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
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a truly outstanding author. His detailed descriptions and imagery will surely keep people interested in reading The Scarlet Letter for years to come. In writing this book he used themes evident throughout the entirety of the novel. These themes are illustrated in what happens to the characters and how they react. By examining how these themes affect the main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, one can obtain a better understanding of what Hawthorne was trying to impress upon his readers.
Throughout the life of Emily Grierson, she remains locked up, never experiencing love from anyone but her father. She lives a life of loneliness, left only to dream of the love missing from her life. The rose from the title symbolizes this absent love. It symbolizes the roses and flowers that Emily never received, the lovers that overlooked her.
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne has introduced a character that has been judged harshly. Because, she has been misinformed of her husband’s death; therefore, she was greave and had sought comfort resulting in a baby from the lover whom gave her comfort. When her secret had been discovered she was isolated for committing a treacherous crime of adultery, as one of her punishments she was forced to wear an A on her chest. The novel presents a structure of a society, using symbolism and diction to give underline meaning to the themes, portraying religious tendencies ruled by the philosophy of good and evil.
'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.
These definitions of this age old symbol, the rose, evolved over time as cultures came into contact with what has now called the Language of the Flowers. This “language” first appeared in the East and was used as a form of silent communication between illiterate women in harems. During the Victorian era this form of communication began to move towards Western Europe. The first compilation of this language was written in French and then was later translated into English. (Seaton, ).The Victorians used this new method of communication to express love, sorrow and much more through the flowers that they cultivated and bought. This language of flowers or rather the use of flowers to symbolize different messages can certainly influence a story if one has knowledge of this method and chooses to interpret it in this manner.
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.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was not a Puritan. But Hawthrone’s forefathers were Puritans, so he had an understanding of their belief system and their basis behind it. He stated that he hoped the sins of his forefathers had been forgiven. Hoping to expose those ideas which he understood, yet despised, Hawthorne purposely presented many important Puritan beliefs as import aspects to the Scarlet Letter. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne addresses three main Puritan beliefs: providence, predestination, and the strict code of ethics that the settlers of New Englanders lived by.
Concerning the contextualization of A Rose of Family as a sign of the times of women at that point, where cultural norms of women lead to a life in domestication. The recognition of the rose here as it is carefully placed in the title of the piece as well bears significance to the physical rose and what it meant to the young women in the South during the 1800s (Kurtz 40). Roses are generally given as tokens of love and affection by males to females. There are even remnants of it today where young lads also profess their love to women with roses; women still see it as an act of endearment towards them.
... little girl's banishment from Puritan society she was thrown to another way of life and her wildness and peculiarity is a direct product of her banishment.
1. Chapter one thoroughly describes the Jailhouse and the surrounding landscape. Tells of the huge wooden edifices whose threshold is timbered and iron barred. Gives the description of the peoples clothing who were congregating outside of the prison. It also describes the necessity of a new colony first building a prison and graveyard. In the last paragraph it tells of a rose bush outside of the oaken doors. The author describes the awkwardness of having such a beautiful plant surrounded by weeds and shrubs.
The implications of Pearl’s name are clear from the beginning. The image of a literal pearl invokes thoughts of purity, virginity, and innocence. The character
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Pearl, is a symbol of sin and adultery in the sense that she leads Dimmsdale and Hester to their confession and the acceptance of their sins. A beauitful daughter of the towns adulturist has somtimes demon like traits. She is also the only living symblol of the scarlet letter "A". In another way Pearl also makes a connection between Dimmsdale and Hester.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne (Hawthorne 70). Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 90). Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth. In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent to prison and later she got to get out of prison but with the exception of having to wear the letter A on her breast every time she went out in to town.
The roses in the garden are something the serving-man remarks on “roses occasionally suffer from black spot . . . It is always advisable to purchase goods with guarantees…” (Aldiss 450) Here Teddy reports directly to the need for replacement of such false reality in order to omit imperfections. The rose is initiated earlier as a symbol for Monica, when she plucks one and shows it to David, and at the end he picks one as a reminder of her. And Teddy senses the importance of the roses for the mother and the child as he tries to bond