Symbolism Of Nathaniel Hawthorne 's ' The Scarlet Letter '

The very scarlet letter from which the novel’s name is derived from is a symbol of sinning; the scarlet letter represents how Puritan society views sinning as unforgivable and something for public speculation. Hester is punished by wearing hers out for the world to see. The letter is “so fantastically embroidered” that one townswoman argues that its intricacy and design defeat the entire purpose of wearing it. The scarlet letter serves as an

       Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter seems to be created around Hawthorne's obsession with the forbidding quality of the scarlet "A", the symbol from which the novel takes its title. Rrom the rose-bush which Hawthorne selects a flower from as an offering to the reader(1) to the "elfish" child Pearl, every aspect of the story is drenched in this letter's scarlet hue. Perhaps this repetition reflects Hawthorne's own repressed desires, as some critics suggest(2). However, what seems more compelling is the function which the symbol serves for Hester Prynne and the community which has condemned her. For Hester the symbol is clearly a literary one; she fashions the scarlet "A" to

There are many forms of symbolism found in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne, the author uses his many forms of symbolism to project a lesson or moral created throughout the story. Even each of the main characters has a different moral representation. Guilt, repentance, purity, and strength each are shown through the eyes of a different character. Pear, Hester Prynne, Chillingworth, and Reverend Dimmesdale are main characters that are used to show that you should “Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!”(Hawthorne286)

One of the most obvious and insidious symbols that Nathaniel Hawthorne includes, hence the name “The Scarlet Letter”, is the scarlet letter “A” that is placed upon Hester’s chest. However, the majority of symbolism that Hawthorne includes, is not as prominent as that of the scarlet letter. Hawthorne includes a copious amount of symbolic meanings in his famous novel The Scarlet Letter that gives each chapter a deeper meaning.

Webster defined "symbol" with these words: "Something concrete that represents or suggests another thing that cannot in itself be pictured." This concept has been particularly applied to literature and used by writers throughout history. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter uses multitudes of symbols in such a manner. One of the most prominent, and most complicated, of such symbols is the scarlet letter "A". The scarlet letter "A" is a symbol of a daughter's connection to her mother, isolation, and the devil and its associations.

Nathaniel Hawthorne communicates through his novel The Scarlet Letter that some dogmatic attempts by society to label a person by his or her actions in the past will fail. Subjectivity across the community and throughout time changes the meaning of a symbol society implements to control an idea. The scarlet letter “A” Hester Prynne wears exemplifies this. The town wants the object to arouse feelings of ignominy towards Hester; however, not everyone who meets Hester interprets it the same way. The town originally regards the letters as a signification of ignominy, but this interpretation soon switches to ability, and, finally, to honor as Hester’s action prevail in the subjectivity across time. Subjectivity also leads the scarlet letter to

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthrone uses symbolism to portray the theme of sin and guilt. How Symbols Played a Big Role in The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, the letter A was a major symbol. The main character Hester was forced to wear the letter A to symbolize adultery. “She

While Hester stands on the scaffold, “the rude market place of the Puritan settlement, appears Hester Prynne who stood on the scaffold, an infant on her arm, and the letter “A” in scarlet, fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom!” (Hawthorne 57). When the townspeople arrived, they gave her stern looks, the women especially did so. She stands on the scaffold with her child, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter is clearly visible to the judgmental Puritans. As Hawthorne describes to the reader, the gold embroidery surrounding the letter shows the time and effort Hester took to make the letter stand out and look stunning. Hester made it noticeable that she sinned, but she was forced to wear the letter. She owned up to her sin and accepted the punishment of wearing the letter and did not fight this. The judgment and thoughts on Hester from the community played a role into how Hester dealt with the letter. People saw the letter displayed upon her chest and thought of her “as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” (Hawthorne 76). This is important because Hawthorne outlines that the Puritan community views her as the one and only great example of what sin is. They teach their kids to look at her that way, once innocent and now not. Hester took it into thought for a little while, but realized that it does not

“She was of perfect elegance” (Hawthorne 50), she is a beautiful young woman, that, after living in the colony for 2 years, became pregnant, and her husband had yet to arrive. She was forced to endure shame and ridicule to protect her love, Reverend Dimmesdale, from her fate. Hester also had another side to her, a side manifested by the “A” on her chest. “Hester looked, by way of humoring the child; and she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance” (Hawthorn 97). The letter rules her life, it decides how others see her and how she is treated.

Even though he gives positive diction such as able and elaborate to describe the scarlet letter, Hawthorne still reminds the reader that ‘A ' means adultery and that is Hester 's major appearance. In the Governor 's house, Hawthorne depicts reflection of Hester and the scarlet letter in the large and curved mirror as "exaggerated and gigantic proportions", and adds more information that the scarlet letter is "most prominent feature of her appearance," bringing all the readers back to reality that it does not mean that she is not a sinner because now ‘A ' stood for Able to Hester (Hawthorne 57). Throughout the story, Hawthorne uses ‘A ' to characterize Hester explaining how other people treat Hester and how she interpret the ‘A ' as.

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.

The novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was published in the 1850s, and takes place in the Boston, Massachusetts area during the 17th Century when Puritans were the main population. Hester Prynne, is accused of committing adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet A against her chest and care for Pearl, Her daughter who is born from the tryst. In the beginning of the novel, both Pearl and the Letter are introduced at the same time aspressed against Hester’s chest. Though she chooses to hold the child close to her and the Letter is thrust upon her, Hawthorne shows the reader how determined she is to take these symbols of sin and integrate them into her life and create her own identity.

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.

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.

The scarlet letter could also be looked as a quality of Hester's character. This quality defined the views of the townspeople regarding Hester, and in time also changed in meaning. It was at the beginning of the book that the letter embroidered on her bosom only stood for adultery, and the common consensus of the people, in respects to Hester's actions, was "this woman has shamed us all and ought to die" (50). In time, and through the actions of Hester Prynne, the letter 'A' upon her chest was understood to be something different, and "many people refused to interpret the