The Scarlet Letter

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Recommended: Nature as source of inspiration in scarlet letter

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 or fear. Conversely, the text shows that aspects of Nature that help mankind also harm him. The duality of Nature mirrors the complex inner feelings and dual nature of the novel’s characters. Nature represents the paradoxical juxtaposition of both good and evil in man, by showing both good and evil attributes in itself. Ultimately, Nature reveals man's inherent inability to be pure.

By presenting a number of aspects of Nature that are beneficial to man, the text manages to discount the one-sided Puritanical view of Nature as an outright evil influence. Nature provides both Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale with some feelings of renewal and relief by giving each a sense of freedom from the oppression of society. For example, Hester, by living in a "lonesome cottage, by the sea shore,” (166) a place representative of Nature, is able to invoke such thoughts "dared to enter no other dwelling in New England” (166). Her isolation from society amidst the liberating influence of Nature, releases her from the restrictions that determine what is acceptable to believe, allowing her mind to roam "as freely as the wild Indian in his woods"(203). Her "estranged point of view," her "fate and fortunes", in addition to her homely cottage by the se...

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...he way her mother does is best. Also in her pursuit of truth, she fervently desires Dimmesdale to stand with her and Hester in the sunlight, unknowingly requesting that her father reveal the truth about the bond between them all.

Her quest for truth eventually leads her to "pledge that she [will] grow up amid human joy and sorrow"(251), ceasing to "forever do battle with the world"(251), and instead "be a woman in it"(251). The novel culminates its message of duality by showing the lawless child of nature embrace, in part, the morality of society. In order to live truth, Pearl must hold on to her wild roots, while accepting a civilized future. She must free herself from the isolation of New England, but not give herself over to the complete lawlessness of the forest. She seems on the verge of living the message of the novel by accepting the duality of her nature.

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