Symbolism And Its Significance Of The Scarlet Letter

The Puritans despised Hester and her symbol for her sin, and shunned her for many years even after her prison sentence. Hester could have just lived a depressed, lonely life in seclusion with her daughter Pearl, but she decided to accept her sin and wrong doing to become a mentally stronger woman. During the many years of Hester being in prison and being rejected when she was released, she practiced needlework to provide food for her and her daughter. As the people in Salem recognized her talent of her embroidery and garments, they began respecting her talent, and so the scarlet “A” that stood for “adulterer” slowly began to stand for “able.” Hester started to supply apparel for babies, ceremonies, inaugurations, and funerals. Furthermore, the Scarlet letter has another symbolic meaning. When Pearl went to the seashore, she made a green letter “A” out of seaweed – nature’s color. This was symbolic for Pearl’s sinless life so far because she hasn’t truly been introduced to sin; she still is “green” and “pure”. As for Hester, her scarlet “A” is symbolic of her many sins, for no one can avoid sin as they grow older.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

Hawthorne does not only use human or people for symbolism. He also uses inanimate objects to project his themes and morals. There are many different things used iron, a rosebush, scaffolds, and of course the scarlet letter. In The Scarlet Letter the author might directly state what the objects represents or it might be left to the reader to decide for themselves what the object means.

The first symbolism in the novel is how the letter “A” represents adultery. Julian Hawthorne stated, “it burns upon its wearer's breast, it casts a lurid glow along her pathway, it isolates her among mankind,” The letter “A” became part of Hester. It made her have her own glow and made her an outcast from society due to her independence and rebellious mindset. Hawthorne symbolizes the letter to represent Hester Prynne’s sin throughout the book. She,“ turned her eyes downward at the scarlet, and even touched it with her finger, to assure herself that the infant and the shame were real,” (Hawthorne,5). Hester Prynne’s sin has brought her shame because the puritans believed that humanity should live life by the bible. Additionally, in the bible it is a sin for humans to have

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, features many instances of symbolism. One notable example is the opposing behavioral systems of the forest and town and how natural authority triumphs that of man.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is chock-full of hidden imagery. Generally, this hidden imagery is regarded as symbolism which can be defined as something apparent that also is used to represent something else broader in meaning. Nathaniel Hawthorne included much symbolism in The Scarlet Letter such as the scarlet “A”, the prison building, and the rosebush outside of the prison. To begin, the most apparent form of symbolism throughout the Scarlet Letter is the literal scarlet “A”.

Throughout the book, the villagers view of the scarlet letter changed. It’s original meaning was to punish Hester for having an affair, but as the book goes on, the “A” no longer stands for “Adulterer”, it stands for “Able”. For example, in chapter two, Hester is

The author of The Scarlet Letter, Nathanial Hawthorne, is constantly using symbolism to keep the reader engaged and curious. A symbol can stand for one thing but mean another. These include symbolism’s of light and dark, variations of the letter “A”, weeds and flowers, as well as the scaffold. Because Nathanial Hawthorne wrote portraying a lot of symbolism, he created a new style of writing.

A symbol is often used to represent an idea or a concept of value. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbols that changes throughout the novel, particularly his characters who all serve a symbolic purpose. Hawthorne uses themes of sin to demonstrate how unavoidable sin is and shows the idea that sin results in suffering. The Scarlet Letter contains many symbols, including Pearl, The Scarlet Letter and the rose bush, which all contribute to the main themes of sin and its effects to the characters.

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many forms of symbolism in his book The Scarlet Letter. Symbolism is, according to Merriam-Webster, “the art or practice of using symbols, especially by investing things with a symbolic meaning or by expressing the invisible or intangible by means of visual or sensuous representations.” This means that the author was using objects to represent an action or idea. The symbols used in his book is either all physical or visible objects. Many of the symbols in the book are about characters.Nathaniel’s ideas came from his bonds with the Puritans. According to CliffsNotes, “the Puritans had great difficulty in loving the sinner and hating the sin”. With the Puritans strong hatred for sin,

All classic literature uses symbolism in one way or another. Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter is no different. The very basis of every character, their personal appearance and way they act revolves around one thing, the Scarlet Letter. The scarlet letter is an "A", in crimson fabric, worn by a Puritan woman for her act of adultery. Its very existence is solely to cause shame and remorse on Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl, who was conceived in her lust, but it comes to stand for so much more. All of Hawthorne's main characters; Hester Prynne, Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth, feel the wrath of one piece of cloth and learn how character can be created or

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, emphasizes the severity of sin throughout the entire novel. He uses different symbols to show how sin was dealt with when it came to what the people in the Puritan community believe. When a sin was committed, the community punished the person, sometimes to the point of death. Hester Prynne committed adultery, which was one act of sin taken very seriously. The community wanted to kill her, but Arthur Dimmesdale, a minister and also her daughter’s father, convinced the other ministers to spare Hester. She was forced to wear the scarlet letter ‘A,’ which stand for adulterer, for the rest of her life. Hawthorne reveals a common theme of sin by using: the scarlet letter ‘A,’ Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale’s failing health along with Roger Chillingworth’s thirst for revenge.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is littered with symbolism, the most apt example being the scarlet letter itself, which dons several different meanings throughout the novel. The letter is first recognized as a symbol of Hester Prynne’s act of adultery, yet further along in the story, it becomes better known as a symbol for the woman’s strength, skill, and ability. At any point in the novel, the scarlet letter can be identified as a symbol of the love affair between Hester and Dimmesdale. Along with these three instances of the scarlet letter’s symbolism, there are countless more within the text, making it an extremely worthy point of analysis within the book.

Symbolism has many different meanings, and the Scarlet ‘A’ in “The Scarlet Letter” has many different meanings as well. Hester Prynne is the main character who is forced to wear the scarlet letter as remembrance for the crime and the sin that she has committed. This letter completely ruined her reputation in her community. How could a small piece of fabric do so much harm? This letter was a representation of something much greater than the letter ‘A’. This letter was originally made to stand for adulteress, as physical reminder of her sins. The vibrant scarlet red is meant to shame Hester, to make her feel sorry for her mistakes. Most importantly it was a symbol for change and an emblem of identity. In short, the scarlet letter meant much more than a letter of shame, it was simply a piece of fabric with meaning that could easily change.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter introduces themes within the story that recur in several settings and serve as metaphors for the underlying conflicts. The trouble in interpreting The Scarlet Letter is the fact that the story is packed full of symbolism that can be either overlooked, or misinterpreted. From the actual letter ‘A’, down to the use of colors, Hawthorne wrote his story with the intention of making the reader work harder and read deeper into the characters and actual meaning of the story.