Forest Theme In Scarlet Letter

When reading the novel The Scarlet Letter, one cannot help but notice the overwhelming themes of nature, specifically those relating to the forest. In the novel, nature acts as the antithesis of the strict Puritanical society, because there are no human laws that govern over it. In the forest, Hester is able to talk to Dimmesdale without fear of anyone finding out that he is the father of Pearl, but in town the two must not even look at one another for fear of someone suspecting anything. Hester and Dimmesdale are not the only two affected by the woods - Pearl is also thought of by the reader as a “Child of the Forest.” Not only is nature used as a symbol in The Scarlet Letter, but parallels can be drawn to other books of the same general

time period, and even today.

As stated in the essay “Individual and Society in the Scarlet Letter”, Hester’s biggest punishment for her adultery is isolation.

The negative attention she draws from having the scarlet ‘A’ on her chest drives her to move to the very outskirts of town, near the woods. This is both a blessing and a curse for her, because while the woods make her isolated, they also allow for her to explore her relationship with Dimmesdale, which she could not do otherwise. Dimmesdale’s strict Puritan beliefs are put on hold while in the woods, and he finds himself able to be more free. Not completely free, however - he still has his reservations. For example, he vehemently refuses to hold Pearl’s hand when she asks for fear of someone seeing, but he does give her a quick kiss that she promptly wipes off. Pearl, because of how she grows up, spends a great deal of her young life without a single friend. She grows up with only the forest as her playmate. This leads to the children in the town wanting to avoid her, not only because of who her mother is, but because they do not lead their lives by the rules of the forest, but rather by the rules of the Puritanical society. The two cannot co-exist comfortably. In “Nature and the Scarlet Letter”, author Janice B. Daniel states, “Her [Pearl’s] relationship with Nature was intensified by her ostracism. Her dwelling with Hester on the verge of the forest, at the outskirts of the town, symbolized her more intimate association with nature than with the

human community.”

Not only are the major characters like Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl affected by nature, but minor characters also express their relationships to it in the novel. Governor Bellingham is an example of this. He has a garden behind his grand home in which he grows pumpkins. One of these pumpkins is described as being “rooted at some distance, had run across the intervening space, and deposited one of its gigantic products directly beneath the hall-window; as if to warn the Governor that this great lump of vegetable gold was as rich an ornament as New England earth would offer him.” This is in the novel to show the wildness and unpredictability of nature and the rules that govern it. Hawthorne shows during the novel that he believes all nature to be wild, and that there is no difference between “tame nature”, like that of a garden, and “wild nature” like the forest.

The Scarlet Letter’s themes of nature are easily compared to that of another work of literature - The Crucible.

At the beginning of the play, the young girls of the town sneak out of their homes and run to the forest. Once they arrive, they seem to forget all the rules they have been taught in reference to behavior and religion. The girls dance, some naked, around a fire. They create something of a “love potion” for themselves, and one girl even sacrifices a chicken. They have, in the minds of the townspeople, “met with the devil”, and conjured spirits. Similar to this is when Mistress Hibbins in The Scarlet Letter realizes that Dimmesdale has “met with the Black Man” - the devil - in the forest, and has had un-Puritan

thoughts.

Nature is used as an effective symbol in the novel of wildness, and letting go of inhibitions. The characters learn to be in touch with their true selves, rather than the people they are forced to be by society.