Juxtaposition In The Scarlet Letter Essay

In the acclaimed novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses juxtaposition, as well as parallel structure, to illustrate the negative effects of Puritan’s religious traditions, and the harmfully suppressive nature of Puritan culture as a whole. In the passage, Hawthorne describes one of the Puritans’ most lively, exciting event, in a way that communicates the colorless reality of their festivities. He compares their current “mirth” (if it’s worthy to be called that) to the joyous festivals back in England. He describes the marketplace in England during the Elizabethan epoch as being “a time when the life of England, viewed as one great mass, would appear to have been as stately, magnificent, and joyous, as the world has ever witnessed” (lines

Then, when the readers are convinced that the England the Puritans left behind was utopian during that era, Hawthorne goes on to describes the Puritan marketplace as “colorless”, “diluted”, and overall boring in comparison to England. This provides a strong contrast, which is necessary to convey Hawthorne’s ultimate message. Also, while describing the beauty of Old England’s celebration, Hawthorne says, “Nor would it have been impractical, in the observance of majestic ceremonies, to combine mirthful recreation with solemnity, and give, as it were, a grotesque and brilliant embroidery to the great robe of state” (lines 10-11). In this way, he combines words, such as “brilliant”, “mirthful”, and “majestic”, with words such as “solemnity”, and “grotesque”, to provide a blatant contrast, enforcing the obvious differences between the two cultures. Through his use of juxtaposition, Hawthorne creates an environment where readers are able to see a more enhanced view of both established cultures, and at

Near the end of his description of Old England life, Hawthorne places two sentences with similar structure, and similar meaning, side by side. He first says, “there was some shadow of an attempt of this kind in the mode of celebrating the day on which the political year… commenced”. He then goes on to state, “the dim reflection of a remembered splendor… they had beheld in proud old London” (lines 11-13). Both sentences, side by side, begin with noting how Puritan celebrations were less, in every way, than the celebrations in Old England. The words “shadow”, and “reflection”, have the same effect; the same purpose. They seem to convey that they were a distorted version of the original celebrations. Then both sentences go on to praise “proud old London”. Through Hawthorne’s use of parallel structure, he creates an immediate effect on readers, causing them to see Puritan celebrations as a distorted, confused, and lesser version of the pure celebrations in the Old World. Ultimately, Hawthorne’s goal is to convince readers that the Puritan culture - their customs, their traditions, their way of life - is wrong in that it suppresses the joy, and freedom, that is necessary for a society to thrive. He attempts to convince them that the Puritan religion, as a whole, is overbearing, and clearly unjust. Hawthorne wants his audience to go through a logical progression of cause