Symbolism In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

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Symbolism can be found all throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. While most of the symbolism in his work may subtle, it all plays a large role in his novel. Symbolism is often defined as something, like an object, that represents something else or an idea. One may even say he overuses symbolism in his work, “The Scarlet Letter”, but the meaning of his symbols change throughout the novel. For example, the letter “A” has one meaning in the beginning, but it changes a few times by the end novel. Some of the major forms of symbolism within “The Scarlet Letter” are the letter “A”, Pearl, and the Arthur Dimmesdale. The letter “A” in “The Scarlet Letter” is one of the most prominent forms of symbolism in Hawthorne’s novel. In the …show more content…

As the puritans began to see Hester as a caring woman, and as someone who was concerned for the betterment of her community, the letter “A” no longer stood for adultery. "The scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world 's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence, too” (Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter). This shows that with all the good deeds that Hester has done, the puritan community didn’t belittle or scorn Hester Prynne anymore. The puritan community “refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification” (Baym and Levine, pg.539). The letter became a symbol of her calling. Hester “brings food to the doors of the poor, she nurses the sick, and she is a source of aid in times of trouble” (The Scarlet Letter). This led the puritans to believe that the letter “A” stood for able. She was an able woman. She was no longer looked down upon or negatively talked about. Hester was respected by her community for the sensitive and nurturing woman she was. “Eventually, the letter even achieved a kind of holiness” (Shmoop Editorial Team). She was even a Sister of Mercy. The scarlet letter had “the effect of the cross on a nun 's bosom. It imparted to the wearer a kind of sacredness, which enabled her to walk securely amid all peril. Had she fallen among thieves, it would have kept her …show more content…

Pearl is Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale’s daughter, but she is much more than that. She represents her parents’ sin, and the puritan community sees her as the devil’s work. She is a constant reminder that Hester committed adultery. In chapter eight, Hester tells the pious committee what Pearl means to her. “She is my happiness! — she is my torture . . . See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin?" (Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter). This shows that Pearl is more of an object of symbolism than an actual character. She also serves as the connecting link between Hester and Dimmesdale. She represents their love and passion for each other. “Pearl was the oneness of their being. Be the foregone evil what it might, how could they doubt that their earthly lives and future destinies were conjoined, when they beheld at once the material union, and the spiritual idea, in whom they met, and were to dwell immortally together?” (Baym and Levine, pg.563). Pearl is also a physical consequence of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sexual sin. Although Pearl is often looked at as a negative symbol, she is a positive blessing in Hester’s

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