A light in the darkness. A chance of hope in a world of hopelessness. A rose bush in the desolate land outside the town prison. Nathaniel Hawthorne paints this iconic picture when he describes a prison which "seemed never to have known a youthful era." Hawthorne, an articulate writer who uses colorful language, takes on a skeptical and slightly mocking tone when describing the hopeless scene of the prison, offering only a shred of hope to save the people gathered there. The circumstances Hawthorne describes are quite somber, yet he approaches them with an objective and even detached mindset. While he does describe the crowd as wearing "sad-colored...gray" clothing, conveying the depressed mood of the scene, he does not offer comment on anything going on. Every aspect Hawthorne writes about is …show more content…
purely objective, giving only descriptions of the people and places involved. This is clear in the first paragraph, when Hawthorne describes the "heavily timbered" oak door of the edifice, "studded with iron spikes." He even later offers additional description through connections with other historical events or places, such as when he references the paces proximity to Cornhill, or when he mentions Isaac Johnson and King's Chapel. In this way, Hawthorne seems to be a sort of dictionary or encyclopedia, offering definitions and information related to the situation. These descriptions, devoid of emotional input or commentary, show a detached view of the society being described. But this stark recitation of facts and emotionless descriptions have more effect than just to convey a detached tone. The very nature of the way Hawthorne presents these descriptions serves to highlight his skepticism of those he writes about. This is made clear through frequent use of modifiers, adding detail to the picture. The jail is described as a "wooden jail," the front bring "beetle-browned and gloomy." The whole description is lacking in any sense of emotion or levity, which makes the society Hawthorne describes seem dark and hopeless. Although he doesn't overtly state his opinion or commentary on the matter, Hawthorne employs a slightly mocking tone through his description of the colony's founding. He opens by saying that the founders hoped to make a "Utopia of human virtue and happiness," creating a picture that is in stark contrast to the rest of the dark and dreary atmosphere of the colony. However, Hawthorne then goes on to say that the founders "recognized it among their earliest practical necessities to allot a portion of the virgin soil as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison." This seems counterintuitive: the founders of this colony intended to make an ideal "Utopia," yet two of their earliest institutions do not fit this idealistic image. A prison is designed to house society's worst intent, and a cemetery is for burying the deceased and mourning loss. Hawthorne seems to include this as a way to mock the people of the colony and their vision for the ideal society. Hawthorne finishes his description by breaking away from the descriptive style he utilized throughout the rest of the chapter.
This breakaway begins with an introduction of a rose-bush. In a landscape that is "weather-stained," "antique," and "ugly," a delicate and beautiful flower is presented as a polar opposite to the area it grows in. Hawthorne begins introducing it in the same fashion he describes everything else in, as "a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems." However, Hawthorne then continues this description, breaking away from the usual, objective strategy. He talks about the "fragrance and fragile beauty" this bush might offer to a prisoner on their way into the prison. He even goes on to say that he hopes the bush will "symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow." This "light in the darkness" is a symbol of hope for the people of the dark colony just described. So while his purely skeptical and objective tone has prevailed throughout the chapter, this short description offers a chance for redemption for those Hawthorne
describes. Through his stark outline of a town prison, Hawthorne describes a dark, gloomy scene with little hope for the ideal colony that the people desire. He strays a bit from this objectivity when he mockingly describes the colony's founding. However, his emotionless diction and commentary create a detached, skeptical tone towards his subject matter. Hawthorne's intense focus on the dreary details of the scene he describes reflects his attitude towards the subject as a whole.
Beginning with the very first words of The Scarlet Letter the reader is thrust into a bleak and unforgiving setting. “A thong of bearded men, in sad-colored garments,” that are said to be “intermixed with women,” come off as overpowering and all-encompassing; Hawthorne quickly and clearly establishes who will be holding the power in this story: the males (Hawthorne 45). And he goes even further with his use of imagery, painting an even more vivid picture in the reader’s mind. One imagines a sea of drab grays and browns, further reinforcing the unwelcoming feeling this atmosphere seems to inheren...
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
...to establish community in a predetermined world. The latter painting only results in isolation, in the “death-in-life” state even Coverdale cannot escape at the end. The “bubbled” world encapsulated in the revelers’ painting offers a momentarily glimpse into the ending Hawthorne does not give the romance. Rather, he leaves us with the last painting’s lesson, the “broken bubble” that not only describes Blithedale, Hollingsworth, and Zenobia, it also describes Coverdale, who sits in judgement on others, even in his memory, and leaves himself, like the “New England toper,” in isolation. If, in Hawthorne’s view, we should accept a predetermined course, acknowledging that we have no free will and no possibility for a Paradisiacal world devoid of corruption, then we should also learn to share together in a communal spirit that ultimately defeats absolutism and isolation.
2. The marketplace was already bustling with people. There were common settlers, craftsmen, Native Americans, and blacksmiths. Everyone in the town had taken a day off to celebrate and watch the Procession. The celebration had a shadow of the Elizabethan time in which the political leaders, priests, clergymen, and various other people tried to bring in their old tradition within their celebration and clothing. There were a few wrestling matches going on as fighting with staffs going on somewhere else. The most entertaining scene for the people was a fight with swords and shields on the platform of the pillory. English settlers wore dark sullen colors while the Native Americans dressed in embroidered deer skin, belts and beads, feathers, and bows and arrows. Even though they were separate from the English crowd, they weren’t the most “savage” or wild of
Oscar Wilde, an Irish poet, novelist, and playwright, believed, “What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise” (Think Exist). Wilde’s quotation conveys the idea of duality residing within every situation, person, and object. Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea further in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. In the novel Hawthorne demonstrates duality within the character Pearl and the forest; he suggests an optimistic perspective of the world.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is one of the most respected and admired novels of all time. Often criticized for lacking substance and using more elaborate camera work, freely adapted films usually do not follow the original plot line. Following this cliché, Roland Joffe’s version of The Scarlet Letter received an overwhelmingly negative reception. Unrealistic plots and actions are added to the films for added drama; for example, Hester is about to be killed up on the scaffold, when Algonquin members arrive and rescue her. After close analysis, it becomes evident of the amount of work that is put into each, but one must ask, why has the director adapted their own style of depicting the story? How has the story of Hester Prynne been modified? Regarding works, major differences and similarities between the characterization, visual imagery, symbolism, narration and plot, shows how free adaptation is the correct term used.
The sunlight gives the reader a feeling of exposure and scrutiny. This feeling is later reveled to the reader by Hawthorne,
The scarlet letter is more than just an “A” that Hester Prynne wears as punishment. The “A” on Hester’s clothing is a symbol for adultery, but under the hand stitched “A” it is much more. The “A” tells a story of how one mistake can make a big impact on life. Throughout the book there have been many scenarios that the “A” has affected different characters, in a positive and negative way. This little letter has many meanings to many people, some people that did not know it would even affect them. The simple letter is much more powerful than what anybody thought.
Authors use character development to show how a person can change. Through a descriptive portrayal of a charter and their development they become real to the reader. A well-developed character stirs up emotions in the reader making for a powerful story. A person can change for better or worse and Nathaniel Hawthorne shows this thru the character development of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter.
The Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne commits adultery and gives birth to an illegitimate child. Although this story takes place in a complete different time than the roaring 20s, the central theme can be connected to the musical film Chicago where Roxie Hart, the protagonist, commits a similar crime to that of Hester Prynne.
Hawthorne creates a serious and somber tone throughout much of the story. From the start, the audience gets a sense that Brown will go through relentless agony from the devilish stranger. His diction in the opening paragraphs is a good indicator of this. He uses words such as “melancholy”, “evil”, “dreary”, and “grave” to evoke a certain mood in the reader. There is little relief from this seriousness that would suggest that Hawthorne’s attitude about the story be hopeful. Brown’s attitude and actions portray a negative view of Salem and its people. He ponders the hypocrisy of the town as well as that of the Puritans. He examines the possibility that evil and corruption exist in a town that is supposedly characterized by piety and devout faith.
...es the terrible beauty of Brown's position between two worlds. The evil process in the forest has disqualified Brown from relation with the "goodly procession" which follows him. He must live in the village with the sight of the forest, till death calls him. In the symbolic terms of the story, Brown literally has no place else to go, and even death provides no escape. Hawthorne treats Brown's death neither as the time of triumph for the godly, nor as the time of the solace of annihilation for the tortured; and his sonorous but studiedly objective language here simply does not encourage emotional commitment. So, gloom inevitably has the last word.
The first chapter sets the scene for the novel: Boston, during the seventeenth century. During this period, religion is the foundation for both the laws and the society. We are introduced to the town's cemetery and nearby prison. Next to the prison grows a wild rosebush. We can think of the wild rosebush as representing the beauty of nature, and the prison as the symbol of societies need to tame nature.
Context of Hawthorne's Art.” Nineteenth-Century Fiction 24.2 (Sept. 1969): 182-192. JASTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
The forest is a key part of the novel as the serving as a symbol. It symbolizes nature’s relationship with man as a place of refuge and as a place of empowerment. The forest in the book symbolizes hope, love, and truth. Utilizing the forest, Hawthorne is able to develop the literary devices: theme, mood, irony, and character.