Light And Dark Themes In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter expresses various themes of dark romanticism using symbolism. One of the more obvious symbols is that of the scaffold, which is present throughout the story. Upon in-depth exploration, I discovered this use of symbolism relates both literally and metaphorically to the dark romantic themes present in Hawthorne’s tale. First, let me discuss the scaffold and its constant presence in the story. The townspeople, Hester, and Dimmesdale use the scaffold on numerous occasions; most often, its use is to shame, harass, and isolate Hester Prynne so that she will confess the name of her child’s father. However, at times, the scaffold is used as a sanctuary and a confessional for others.

Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the ideology of Puritan society in the novel the Scarlet Letter; however reader also get to witness his characters being an illustration of hypocrisy and victims to their own guilt. In the Scarlet Letter, as in many of Hawthorne’s shorter works, he makes profuse use of the Puritan past: its odd exclusionary belief, its harsh code of ruling, its concern with sex and witchcraft. The Scarlet Letter is a story that is embellished but yet simple. Many readers may view this novel as a soap opera due to the way Hawthorne conveys this Puritan society’s sense of strictness and inability to express true emotion along with the secrecy and how deceiving the characters are being. As the story unfolds the main character Hester Prynne is bounded in marriage at an early age. She engages in an adulterous affair with an unknown member of their small village. Hester soon becomes pregnant and with her husband’s absence the chances of this child belonging to her husband are slim. The towns’ people know that she has committed a sin and imprisons her for her crime.

The Scarlet Letter is a novel about a woman named Hester Prynne that had an affair with a minister named Arthur Dimmesdale and had a baby, which caused Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, which was gone at the time on business, to get revenge on both Hester and Dimmesdale. Chillingworth makes their lives miserable and soon, Hester

The author uses Pearl’s interest in the devil to connect her to a symbol of evil and sin. The Black Man is “associated with the forested wilderness” and is found there at night (250). The chapters A Forest Walk, A Flood of Sunshine, and The Child at the Brook-Side display how naturally Pearl fits into the wilderness. Hester perceives her “now like a real child” who was “gentler here than in grassy-marginated streets of the settlement” (187, 188). Hawthorne shows how the “nymph-child” fits into the Black Man’s forest more than the Puritan village. He conveys how connected she is to the devil, and that her symbolic character embodies that. This mythical and sinful symbol has a spell-like aspect; Hawthorne uses this character to further the novel and prove his point.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is set in the early days of Puritan America. Hester Prynne, a seamstress, comes to the New World before her husband in order to prepare a place for them. During his absence, she develops a relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, a rising minister in the newly founded Puritan community. Hester becomes pregnant. The novel is widely viewed to be a story about her trials and tribulations; however, critic Randall Steward argues that, "…Hester is not the protagonist, the chief actor, and the tragedy of the novel is not her tragedy but Arthur's. He is the persecuted one, the tempted one. He it was whom the sorrows of death encompassed…His public confession is one of

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, the main characters struggle to overcome sin, guilt, and public humiliation in a Puritan New England society. In the beginning of the novel, Hester Prynne is led to the scaffold to serve her punishment for committing adultery, a crime and a sin in Puritan culture. In addition to standing on the scaffold to be publicly embrassed, Hester also must wear a scarlet letter "A" to show her sin of adultery. The townspeople, including Hester's werid husband Roger Chillingworth, seek to find the true identity of Hester's lover and the father of her illegitimate child, Pearl. Hester refuses to publicly admit that Pearl's father is Arthur Dimmesdale, the town minister; because she wants to protecting him

Every society and person in society has secrets. Everyone has another side to them that they do not show in the eyes of the public. Hawthorne uses the symbol of darkness to show throughout his literary works that everyone is sinful. Archetypally, darkness represents chaos, mystery, death, evil, fear. Darkness in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, shows the author's point of view on the Puritan society. Hawthorne’s use of archetypal symbolism of darkness to describe Puritans suggests Hawthorne’s view on Puritan society was anything but pure and that all societies should be less critical of their members.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an age old novel. The story revolves around the actions of a woman, Hester Prynne, who committed the act of adultery and has to bare on her chest the scarlet letter “A”. The main conflict in the story is the fact that the people of the town have no way to identify the father of Hester’s illegitimate child, Pearl Prynne. Other major conflicts involve Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingsworth, who also deceives the town by never announcing his marital status to Hester in order to find his wife’s secret lover, and Arthur Dimmesdale, the supposed respectable man of the cloth, who has the affair with Hester. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, the use of secrecy and lies create the foundation

The Scarlet Letter, a story of Hester Prynne and her paramour, Reverend Dimmesdale, and her malicious husband in pursuit for revenge, Roger Chillingworth. The novel begins in the Puritan society in Boston, Massachusetts, during the 1640’s. The town first ostracizes Hester because of their strong religious beliefs. Hester is then faced with an immense struggle against the town and Roger Chillingworth. Through this struggle she is developed into a heroine, or a woman admired for her courage, achievements, or noble qualities; although she is not the perfect heroine because she starts her journey at the lowest point in Puritan society, in sin. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne overcomes the Puritan community and Roger Chillingworth to defy adversity and become a heroine whom everyone to admire.

The Scarlet Letter is a rich and compelling story about a woman, Hester Prynne, who commits sin with a man named Arthur Dimmesdale. During the time period in which the story takes place, many sins are very severe. Hester and Dimmesdale commit adultery and the way they deal with their crime are completely different. This severe crime will require a type of punishment, but how they respond to their punishment is all up to them. Nathaniel Hawthorne author of The Scarlet Letter, creates two characters who experience the same sin, but experience different punishments and outcomes.

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that takes place in the town of Boston, Massachusetts in 1642. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, commits the sin of adultery. Because of this sin, she is "blessed" with a child named Pearl. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “A" on her chest for the rest of her life, which affects the way the townspeople look and act around her. Also, she must stand on the scaffold in the town for three hours for the whole town to recognize her grave sins. The man who should be standing upon the scaffold along with her and Pearl is the town minister, Dimmesdale. He is presented as a weak character because of his fear of losing his beloved reputation as such a holy

The Scarlet Letter was a love story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The book tells the story of Hester Prynne, who portrays the effect of punishment on sensitivity and human nature. She is seen as a person who deserves the embarrassment of her bad choice. She had a rough time with her recognition of the letter's meaning. Over the 7 years of her punishment, Hester's inner struggle changes from a victim of Puritan branding to a decisive woman in tune with human nature. In time, though the Puritan people look at the letter as a meaning of "Angel." Her sensitivity with society's victims makes her symbolic meaning turn into a person whose life was originally oppressed to a strong and sensitive woman with respect for others. In her last few years

In the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne comments on how keeping secrets has direct effect on the mind. When Hester Prynne accepts and embraces her sin, the act of adultery, she is able to grow and find happiness. When the reader is first introduced to Hester, she is standing on the scaffold and being scorned by the onlookers from the town. As the novel continues, Hester begins to flourish in the town and slowly becomes reaccepted into society. Arthur Dimmesdale, a highly regarded

In The Scarlet letter, Nathaniel hawthorne uses his novel as social commentary by depicting the puritan society as a group of hypocritical people who believe in conformity, which ultimately, turns them into a mindless horde. Nathaniel Hawthorne had deep bonds with his Puritan ancestors and created a story that highlighted both their weaknesses and their strengths. His knowledge of their beliefs and his admiration for their strengths were balanced by his concerns for their rigid and cruel rules.The Scarlet Letter shows his attitude toward these Puritans of Boston in his portrayal of characters, his plot, and the themes of his story. It is through symbolism and imagery that Hawthorne tells his tale of Hester Prynne's sin and her punishment.

Setting can be used, as Hawthorne did, to produce deeper meaning within the setting. Symbolism was a key component because it allowed the reader to better understand setting. In particular, Hawthorne uses the scaffold to symbolize sin and redemption, He uses Hester's home to symbolize the tight grip that the puritans had on her, and he uses the forest to symbolize something sweet in a place thought to be evil. Setting and the symbolism pulled from it, is used to build a better understanding of the characters in the