More

More about Symbolism And Symbolism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Open Document