Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne provides some passages to enhance
the reader's understanding of the characters, themes, and his own literary artistry. A significant
passage in the text is the sentence that appears in chapter six, “the mother's impassioned state had
been the medium through which were transferred to the unborn infant the rays of its moral life;
and however white and clear originally, they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold, the
fiery lustre, the black shadow, and the untempered light of the intervening substance”. Exploring
this sentence, we find some pivotal points in understanding the development of several ideas.
This sentence is crucial because it assists in characterizing Hester, understanding
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an essential theme, and expressing the author's literary artistry. In this portion of the text, we can find a few character traits that pertain to Hester. Hawthorne uses the word “impassioned” to describe the state Hester was in after she sinned. This conveys the underlying trait of passion that Hester has throughout the novel. Hester was tremendously passionate, enough so as to pass on her morals and passion to her child. This character trait of hers is so excessive that it actually acts a “medium” to pass morals onto her offspring. Another way Hester is characterized in this sentence is throught the transformation of the “morals” that are passed to Pearl. It can be inferred that subsequent to her sin, her morals and thoughts are altered from being “white and clear” to “stained with crimson and gold”. The transformation of her thoughts and way of thinking characterizes Hester. But perhaps the most important characterization that is displayed in this sentence is the use of light to describe Hester. As indicated throughout the entire exposition, Hester's character seems to be paired with light. She seems to be a light source, maybe because of her passionate trait. The phrase “untempered light” is used to describe the intervening susbtance, or Hester. She Hester's “light” influenced her child in this case. Not only does the passage provide clarity of Hester's character, but it also helps to build one of the story's main themes: sin. The novel prompts the audience to question about sin and what it means when we sin. For Hester, her sin affects her and others in numerous ways. In the passage, we see that she passes her tainted morals to her unborn infant.
Her child is born out of
sin and because of sin, which affects both of their lives. The ideas that she delivers to her child,
such as “fiery lustre” and “dark shadow”, are both a negative result of Hester's sin. Diction that
supports this idea of sin is included in the sentence. The word “stain” has a negative connotation,
being that we usually associate it with something that we try very hard to remove, with little to
no avail. Little Pearl's traits are stained with crimson and gold. Also, the words “fiery” and
“black”, although very different in meaning, are similar in the sense that they both have a mostly
negative connotation, and are a trait resulting from sin. The word “untempered”, while not
completely negative, is used interestingly in the sentence. “Untempered” means “not moderate or
lessened by anything”, and is used to describe Hester's light in the passage. She influences Pearl
with her unrelenting light, much like her unrelenting punishment for her sin. Sin is a continual
theme of the book, and is a crucial aspect in the selected passage.
While the sentence contributes heavily towards the theme of sin, it also helps the
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readers understand Nathaniel Hawthorne's literary artistry. Several literary devices such as symbols and pairings can be found in this sentence. One literary idea that Hawthorne uses frequently is the idea of light sources. Hester, the letter, and Pearl all appear to be light sources. A word used in the passage that displays this is “rays”.
Hester is said to transfer Pearl's moral life by way of
“rays”, which supports the idea that Hester is a light source. Also, Hester transfers a “fiery
lustre” to Pearl, which conveys that Pearl has become a light source because of Hester. Another
idea that goes handinhand with light is darkness. A pairing that Hawthorne repeatedly
establishes is the pairing between light and dark. Alongside “fiery lustre”, the author uses the
phrase “black shadow”, which contrasts the light. But perhaps the most important recurring idea
is the allegorical reference to the scarlet letter using the colors crimson and gold. The passage
states “they had taken the deep stains of crimson and gold”, which is a reference to the letter that
Hester wears upon her bosom. The letter stands for sin, shame, and guilt. Therefore, referring to
Pearl with a moral life of crimson and sin, probably is the token of Hester's shame, guilt, and sin.
From only a single sentence we can better understand Hawthorne's work. This is one of
the most significant passages in the exposition because it assists in characterizing Hester,
understanding an essential theme, and expressing the author's literary artistry. These are
all incredibly crucial aspects in understanding The Scarlet Letter as a whole.
First, Hester is a main symbol in the book and she is a symbol of sin, confession, shame, and repentance. The first two symbols Hester represents are shame and sin. She has committed adultery and was forced to stand on the scaffold for public humiliation. She has to wear the scarlet letter ‘A’. The scarlet letter ‘A’ stands for adultery and is a symbol of shame. Hester is forced to wear this so she will always be reminded of the sin she has committed and so everyone knows that she has committed adultery. Although Hester has to wear the scarlet letter, she is a very strong, independent woman even without a male influence in her life. Hester is also a symbol of strength because she has to hold all of the shame and punishment in the sin that her and Reverend Dimmesdale committed. On Election Day Reverend Dimmesdale gives his sermon and people say it is the most powerful speech he has ever given. They think that
Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s transgressions and even has similar qualities as the sin which she represents. Pearl’s life and behavior directly reflects the unacceptable and abnormal nature of Hester’s adulterous sin. Hester is plagued with more than just a letter “A”; she is given a child from her affair who is just as much a reminder of her sin as the scarlet letter. Ultimately Hester overcomes the shame associated the scarlet letter and creates a sense of family for herself and Pearl. This relationship is integral to the theme of this novel and the development of its characters.
on. Hester’s “A” is the example for all of what sin is. The “A” makes Hester
Although Hester and Pearl are isolated for a while after their punishment (85), the Puritan society’s view of her changes in chapter 13. In chapter 13, Hester is shown to have become a servant of the community, and, rather than scorning her, the community praises her as holy (134). Even the symbol that embodies her punishment, the scarlet letter A, transforms into a symbol of her holiness, being interpreted by the people as meaning “Able” (134). In chapter 24, the story’s conclusion, Hester mentors young women, furthering the idea that she brings redemption from her sin by using her lessons to help others
As a living reminder of Hester’s extreme sin, Pearl is her constant companion. From the beginning Pearl has always been considered as an evil child. For Hester to take care of such a demanding child, put lots of stress onto her life. Hester at times was in a state of uncontrollable pressure. “Gazing at Pearl, Hester Prynne often dropped her work upon her knees, and cried out with an agony which she would fain have hidden, but which made utterance for itself, betwixt speech and a groan, ‘O Father in heaven- if Thou art still my Father- what is this being which I have brought into the world!’” (Hawthorne, 77).
Initially Pearl is the symbol of Hesters public punishment for her adultery. As the novel progresses and Pearl matures she symbolizes the deteriation of Hester's like by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter "A". Pearl in a sense wants her mother to live up to her sin and, she achieves this by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter. Another peice of evidence that shows how Pearl symbolizes the sin Hester has committed, is when the town government wants to take Pearl away from her Revrend Dimmsdale convinces the government that Pearl is a living reminder of her sin. This is essentialy true, Hester without Pearl is like having Hester without sin.
...er to overcome the passion, once so wild that had brought her to ruin and shame." (Hawthorne, 165) It was Hester's motherly sentiments to nurture and love her child that saved her from temptation and from death and opened her heart to the poor and needy around her. It was the torturous fixation of her child upon her shame that tempered and refined her character and led her toward the precious virtue of being true to herself and others. And it was the reflection of her own character, even at Its worst, in her child that brought Hester to a greater understanding of herself and a desire to build a better life for Pearl. Pearl was more than merely her mother's tormentor--she was her blessing, her life, and the giver of the freedom to live a life true to herself and to her God.
First, two symbols in the town show how sin isolate people. In the first chapter there is a plant that stands out, “But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems” (46). It stands out as wild and different among the grass and weeds as Hester does in the Puritan town. She wears her scarlet letter as the rosebush wears its scarlet blossoms. Later in the book Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth (Hester’s unknown husband) discuss a strange dark plant that Chillingworth discovered. “I found them growing on a grave that bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him in remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify, it maybe, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and which he had done better to confess during his lifetime” (127). Here there is a man whose sin was not publicly discovered while he was alive. This person tried to keep wrongdoing a secret by hiding it within himself. Yet the sin was too strong to hide and later reveled after his death. There remains nothing honorable about the place where this person lies, but the weed that grew out of the blackness of this person’s heart.
Pearl is said to symbolize the result of sin but her character as a child have placed an innocent view of her contribution to the story. As any mother would accept their child she have accepted her “… torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too!”(Hawthorne 38). Hester “represent the violation of social contract” (Egan1), because of her simple imperfection of “struggles to meet the social demands.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.
One of the main symbols of the novel is the basis for the title of the novel itself. Hester Prynne's scarlet letter is attached to her dress, and appears "in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery with fantastic flourishes of gold thread" (Hawthorne 60). The letter is said to have "the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself" (Hawthorne 61). The letter seems to be the focal point of Hester's figure, and the townspeople obsess about the blazing red sign of her sin for a long time after Hester's ignominy.
Everyday that Hester or Dimmesdale look at Pearl they are reminded of that huge sin bearing down upon their shoulders, especially Dimmesdale’s. Another symbol is the stream. Author John F. Adams talks in his essay about the importance of the stream in The Scarlet Letter. He says, “This stream, then, which separates the two worlds of fallen man and natural man, does so by containing the elements which contributed to this fall. Hester’s scarlet letter almost adds itself to the secrets of the stream. To cross the stream and reclaim paradise it is necessary to learn from these experiences; in other words, to transform sin into a fortunate fall. When Pearl’s pointing at her mother’s bosom, where the letter should be, is described in terms of her reflection in this brook, it becomes apparent that in a general symbolic sense this stream is Pearl. She contains and personifies their transgression.” (Adams 245). This symbolizes that one of these days Hester and Pearl will go separate ways. It is also a bit of
from committing adultery with Hester, he is guilty of hiding his sin. His intense suffering and
Darkness surrounds her which symbolizes the opposite the of light, evil or death. The wickedness inside her mother is pointed out by the darkness. One cause of the gloom is the scarlet letter which represents her sin meaning that the scarlet letter is bad. When Hester removes the scarlet letter from her chest, the sun still not does embrace her but it gets brighter out, which is her step forward to becoming good. She is finally embraced when the feeling of love redeems her.
The Scarlet Letter is a blend of realism, symbolism, and allegory. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses historical settings for this fictional novel and even gives historical background information for the inspiration of the story of Hester Prynne in the introduction of The Scarlet Letter, ‘The Custom-House’. The psychological exploration of the characters and the author’s use of realistic dialogue only add to the realism of the novel. The most obvious symbol of the novel is the actual scarlet letter ‘A’ that Hester wears on her chest every day, but Hawthorne also uses Hester’s daughter Pearl and their surroundings as symbols as well. Allegory is present as well in The Scarlet Letter and is created through the character types of several characters in the novel.