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What Does The Forest Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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In The Scarlet Letter, the forest is a prominent symbol used throughout the book to represent freedom from society. The forest is where Dimmesdale and Hester chose to meet because it is secluded from the rest of the Puritan civilization. During their meeting, they discuss that they want to run away to Europe together to escape their current living situations. This is an example of how the forest is being used to represent freedom from society. It is where Hester and Dimmesdale feel they are free to speak about whatever they want, even plans of running away together, because they cannot be seen by their fellow townsmen. In Chapter 20, when Dimmesdale returns from the forest, one of his friends greets him and he responds by saying, “I am not the man for whom you take me! I left him yonder in the forest, withdrawn into a secret dell, by a mossy tree trunk, near a melancholy brook!” (261; ch. 20). Dimmesdale responds this way because when he is in the forest, he is able to act a different way than when he is back in the town. …show more content…

The narrator says, “She thought of the dim forest, with its dell of solitude, and love, and anguish, and the mossy tree trunk, where, sitting hand in hand, they mingled their sad and passionate talk with the melancholy murmur of the brook” (287; ch. 22). Hester feels that when she is in the forest with Dimmesdale, he acts like a completely different person. This is because they are away from society and able to show their affection for one another. If they were to be affectionate in the town, Dimmesdale’s sin would be revealed and they would both face major punishment. The forest once again acts as a symbol of freedom from society because it is where Hester and Dimmesdale can be their true selves. No one from the town is around to judge them for their sins, and they are able to love each other without being in fear for their

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Mentally, his guilt strains his mind, which causes his physical deterioration, and the weakening of his body. As Dimmesdale finally admits his sin to the townspeople, his guilt is lifted, and he is able to release himself from his captivity. Though he deteriorated both mind and body from his guilt, by telling the townspeople of his sin, it was as if “a spell was broken” (238). He no longer needed to force himself to hide his sin, which was what was hurting him. By finally dealing with his sin in a similar way to Hester, Dimmesdale was able to free himself of his self-imposed captivity and

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In the first few chapters, the scaffold serves as the exposition of the novel to introduce Hester’s “walk of shame” and Dimmesdale’s absence from the very same fate. During the first scene, Hester is “dragged out into the sunshine” and displayed to “the crowd of spectators” (38). Hester likely feels dreadful as she is like a circus animal viewed upon by people uncaring about her physical well being and only worried about the entertainment. She is “dragged” into the sunlight; hence, she is being forcibly extracted from her one hiding place, the dark jail, and exposed so that everyone can see her guilt. By likening

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“And the infectious poison of that sin had been thus rapidly diffused throughout his moral system” (Hawthorne 174). In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale serves as the holiest person many people meet in their moral lifetime, and as the purest embodiment of God’s word. However, Dimmesdale has a wounding secret, a cancer, that tears his soul apart throughout his time in America. Dimmesdale falls prey to sin in a moment of passion with Hester, resulting in her condemnation by the townspeople, and the birth of their child, Pearl. For years, Dimmesdale’s life is defined by an internal conflict - his job demands his purity in the eye of the townspeople, but he desires the acceptance of herself that Hester achieves through her sin being made public.

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1210 Words | 5 Pages

When Dimmesdale states it “burns in secret”, he is using a metaphor to describe how the guilt from his hidden sin is burning inside him and ruining his life. The guilt isn't literally burning inside of him, but the author uses figurative language here to describe the severity in which Dimmesdale's emotions are in. This guilt has progressive gotten worse the longer Dimmesdale has kept it in and the only thing he can do is reveal it. Lastly, Dimmesdale describes people struggling with guilt, while truly describing himself, as he states, “They go about among their fellow creatures, looking pure as new-fallen snow; while their hearts are all speckled and spotted with iniquity of which they cannot rid themselves” p 91. Although Dimmesdale is describing to Chillingworth what happens to people who struggling with guilt and sin, he is truly describing himself and what is happening to him.

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Dimmesdale, despairing of life, told Chillingworth that “[he] could be well content, that [his] labors, and [his] sorrows, and [his] sins, and [his] pains, should shortly end with [him], and what is earthly of them be buried in [his] grave”(83).

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While Hester is forced to publicly wear a scarlet letter A as her punishment, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his sin. He instead continues to perform his duties as the town’s well respected minister. Hester moves away from the grasp of the townspeople

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224 Words | 1 Pages

In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses nature symbols including the forest, roses, sunshine, Pearl, and light and darkness to influence the plot and instills his strong romantic ideas to the readers. Through symbolism, the reader must think deeply to find the true meaning of Hawthorne 's words. Hawthorne does not depict wilderness in the same manner as the Puritans, but instead, Hawthorne’s portrayal of nature described in the story is more consistent with the romantic views of the middle of the nineteenth century when Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlett Letter. Hawthorne uses nature as a romantic source for critiquing the Puritan society, its unjust laws, and the hypocrisy of the church. Symbolism shows the greatness of an author’s ability

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All that Dimmesdale has to live for his life is serving out his sentence; this is where, Dimmesdale must make a huge decision on whether he should conceal sin, or let his words roam free. When the minister is able to go into the forest, which is a place unlike Puritan society, he is able to talk with Hester, which lets him become his true self: where he is able to come out to the public of his

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786 Words | 4 Pages

Hawthorne shows this through Dimmesdale. While Dimmesdale is in the forest, he feels free. The moment he returns to the town things do not seem the same. Hawthorne writes, “A similar impression struck him most remarkably, as he passed under the walls of his own church’’ ( Hawthorne 171).

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980 Words | 4 Pages

In this scene, Dimmesdale seizes the opportunity to confess his sin to

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918 Words | 4 Pages

Hester, I am most miserable” (Hawthorne 166). It is very noticeable that Dimmesdale is sorrowful for what he had done. Dimmesdale knew that he, a part of church, could not be known for such a horrible sin. He is doing so terrible that he is physically weakening. The shame is ruining his life and actually, he even died after he finally confessed his sin.

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940 Words | 4 Pages

It reveals how the character Dimmesdale evolves as time progresses, in the beginning he asks Hester to stand with him so he can confess his sins but only for a minute because he doesn't want to admit the sin. This adds to the guilt that increases with time but also foreshadows his final coming out with the truth and death caused by this action. Hester's past will always be apart of her although others have forgotten about the sin that tore her life apart. The scarlet letter becomes apart of her and also turns into a symbol of redemption and how she overcame the difficulties in her life. Although she was emotionally tormented as a young woman she was able to overcome and become a light to others.

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696 Words | 3 Pages

In chapter 17, Hester went to the forest to see if she could have a talk with Dimmesdale. When she spotted him, she asked Dimmesdale if he had found any peace. Dimmesdale replied, "None--nothing but despair!" and “Hester, I am most miserable!"

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714 Words | 3 Pages

In the novel The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a significant role in the story and creates many supernatural like instances through nature. Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, gives nature a supernatural role, and it helps move the story along and also helps the reader better understand using the imagery of nature. He uses the forest, the sun, the darkness, a rosebush, and a river bed to create imagery in nature, which makes the book have more supernatural effects in it. He also gives nature a role in the story and it helps distinguish things that have been done by people and what people will do in the future. Nature’s role in the story is very significant and without nature's role, the story would not have the same flow or same effect on the reader that the story has with nature being in it and with it having supernatural effects.

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580 Words | 3 Pages

There they felt free from their burden of having to carry their sin with them when they entered the forest. There, the forest acted as fortification from judgement of their sin. The forest represents their loss of spirituality. They felt no remorse, no shame in what they did. Since the characters believed The Black Man dwelled the forest, Hester and Dimmesdale seemed as if they had made a pact with him during their time spent there.

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