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The scarlet a in the scarlet letter
Symbolism of the scarlet letter
The scarlet a in the scarlet letter
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When the fate of the scarlet letter encompasses the beholder, it transforms their souls into the symbolic image of Yin VS. Yang. A common Chinese symbol that displays good vs. evil. As the essence of good (Yang) exists through charitable acts, and those who live life with an open heart. Whereas, the power, and the darker side of the light (Yin) comes through as being hidden from society, and relating symbols in life to the underworld. Two opposite sides of the spectrum clashing against one another to coincide. This similar symbol arises in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, as Hawthorne introduces and transpires a significant symbol throughout the novel. This symbol known as the scarlet letter is worn by Hester Prynne, a giving person …show more content…
Upon Hester return home Mistress Hibbins startled Hester, and in response flashed her teeth, reminding herself that “[she] must tarry home, and keep watch over [her] little Pearl. Had they taken Pearl from [her], [she] would willingly have gone with [her] into the forest, and signed [her] name in the Black Man`s book too, and that with [her] own blood” giving up in the favorable side of her and conforming to the darker side (Hawthorne 110). Although Hester had no way to avoid Mistress Hibbins (associated with the devil), she might have seen this forthcoming. As if Hester knew that the scarlet letter brought evil figures into her life because of the sin she sought to bring herself, then the good inside of her might understand that she can`t run away from her past. Indeed, the past doesn 't run away, but with the scarlet letter always on Hester, no matter how many good deeds she does for the community the evil inside will always be seen. Furthermore, in the article “The Meaning of the scarlet A” by Claudia Durst Johnson, she writes about numerous different perspectives of the Scarlet A in general, and what the A means to each main character. Throughout the novel the community sees “Hester pregnancy and that she gives birth to a child who then lives by her side, another reminder besides the A of what she has done, always in full …show more content…
This incident occurs no more than in the Minister of the town. Arthur Dimmesdale has lived a lie for seven years and “no man for any considerable period can wear one face to himself and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be the true” man that lies within his innermost soul(Hawthorne 206). Underneath, anyone the true person lies within, good or evil. However, most people lived a lie to protect themselves from dark times, or to keep secrets to themselves. If Dimmesdale did not keep his A to himself all those years of concealment from public view, then he would face the same punishment his partner in crime faced. Which in any place in time would make the citizens of towns wonder how a good man who preaches about God works can silently act as an evil figure as well. In such that, he would willingly hide an sin from his own people, then vanished without anyone knowing, contradicting his own ways of life. Further, in the article “The Spell of the Scarlet Letter” by Samuel Chase Coale, he describes the different meanings of the scarlet letter, and makes up reasons why Hawthorne would make a novel based on the scarlet letter. The first time the scarlet letter is described “ Hawthorne reveals its gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, but its curious embroidery suggests a specimen of [Hester`s] delicate and
The central theme in The Scarlet Letter is that manifested sin will ostracize one from society and un-confessed sin will lead to the destruction of the inner spirit. Hawthorne uses the symbol of the scarlet letter to bring out this idea. In the novel, Hester is forced to wear the scarlet letter A (the symbol of her sin) because she committed adultery with the clergyman, Dimmesdale. Because the public's knowledge of her sin, Hester is excluded physically, mentally, and socially from the normal society of the Puritan settlement. She lives on the outskirts of town in a small cottage where she makes her living as a seamstress. Though she is known to be a great sewer amongst the people, Hester is still not able to sew certain items, such as a new bride's veil. Hester also has no interaction with others; instead she is taunted, if not completely ignored, by all that pass her by. Despite the ill treatment of the society, Hester's soul is not corrupted. Instead, she flourishes and improves herself in spite of the burden of wearing the scarlet letter and she repeatedly defies the conventional Puritan thoughts and values by showing what appears to us as strength of character. Her good works, such as helping the less fortunate, strengthen her inner spirit, and eventually partially welcome her back to the society that once shunned her.
“And be the stern and sad truth spoken, that the breach which guilt has once made into the human soul is never, in this mortal state, repaired” (158). Arthur Dimmesdale confesses his sin, but it makes such a big impact on him that he will always be reminded of it. The sin leaves a “breach,” or a hole, in him which cannot be fixed. Living in a Puritan community also makes it that much harder for Dimmesdale to keep his secret. Since the religion is completely strict and absolutely prohibits sins like adultery, he has no choice but to feel guilt and regret. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel of gothic romanticism. It was written in the 1800s, but takes place in the 17th century. Hester Prynne lives in Boston, Massachusetts and commits adultery with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. She is punished by the town and has to wear a beautifully embroidered scarlet “A” on all of her clothes, which stands for “Adulterer.” The Reverend keeps his secret for many years while Hester’s husband, Roger Chillngworth, comes back to town and seeks revenge. Reverend Dimmesdale confesses his sin and ends up dying. The character Arthur Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter is a dynamic character because in the beginning of the novel he is a healthy and intelligent minister, but towards the end, he becomes very guilty and emaciated.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism several times in the book, The Scarlet Letter. Some examples of this are when they talk of the scaffold, the brook, the forest, and the sunshine. The one that I will discuss is the sunshine. Hawthorne uses sunshine in the novel to symbolize purity and hope several times throughout the book. In one scene of the book, Pearl requests that Hester grab some sunshine and give it to her to play with. Hester then replies, "No, my little Pearl! Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee." (p.104) Hester has no sunshine to give Pearl because she has committed adultery and is not pure. Another example is when Hester and Pearl are taking a walk through the forest when a dark cloud came over the sky and Pearl said, "Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom." Pearl says this just innocently playing around, not having a clue of exactly how right she is. She says that the sun fears the "A" and avoids the impurity of it at all costs, even disappearing from the sky. Later in that walk, Hawthorne again shows how the sun refuses to be around Hester and her sin. Hester tells Pearl to run off and catch the sun and so she sets off at a great pace and, in her innocence, she seemingly catches it and stands right in the midst of it. Hester comes over and attempts to come over bask in the sunshine and Pearl says, while shaking her head, "It will go now." Hester replies, "See! Now I can stretch out my hand and grasp some of it," but "As she attempted to do so, the sunshine vanished." This shows how the sun, being pure, adorned the Pearl in her innocence, while it shunned Hester for her impurity. Hawthorne shows the symbol of sunshine best in the chapter appropriately titled, "A Flood of Sunshine." In this particular scene, Dimmesdale and Hester are discussing what Dimmesdale will do about the current situation with their relationship. Dimmesdale announces that he will leave the community, and he must do it alone. In the heat of the moment Hester declares that he will not have to go alone, and she takes off her bonnet and throws down the
The main characters whose lies devastate the characters in the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, are Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Hester. Each character has once told a lie either about their character or identity. First, Dimmesdale is well-known in the community as a minister who gives sermons. But the townspeople do not know about the affair between him and Hester. He lies because he does not want to give up his reputation as a minister. The effect of him lying is that he has a guilty conscience, thinks that he “sold himself to the devil”, and ironically, people view him as a saint. (Hawthorne 193). Next, Chillingworth is an old man who is well-known in the community as the town doctor who makes medicine and takes care of people when they are sick. He lies because he does not want anyone to know his real identity. The effect of him lying is that he turns into an avenger who tries to destroy Dimmesdale. Finally, Hester is well-known in the community as the woman wearing the scarlet letter A because she commits adultery and became pregnant with a baby girl named Pearl. She lies because she does not want anyone to know about the affair between her and Dimmesdale. The effect of her lying is that her and Dimmesdale can not see each other publicly, Pearl does not have a real father to look up to each day, and Dimmesdale’s character begins to deteriorate.
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
Carl Jung believed that the source of symbols is universal. Symbols arise from the collective unconscious common to all humans everywhere. Joseph Campbell's research supports this theory; he traces universal archetypes through the stories, myths, and artwork of various cultures. While most work done with symbolism has focused on the universality of symbols, Nathaniel Hawthorn focuses on their personal, subjective meanings.
To Hester and the townspeople, the scarlet letter represents her sin, her punishment, and her detachment from the town and society 's valuesl however, at the end of the novel, it is a liberating symbol. It represents everything that Hester has gone through, and everything she has learned from it. Being familiar with sin enabled Hester to wander “without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest, amid the gloom of which they were now holding a colloquy that was to decide their fate" (134). The scarlet letter also represents Hester 's transcendence of the Puritan values and punishment. It was meant to be a reminder of her sin every day and something that set her apart from the town in a negative way. While it did function that way at first, eventually it transformed into something different. It showed that Hester could rebel against her punishment by reclaiming it for her own and transforming it into a positive thing. The
‘Honesty is the best policy’; ‘Always be yourself”, are common phrases many parents tell their children and as common as they may be, being honest and being true yourself contributes to individual happiness and contentness. ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel that dives deep into these key themes of honesty and integrity and the consequences of doing the opposite action. One of the main characters, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is a minister in 17th century Puritan New England who has deteriorating health because of his lies and guilt. Dimmesdale commits adultery with a beautiful woman in the town, Hester Prynne, whose husband, Roger Chillingworth, returns from Europe later on. Pearl, who is a product of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, is never told who her father is. Dimmesdale gives sermons on sin and honesty yet hides his own sin. He is portrayed as a hypocrite and has inner battles with himself because he deceives people of his true nature. Hawthorne uses the character Dimmesdale to portray the harsh consequences of not being true to ourselves and being deceitful of our true nature.
Symbolism plays an important role in the Scarlet Letter. The scarlet "A" is used to represent sin and anguish along with happiness. The "A" has different meanings to people other than what was originally intended. The scaffold is used as a place of repentance and judgment by God. Pearl is another major symbol used as a reminder of the scarlet letter.
Obviously, the scarlet letter had the largest impact on Hester, it was a constant reminder of the sin she committed. The "A" she must wear on her bosom completely humiliates her in front of everyone she meets, she begins to even hide behind it, trying to conceal her identity. Hawthorne is referring to Hester in the quote, "The unhappy culprit sustained herself as best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes, all fastened upon her and concentrated on her bosom" (55). So many people are staring at her as if she"s the most unfaithful, awful person in the world. She knows that she will never regain the respect she had before this incident. The scarlet letter she wears will constantly remind her and the townspeople that she is a sinner. While at Governor Bellingham"s mansion, Hester can"t help but notice while looking into the shining armor how much the "A" stands out. The "A" is seen "in exaggeration and gigantic proportions, so as to be the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it" (102). Right then and there, she realizes how much the "A" has become a part of her. She believes if the "A" becomes magnified in her reflection, the people who look at her must only notice the scarlet letter. She sees herself as if her true appearance is being hidden behind the “A” and she feels that no one looks at her anymore, just the letter. The scarlet letter has ruined her reputation, as well as her appearance. On Hester ...
It is impossible to understand how the meaning of the scarlet letter transforms as the novel progress without first understanding its literal meaning and how it affects Hester. At the beginning of the novel Hester is depicted to be standing on the scaffold with the scarlet letter as bright as ever glinting on her chest. In the Puritan faith adultery was considered to be the most ignominious offence and the punishment was public humiliation and the burden of the scarlet letter, and its ubiquitous wrath haunting your every move. The disheartening insults that Hester was bombarded with at every corner inevitably made her stronger, “Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, —stern and wild ones, —they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss (Hawthorn 209). Through the powers of time this strength was what forged new meanings for the scarlet letter.
One of the most commonly used and arguably most effective literary devices used in literature is symbolism. A symbol is merely a tangible object with an abstract meaning. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn is a highly symbolic novel, and its author uses each symbol to add a deeper meaning to the story. One of the most important symbols in the novel is Hester’s young daughter, Pearl. The child represents both negative and positive concepts, but one of the most important interpretations is Pearl as a symbol of her parent’s guilt.
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.
Heroines are portrayed as able bodied women, when in the face of danger or adversity, display courage and self-sacrifice. Hester Prynne, the female protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, is forced to wear a scarlet A on her chest because of her affair with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. The first impression of Hester is that she is a strong woman, grounded in her decisions to keep the father of her child secret, suffering the consequences. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne develops Hester, broken and drowning in her sin, surviving only by having hope and stifling her emotions. Hester is enveloped in her sin, seeing it in her daughter daily, feeling the strain of society, and living with the penalties of her actions. She could have run away with Pearl, leaving behind the shame and persecution and begin anew. Hester does not though; she remains in town, exiling herself and Pearl to a tiny cottage in the woods, on the outskirts of town. This is one of the many reasons why Hester is appropriately dubbed a tragic heroine. Hester hoped for a better future, one involving a more accepting culture and a life with Dimmesdale and Pearl, so she abandoned her emotions in order to escape the pain of reality.
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.