Puritan’s harsh beliefs represented the beginning of the Nineteenth Century in the newly colonized America. Their community ruled with an iron fist: unforgiving, pitiless, stern. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne expresses his disagreement with puritan priorities by revealing the hypocrisy widely practiced throughout their community. Hawthorne’s utilization of dim diction aids in the establishment of his scornful tone, while inclusion of symbols and intricate juxtaposition all serve to accentuate the Puritan’s duplicity. All these factors combine to develop a critical tone which rebukes puritan society.
In the very beginning of the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne presents the readers with a scene with the tone, at first, of a gloomy and drowsy prison door, but then the tone seems to change a bit as Hawthorne introducing the rose bush by the prison door. “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track.” (Chapter 1; The Prison Door. Line 19) The rose bush is part
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s rosebush in The Scarlet Letter represents the prisoners who are living within the shadows of the prison. Throughout the novel Hester, a prisoner, is seeking redemption, so she’s willing to sacrifice her reputation for the sake of her daughter. The rosebush is a symbol for those who are suffering or going through a difficult time. The rosebush is growing in the shadows of the prison, as are the prisoners who have a chance at redeeming themselves. Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne overcomes several challenging obstacles that come her way and try preventing her redemption.
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the author develops little Pearl through symbols of flowers in order to properly portray the development of Pearl’s character, as her interactions with these natural elements constantly reveal Pearl’s unique qualities. The flowers, for instance, are symbols of Pearl’s unexpected entrance into the world and Hawthorne describes her as being a “little creature, whose innocent life [has] sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion” (Hawthorne 50). As Pearl is being compared to a delicate flower that was unexpectedly planted, it only makes sense that Hawthorne chooses to symbolize Pearl as a sign of abruptness.
Symbolism Within The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne created symbolism throughout The Scarlet Letter in order to develop the theme throughout Hester’s life. Hester is portrayed as a sheltered soul, shunned from society due to her adulterous acts. The red A and her daughter, Pearl, are symbols of Hester’s shame which she bares proudly despite society's harsh judgements. Hawthorne is able to use symbolism to develop themes, characters, and analogies in the Scarlet Letter.
In the first chapter of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne's use of details, syntax, diction, and imagery help set the mood in the novel. In the first two paragraphs of the book, Hawthorne’s descriptions, such as "sad-colored garments", "gray, steeple-crowned hats", and "studded with iron spikes" connotate sadness, gloominess, and general unhappiness. Also, the group of Puritan settlers dressed in dark clothing surrounding the prison introduce a dark mood and fearfully apprehending tone. This shows that the Puritans are powerful and important characters in the story. Moreover, since the whole chapter is written in passive voice and does not comprise of a protagonist, a very ambiguous narrative tone is created.
The Sunlight Christine Quinn once said, “...when you come out of hiding, in whatever way you’re hiding, you get to go out into the sunlight.” The significance of sunlight is crucial to the sustainability and well-being of human life on earth. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses sunlight to symbolize happiness, and it is also used to exemplify freedom. From the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne portrays Hester as deprived of happiness.
The first example of imagery that Hawthorne uses is when Young Goodman Brown is walking through the woods and he was trying to resist the devil’s temptations. “On he flew among the black pines, brandishing his staff with frenzied gestures, now giving vent to an insperation of horrid blasphemy, and now shounting forth such laughter as set all the echoes of the forest laughing like demons around
Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the Puritan society of the 17th century in the novel The Scarlet Letter. He creates a story about a woman named Hester who is bound by sin to a scarlet letter “A”, for adultery. He uses symbolism to contribute to the overall theme of sin. Some symbols used include: the scarlet letter itself, a meteor, and the black blossom.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter takes place in a Puritan town in the 1600’s. In his book Hester Prynne, who is the protagonist, commits adultery and out of it came a baby and a scarlet letter which she has to wear for the rest of her life. The person she committed adultery with was Reverend Dimmesdale, yet only Hester, Pearl (Her child), Roger Chillingworth
By starting the novel with this symbol, Hawthorne sets the stage for the rest of the story and shows that the characters will also experience a balance of good and
In “The Prison Door” from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses imagery and parallelism to convey his tone while introducing the setting of the book. He uses a gloomy and depressed tone in the beginning of the chapter using imagery while describing different places through the town. Later on in the chapter, he moves on to discuss the rose-bush. This is looked at as a joyful symbol to the sad citizens. This is the parallelism he uses to shift the tone to be brighter and
The authors use of these three symbols in the book help the reader to understand the thoughts of that time. First of all let's discuss about how Hawthorne uses light and dark in the book. Hawthorne uses light and dark concepts to help the readers know more about the scene so they can get more in engaged when reading. A example of light and dark in the book would be if the
Throughout the history of literature, forests or woods were used to symbolise a lost in morals or spirituality. The devil or The Black man was used to symbolise corruption or evil. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses forests and The Black Man to embody the spiritual and moral struggles of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in his novel The Scarlet Letter. The first time Roger Chillingworth appears to the readers, is during the first scaffold scene. He was deformed and hunchbacked.
Nathaniel Hawthorne did not always speak positively toward the Puritans, but he has respect for the group. The main symbol that stands out is the scarlet letter “A” that was stuck on Hester Prynne for her actions of adultery which is a theme for this book. Another symbol is the rose bush that grew right outside of the old, rusty, decaying prison
