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What Is The Scaffold Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

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Symbolism is a great literary device used to enhance a piece of writing by taking a particular object and giving it an entirely different meaning that is much more significant than what the object actually is. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, written in 1850, the author uses many symbols throughout the book to reflect Dark Romantic themes and conflicts and to show the Puritan way of life. Three important symbols that Hawthorne refers to repeatedly throughout the book are the scaffold, the scarlet letter, and Pearl, being a child of nature.

Scaffolds in a Puritan society were used to publically embarrass sinners and criminals. This was first seen in The Scarlet Letter in Chapters 1-3 when the protagonist Hester Prynne stood on the scaffold before the people of the Puritan society. She had committed the sin of adultery and the people wanted to hear who she had done it with and who the father was of the child that she had. In the book, it states, "... this scaffold constituted a portion of a penal …show more content…

thus holding it up to the public gaze"(Hawthorne 53). The scaffold was used as a symbol to represent how Puritans dealt with law and punishment to the offenders of the law. The leaders of the society such as the governor, minister and others were on the scaffold trying to get Hester to acknowledge the name of the father of her child and kept telling her if she did she would be free from the scarlet letter she now wore through her confession. Being on the scaffold was the Puritan way of punishing the criminal. The people that stood before Hester wanted to shame her for her sin and made her a public spectacle. The scaffold can represent some dark romantic themes and conflicts as well. Hester

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Also, she must stand on the scaffold for three hours for public humiliation. As Hester approaches the scaffold, many of the women in the crowd are angered by her beauty and quiet dignity. When demanded and cajoled to name the father of her child, Hester refuses.

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Hester's divine beauty outshines others corrupt beliefs of her. While Hester walks stumbles out the prison doors and onto the dreaded scaffold, Hawthorne describes Hester as "the young woman [who] was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale" (40). Hester Prynne is being publicly shamed for the act of adultery she committed along with the minister who condemns her. She is forced to stand on the scaffold and beat the sorrow of he sins with the scarlet letter "A" on her bosom to represent her shameful acts. This mark of embarrassment serves a purpose to make her appear unrighteous, but the author chooses to focus on her beauty, which outshines this emblem.

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The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, focuses on the life of Hester Prynne—the unlucky soul who is caught committing adultery and forced to live a life of shame and ignominy. The scaffold is not only the start of her predicament, but it is also the end of the once seemingly perfect Reverend Dimmesdale’s own guilt. The scaffold is the setting of a scene three times throughout the novel: the beginning, middle, and end. For such a lifeless object, it is difficult to recognize its significance in the novel; however, the scaffold is used by Hawthorne to portray the changing relationship between the characters, specifically Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl.

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While reading The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is obvious that he uses a lot of symbolism throughout his writing to give the readers a deeper understanding of the Puritans and their views in these times. In this book, the community forces Hester Prynne to wear a scarlet letter on her chest to show her abashment for committing adultery and having a child, Pearl. However, Pearl is actually used as a symbol throughout this book to represent the physical embodiment of Hester’s sin, the repercussions of her breaking the law, and an unworldly being in the usual strict Puritan society. In the beginning of the book, Hawthorne uses Pearl as a way to constantly remind Hester of her sin and as a link between the secret relationship of Hester

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This A is shown upon her breast as a symbol of her owning up to her sin and setting herself aside from the puritan society. Hawthorne uses this symbol to create a theme throughout the

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For instance, in Chapter 3 while Hester is up on the scaffold in front of society as a consequence for her sin of adultery,

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C.S. Lewis, British author and poet, insightfully stated, “We have a strange illusion that mere time cancels sin... But mere time does nothing either to the fact or to the guilt of a sin.” The self-condemnation caused by sins will always remain despite the evolution of time. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, describes characters Hester and Dimmesdale and their struggle with the guilt of hidden sins as well as the shame of revealed sins. Throughout the book, the author illustrates the conflict of revealed verses hidden sins through two primary characters.

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The book The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne has symbolism all throughout it. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify philosophies that are evident during this time period. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against their ways, committing adultery. For this sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.

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The scarlet letter represents sin, and, in Hester’s case, adultery. The scarlet letter also represents other meanings in the novel. The scarlet letter symbolizes adultery, able, and alone to show the importance of honesty. Throughout the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reveals that the scarlet letter first stood for adultery. Even though the scarlet letter was supposed to be a punishment for having a child out of wedlock, Hester Prynne

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Introduction In the novel “The Scarlet Letter”, Hester is constantly reminded of her sin and put down for it. The Puritans look down upon her because she has committed a sin. Thesis: Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter” can be seen as criticism of the beliefs of puritans and how symbolism is used to show Hester’s sin and how she is defined. Body Paragraph 1 Topic Sentence: When the Puritans had found out that Hester had conceived a child with another man, the Puritans saw this as a sin that deserved punishment.

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Hawthorne uses symbolism throughout the Scarlet letter to display the sin and indecency people see Hester as. The detail represents ,the deep beauty Hester has inside although most people do not see her as a beutiful women. The deep red is a representation of adultery which shows her being an oncast from society. The symbol of the letter “A” is repetitive throughout the novel and grows with Hester and overcomes this with time as people start to see her as a person again and not just a adulterer. Hester acknowledges her sin in her puritan faith but swears to secrecy on the father of Pearl.

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There are various examples of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter, but one of them wraps the whole story together: the meaning of the scarlet letter A. In this passage, Hester Prynne wears an embroidered letter A on her bosom as punishment. At first the A stood for “adulterer”, but the townspeople later gained respect for her and said “Such helpfulness was found in her-so much power to do and to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original significance. They said it meant ‘Able’” (Hawthorne 107).

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It is quite obvious in Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter that Pearl, Hester Prynne 's daughter, plays a major role. Not only is she one of the main characters, but she is prevalent theme in the novel, as well. Pearl is not written like a regular character. Most of the other symbols in the story, such as the scarlet letter or the rose bush, lead back to Pearl. Pearl takes on many symbols and serves great purpose.

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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

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With Hester changing her ways and helping the poor, the community changed, “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 168). While the community originally viewed the “A” as a symbol of sin, they began to see it too as a symbol of being “Able” because all that Hester Prynne had overcome. The Scarlet Letter had many examples of symbolism, but none were more significant that the letter “A”

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