The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, delves into symbolism. A few of the symbols throughout are: the Scarlet “A” embroidered on Hester’s chest, the Forrest (in the daytime), the Forrest (in the nighttime), the prison, the rose growing up by the prison wall and light and dark. Each of these has a certain significance. The “A” is the outward symbol of Hester and Dimmsdale’s sin. It is the tangible, form of punishment. The thing that physically sets Hester apart. This symbolizes her sin and her punishment. The Forrest during the daytime is a symbol of beauty of freedom. While at nighttime it is the devil’s playground, symbolizing chaos and evil. The Puritans felt this way because they had no control over the Forrest and were thus threatened by it. The prison is yet another symbol of Hester’s physical punishment and isolation from the world. She is cast out. No longer an accepted member of society for the crimes that she has committed. The prison is hard and cruel, it is also a reflection of the ideals of the Puritan society. The rose shows the beauty that can grow out of that harsh, ugliness. The rose is Pearl. Light and darkness is used to show Dimmsdale’s guilt and his mental anguish. He walks to the scaffold, mocking a confession at night in the darkness. Then blazes an meteor in the sky as if God himself were looking down and saying to Dimmsdale, “Almost, but not quite.” The author gives several lengthy, difficult descriptions in the beginning of the novel to set the harsh, Puritan tone of the novel. He says, “The founder of a new colony, whatever Utopia of human virtue and happiness they might originally project, have invariably recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, with this rule, it may safely be assumed that the forefathers of Boston had built the first prison-house gone where in the vicinity of cornhill, almost as seasonable as they marked out the first burial-ground, on Isaac Johnson’s lot...” (pg. 75). He uses very long, hard to read passages to create a Puritan-esque feeling in the reader. Pearl is her mother’s only treasure, bought with all she had. She is the symbol of her guilt, and the price of her sin. Pearl is described as a “sprite” and an “elf-child”. She is lively, and spirited. She is a constant reminder to Dimmsdale of his mistakes, and the fact that he has yet to be punished for them by the
After the death of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s character Dimmesdale from the book the Scarlet Letter, there have been many theories about the cause of his death. Some literary analyzers claim that his guilt was the cause of his death. Others say that Roger Chillingworth, a physician, poisoned him with Atropine and Scopolamine. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale’s guilt appears to be the cause of his death, but his symptoms point towards Atropine and Scopolamine poisoning.
'Among many morals which press upon us from the poor minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence: Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!';(Ch.24: 236) Hawthorne expresses the purpose of writing this novel in that short sentence. He creates characters who have sin and disguise these sins for their own salvation. Slowly these sins evolve the characters, it strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon. The story is Hawthorne's depiction of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of humanity during the Puritan society through the characters Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth.
Every individual in the world is frail. Everyone experiences sorrow. In the classical literature novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author describes the book as "a tale of human frailty and sorrow". Hawthorne uses the novel to depict Arthur Dimmesdale's "human frailty and sorrow" through his physical appearance, emotional state, and words spoken to other characters throughout the novel.
She symbolized many things in the novel which include sin and beauty. Hester often said that Pearl was her own special treasure and the only good thing that came out of the sin, and an example of that would be “But she named the infant ‘Pearl’ as being of great price,--purchased with all she had,--her mother’s only treasure!” (Hawthorne 168). Pearl also symbolizes sin and was often sought to be evil by the townspeople. “So Pearl-- the elf-child, --the demon offspring, as some people, up to that epoch, persisted in considering her,--became the richest heiress of her day, in the New World (Hawthorne 495). This is a quote from the end of the book after Chillingworth had died and left her everything had, and it is stating that even after she went from the bottom to the top people still considerd her a “demon child”. Pearl’s symbols change throughout the novel beginning with, sin and adultery, then truth, and finally, hope. These symbols are the most important in the
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic, The Scarlett Letter, has become one of the most discussed novels of all time. A great deal of` controversy streams from the obvious gender-related issues throughout the story. Considering the setting of seventeenth-century Boston, the plot takes place in a conservative Puritan society. Because of this, Hester Prynne, the protagonist, spends the seven years, over the course of which the book takes place, dealing with the repercussions of what is believed to be a “crime” against God and her community. The situation she is put in is one very few people could truly endure. Yet, she is able to beat all odds and surpass peoples’ expectations of an “ordinary Puritan women.” The complexity of the story goes into the depths of gender equality and the unconventional position this woman has in society. Hawthorne is able to depict conflicting gender roles in The Scarlett Letter by illustrating the expected persona of a Puritan woman and directly contrasting that norm with his very complicated and well-developed character, Hester Prynne.
Nathaniel Hawthorne"s, The Scarlet Letter is a book about a woman, Hester, who moves to Boston from England during the Puritan times. She has a husband, and tells the colonists of Boston he will be arriving to be with her soon. After years go by and he doesn"t arrive, Hester finds another man whom she becomes close to. She becomes pregnant and the town finds out she has committed adultery. She is forced to wear a letter "A," meaning "adulteress," on her bosom for the rest of her life. The book focuses mainly on the sin that was committed because it effected the whole community. The scarlet letter had one basic meaning, "adultery," but to the characters of Hester and Dimmesdale it was a constant reminder of the sin; and to Pearl it was a symbol of curiosity.
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is set in Puritan New England during the 17th century. The scene in which the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale joins Hester and Pearl on the platform to showcase his sin is one which exemplifies Dimmesdale’s acceptance of his actions. Up until this point in the novel, Dimmesdale had hidden the fact that he had engaged in a sexual affair with Hester, a married woman. During the scene, Dimmesdale, distraught with guilt after seven years of living in secret shame, joins Hester in public to show his actions publicly. He then, being riddled with sickness, dies in contentment. Having finally accepted his actions, Dimmesdale can die without the torturous guilt of living a lie. Dimmesdale’s confession and ensuing downfall show that accepting the consequences of one’s own actions is the only way to truly achieve fulfillment and satisfaction in life, where as hiding one’s actions results in inner torture.
Shirley Chisholm said, “The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, ‘It’s a girl.’” Chisholm’s quote perfectly demonstrates Puritan society which, as any society, is centered on labels and stereotypes with almost everybody being shoved into a group and having their fate decided based upon their stereotype. In The Scarlet Letter, while the local village views Hester through the Puritan image that women are sinners or temptresses, the audience sees that she does not necessarily fit into their characterization of her. Although she does not directly defy societal norms, the reader is able to see Hester breaking away from society. How Hester interacts with the people that are a part of the society demonstrates the unwillingness of Puritans to be accepting, however, when looking at the broader storyline, it becomes evident that Hester is not correctly stereotyped.
In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne discusses the issues of guilt, pain, and truth. For many people, it is hard to accept the faults of their own failures. Most do not acknowledge the reality of their lives, and wind up suffering for their mistakes. Guilt and Sin are bad and also cause pain. Hester Prynne endures in agony and pain because of the mistake she made. In the novel, Hester rarely gives up hope. Through her suffering, Hester maintains to keep her dignity.
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a cult classic. And with good reason. Anyone who simply believes that the title of this book just signifies that the protagonist wears a scarlet “A” on her dress in punishment of her adultery is ignorant. Obviously this paper would not be required if such were true. Instead, The Scarlet Letter is extremely ambiguous. One can argue that the scarlet letter is a character itself. I intend to flesh this out in literary, historic, and symbolic terms.
In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne three main characters are taught that they are forced to live with the mistakes they have made. 'One must be response for his/her own actions and be willing to accept the consequences of those actions.'; Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth must all face these 'consequences.'; If you do something in life and you know its wrong that means yu are willing to accept the consequences.
At first, the Scarlet Letter placed on Hester's dress was meant to show shame or dishonor. But now, represents the outcome of Hester and Dimmesdale's sin. The judgment caused by the Scarlet Letter results in how she looks at society and how society looks at Hester. Pearl is not an ordinary character, she is an intriguing symbol. A symbol is something that stands for, or represents something else. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester gives her daughter the name Pearl because she is worth a lot to her, a great price, as she hopes for the good to come out of her committed adultery. To Hester she is all that matters in her life; to everyone else she is the unsolved mystery that is keeping the criminal in Hester alive. Pearl becomes the answer to the question Hawthorne poses through Hester. Peal bridges the gap between society and nature.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1849. This novel won him much fame and a good reputation as a writer. In writing The Scarlet Letter, Hawethorne was creating a form of fiction he called the psychological romance. A psychological romance is a story that contains all of the conventional trappings of a typical romance, but deeply portrays humans in conflict with themselves. The Scarlet Letter won Hawthorne great critical acclaim, and even today the book remains on the best seller list. The Scarlet Letter is so popular maybe because generations of readers can interpret it and see subtle meanings that somewhat reflect their own lives. Each of us, has goodness like Hester Prynne, cowardice like Dimmesdale, and even a little evil like Chillingworth. My favorite character in this book was Hester Prynne because even tough she has done wrong, she remains happy, solid, and sane. In the following essay I plan to critically analyze the novel’s protagonist, Hester Prynne.
In this novel you will find that the main characters are the prime examples of Love, Hate, Sin, and Purity. Although adultery is condemned and seen as sin, adultery isn't what Hawthorne focuses on. Through my analysis of the Scarlet Letter I noticed that there were three different types of love. The act of hatred plays a vile role throughout the novel. Hawthorne uses Pearl as a blatant symbol of purity, from her birth till the end of the novel. As you will see Love, Hate, Sin, and Purity does play a vital role in this story.
One final way in which Pearl symbolized something in the novel was her association with the scarlet letter. Hester began to think of the letter and her daughter as both “the object of her affection and the emblem of her guilt and torture.” Hester clothed the child in bright crimson dressed. That, combined with a vivid complexion, gave Pearl the appearance of the scarlet letter. The townspeople began to notice the similarities, also.