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What Does The Forest Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

660 Words3 Pages

In the eighteenth through twenty fourth chapters of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, various elements and events are established that are crucial to the final moments taking place in the novel. These events and elements determine the destiny of the fictional family created by an act of adultery, between Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. One distinct aspect that Hawthorne uses to describe Hester Prynne and Pearl, is nature. The recurring characteristic that is used to compare nature to Hester and Pearl is sunshine. Sunshine is an adherent factor displayed most-commonly in the forest, as Hester, Pearl and Arthur Dimmesdale gather in the forest. In the forest, they can be a family, all together, ignoring the societal expectations …show more content…

Hawthorne uses literary devices such as, imagery to convey his message that Hester Prynne defied the boundaries of society’s civil law and has grown to accept natural law. In chapter nineteen, sunshine is used to explain Hester when she takes the Scarlet Letter “A”, off of her chest while in the forest with Dimmesdale and Pearl. As Hester begins to remove the Scarlet Letter off her chest, Hawthorne uses imagery by placing sunshine upon her face, and her hair, which makes a glowing effect upon he,r displaying to the reader that she is not defined by civil law but is ultimately defined by natural law. While Time passes, and it is time for Hester, Pearl and Dimmesdale return to the town, Hester must return the Scarlet Letter back upon her chest, and while in the midst of placing it back on her chest, a gray cloud forms over the sun creating a gray shadow upon Hester’s face. This act of imagery placed by Hawthorne into the novel, symbolizes that the love between Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne was and continues to be an act of love in natural law, and not to society’s disturbing civil

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What Does The Forest Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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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.

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Many people have conflicting ideas regarding the meaning of any given symbol. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the symbolism of the forest varies just as the symbols of the modern world. The forest, at first, represents the essence of evil and mystery, which transitions to a sort of friend for the young girl, Pearl, and finally, to a fortress of solitude for those who are supposedly living in sin or shame. In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, the forest symbolizes evil and mystery.

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“Pearl took some eelgrass, and … imitated, on her own bosom, the decoration… on her mother’s : A letter “A”, but freshly green, instead of scarlet!”, a quote pulled from Chapter 15, is another attempt by Hawthorne to convey the contrasting ideal of Pearl’s innocence and purity to Hester’s sin. The green of this imitated scarlet letter worn by Pearl is associated with nature and purity, while the scarlet of Hester’s original letter is typically associated with passion and

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1181 Words | 5 Pages

In the book The Scarlet Letter there are two main settings, the town and the forest. Both of them are very important for the main characters. The town is where a lot happens including where Hester and Arthur, the two main characters, sinned. It is also where they lived for most of their lives, dealing with the pain the sin has caused them. The town is where both Hester and Arthur die and where they are buried.

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Every so often, sunshine flickers on the setting. But Pearl reminds her mother that the sun will not shine on the sinful Hester; it does shine, however, when Hester passionately lets down her hair. The sun is the symbol of untroubled, guilt-free happiness, or perhaps the approval of God and nature. It also seems to be, at times, the light of truth and

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A symbolic function of the forest is to reflect Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s mood changes after they made the decision to leave. When Hester first enters the forest, the sunlight retracts after being touched by Hester and the brook is described as being melancholy. Such actions on the part of Nature show how dark Hester’s conscience is : she has been so marked by her shaming and the scarlet letter that she cannot even enjoy the pleasure of simple sunshine. The fact that Pearl is able to enjoy the sunshine also highlights how the shaming, not the sin, causes Hester to be unhappy: Pearl may be a result of sin but due to Pearl’s relative innocence and happiness, she is able to enjoy the sunshine.

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It's only in the woods where she feels most able to be herself and is free from societies eye. However, Hester's disconnection to society keeps her from living a normal life in God's colony. Her physical appearance alters, all her natural beauty is slowly drained as her disconnection grown and festers. It is also in the wilderness where she feels free to express how she truly feels, and where Dimmesdale and her can express their love. The woods are where the truth can live without fear, it is where Hester tells Dimmesdale the truth about Chillingworth's identity and where the two admit their love.

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