Nature And Civilization In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

In this paper, I would like to explore how nature and civilization clash with each other in the context of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter”, how these terms can be seen in a different light by just changing the point of view. I will begin by describing the period in which the work is set, as this is the main factor influencing the meeting between “nature” and “civilization”. After that, I will analyze the text itself, bringing into discussion the works of literary critics. The story “The Scarlet Letter” is set in 17th century Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Puritans came from England to avoid persecution from the Church of England. They believed that the services should be less lavish, simpler and that the emphasis should be

But they had to be strong, as they were on an unknown land, full of dangers and diseases. In the colony presented in “The Scarlet Letter”, the society is mainly ruled by two people, Mr. Roger Wilson who represents the Church and Governor Bellingham who represents the State. The majority of the laws governing the colony come from the Bible, but more in a spiritual and ethic kind of way. Nevertheless, if one were to break one of these rules, the punishment would be swift, public and severe. Depending on what the sinner did to break the law, the sentence would vary; for example, a person who committed adultery would have to wear the red letter A on their chest, face public shame and become an outcast. But, it can go as far as killing the offender. In the story, for instance, the women who witness the public punishment of Hester Prynne upon discovering she committed adultery, think that she was let go too easily, saying “At the very least, they should have put the brand of hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead” . As a consequence, the private life is not at all private, but public; everybody knows almost everything the other does. It is very hard to hide something in such a

It begins from the first chapter, with the opposition of the rose bush and the prison: “Before this ugly edifice...was a grass plot, much overgrown with burdock, pigweed, apple peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which had so early borne the black flower of civilized society, a prison. But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him” . The prison, “the black flower of the civilized society” was the first thing the settlers built, along with the cemetery. This action speaks volumes of the attitude of the community. It is also in stark opposition to the rose bush, which can represent the freedom of nature, its kindness and passion (as it is a rose), while the prison represents the imprisonment of human nature. Another opposition between nature and civilization is Pearl herself, the daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Being born after her mother had an affair, Pearl is considered the fruit of passion, so people believe her to be the offspring of sin and, automatically, they don’t welcome her in their community, making her an outcast even before she was born. She lives on the outskirts