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Puritan culture in the scarlet letter
Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter
Literary devices used in the scarlet letter
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In chapter one of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, many rhetorical devices are used. Hawthorne uses this language to create mystery and wonder throughout the book. His writing is precise; obviously to cause readers to feel a certain way. Nathaniel's use of imagery, mood, and symbolism is what makes The Scarlet Letter so interesting to those who read it.
The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1-6 Response Journal Chapter one The Prison Door sets the mood of the novel. It describes how the founders of the Puritan colony knew there would be crime so they built a prison. It can be inferred that the mood is cruel because of how everything in the jail is described. “The rust on the ponderous iron-work of its oaken door looked more antique than anything else on the world” (Hawthorne, 41).
Hawthorne uses chapter twenty-two, “The Procession”, to put all the pieces of the puzzle of the conflict together. This is where the reader remotely begins to understand how the ending of the novel will come to an end. To reveal the conclusion to the reader, Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices such as, irony, simile, and diction. To expose the irony in this chapter, Hawthorne writes of Dimmesdale’s sermon. As Dimmesdale speaks, “if the auditor listened intently, and for the purpose, he could detect the same cry of pain.”
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.
To begin, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes pathos throughout his writing to imprint the importance of individual conscience into the reader 's mind. Hawthorne begins the book by having the reader pity the main character, Hester Prynne, as she is a young, husbandless, mother in a society that shames her for her unfortunate circumstances: “haughty as her demeanor was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep of those that thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon” (Hawthorne, 53). The consistent misfortune of Prynne evokes emotion in the reader and stresses the weight of her decisions. Prynne manages her way through such a hostile society -“Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly on your bosom” (Hawthorne, 188)- in a way that is metaphorically applicable to the real world, allowing the reader to truly connect and understand the character for who they are.
In the story “ The Odyssey “ by Garreth Hinds, we can identify a universal theme of hospitality or “Xenia” in Ancient Greek Culture. For instance, when King Alcinous helps Odysseus when he was shipwrecked we can see the type of culture and manners that are expected by Greeks. Another prime example is when Menelaus welcomes Odysseus in Sparta and offers drinks and food. The author uses these examples throughout the story to reiterate the general theme.
In the first chapter of
When you think of a Puritan society, what comes to your mind? Perfect, flawless, and a religion based on following God? Well, that is what it says on paper, but is it really that perfect? Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne jabs at the Puritans in an attempt to portray just how flawed they really are. After reading the book, you want to think that Hawthorne is telling the story of sinning in a Puritan society.
Literature is composed of both a plot and the writing itself. While many consider the storyline to be the most telling of how a character feels, the intentions of the author and the purpose of the writing, it is the writing itself, with its many rhetorical devices and strategies and basic elements, that tells more of the story—each element of writing unlocks more about the characters, the author’s intention and purpose of the text. This case especially holds true in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Based on the passage from the text, “Another View of Hester,” Hawthorne makes clear Hester’s negative feelings toward her purpose and outlook on existence, and that of women in general, through the use of clear, deliberate diction, accomplished
In seventeenth-century Boston, appearance held profound significance, proven through documents of the era but also in intricate novels and how clothing was used to measure social status. Nathaniel Hawthorne may not have been studying clothing in writing his novel The Scarlet Letter, but the theme conveyed underlies within the clothing the protagonist wears as a result of her actions, and how appearances still mattered in the Puritan times but in a different manner. Clothing is ultimately used as an outlet to showcase the civilians' sins; as done with Hester since her attire not only exemplifies her sin but also reflects her evolving mental state throughout the novel shown through imagery, and how it influenced others’ perceptions of her. Sewing
Throughout chapters six and seven of The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the influence adults have on children is depicted. The Puritan community is seen as a Greek Chorus with one voice for the entirety of the community. It is noted that the Puritan elders’ “ugliest weeds from the garden [are] their children (Hawthorne 87). This can be supported when Hawthorne describes them as “the most intolerant brood that ever lived” who only have “vague idea[s] with ordinary fashions” (86). The children of the Puritan community, the little Puritans, are following their parents footsteps, mirroring exactly how they would act as adolescents.
However, he also uses these allusions to create a new side to his narrative as evident when he describes Hester’s resilience, and to create a new element in the plot as evident in his description of Dimmesdale’s penance and need for redemption. Therefore, Hawthorne demonstrates an effective use of allusions to craft a religious and detailed narrative for The Scarlet Letter by reviewing on parallels between the Bible and the novel’s main characters. There’s more to The Scarlet Letter than these allusions though, and there are many questions to answer about this book. These questions may never be answered fully, but by reading the novel itself, we might find the right places to start searching for answers and formulate our own opinions on the matter. What’s important from this novel is the realistic warning about what might happens when an individual place themselves too highly among others, a message Hawthorne writes to warn against the fervor of transcendentalism of his time.
In the first paragraph, he begins by talking about men with “sad-colored garments”. This sets a gloomy tone because the word “sad” is blatantly used to describe the characters. Later on in the paragraph, Hawthorne begins to describe the prison door. He says that the door consists of
The entirety of of The Scarlet Letter is written from the perspective of an anonymous third person narrator. Due to his egotistical tendencies, much of the novel is told through very didactic word usage because the narrator intends on teaching the readers instead of solely telling a story. Another prevalent aspect of the work in the difference of diction between the descriptions and speakings of each individual character. Hawthorne ensures that the language a character uses reflects on their personalities as well as follows along with their characterizations throughout the book. In possessing very formal diction overall, the narrator also manages to include artistic aspects such as imagery, metaphor and personification to enhance the novel’s
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne effectively conforms to the conventions of the gothic genre for the purpose of characterizing the Puritan society as oppressive, portraying the hypocrisy found within the society and highlighting the consequences for not confessing
