Symbolism in the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is known to have a lot of symbolism. Symbolism is a way to convey ideas and give a book a deeper meaning to readers. While there are many symbols in the Scarlet Letter, there are a few that stand out more than others. Pearl, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth are all main characters that have symbols. Hawthorne symbols are used to help readers relate to the story. In order to really comprehend the book the reader must understand the use of symbolism and what each of the characters represent. Pearl is the daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She was conceived while Hester was married to Chillingworth so Pearl was born out of sin. Pearl symbolizes the …show more content…
Dimmesdale’s scarlet letter on his chest showed that “...where the letter may be guessed to have appeared for a similar signifying function as on Hester, it is, however, as invisible as the act or condition it refers to”(Bell,17). While Dimmesdale may physically have the scarlet letter, the scarlet letter does not do anything in helping to relieve his guilt. No one knows of the scarlet letter on his breast or the child he made with Hester out of wedlock. He can not fully face the punishments for his sin making the guilt eat him alive. Many people assume that he took the easy road between him and Hester, but in the end he is the one who suffers most because he is unable to repent for his sins. Also, while readers might also assume that Dimmesdale holds regret for ever becoming involved with Hester, that is not the case. Dimmesdale says ”...of penance there has been enough, of penitence there is none” (Hawthorne, 212). Dimmesdale is saying that no matter what he does to punish himself it does not heal him and that he has no regret for being with Hester and having Pearl.
While Dimmesdale symbolizes guilt and regret, Hester symbolizes repentance. Repentance is the act of admitting your sins and starting to get forgiveness for them. Hester is a prime example of repentance. Hester admitted to the sin of adultery and she took the consequences for the sin. She proved to all the townspeople that she was still a
In the Scarlet Letter there are two characters that are provided as a foil for one another. The one character Dimmesdale seems as if he is kind, but he has a terrible burden on him that is being torturing out of him. Chillingworth is his opposite. You think he is nice when really he is quite evil. Dimmesdale and Chillingworth bring out each other's characteristics and bring out the characteristics of other characters around them.
He cowers in confidence by refusing to expose his sin and torments himself through starvation and whippings. The carving of the scarlet letter is a self-induced punishment manifested by the shame he feels and desires to release. The inscribed A signifies "the effect of the ever-active tooth of remorse." Dimmesdale and Hester are equally guilty of the same crime, yet denied his responsibility and left Hester to bear the blame of his punishment at "which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit."(ch. 18) As Hester was able to confront her sin and become ostracized from the Puritan community, Dimmesdale continued to be the respected minister. His selfishness, deteriorating health, and cowardice actions reflected the secrecy of his
In the beginning of the story, Hester leaves the prison with the scarlet letter etched on to her clothing. From then on, she is looked down at. The “A” stitched onto her clothes stands for adultery, which was a huge sin in the Puritan society back then. Since she left the prison holding her baby along with the scarlet imprinted on her, she has been facing the consequences severely. The hatred people showed towards her was quite horrid. Also, it seems that the rest of the town envies her for the crime. they think she didn’t get a big enough penalty and that she is very beautiful. All the people, mainly women, envy her. This doesn't help her with her problem. It only adds on to the intensity of it all. People avoided her; they judged her. She was quite isolated. Even her own daughter didn't get along with her at times. As time passed, however, she grew strong. All the things that life threw at her changed her for the better. She conquered many challenges, in my opinion. She got through all that was given to her. She took all of the blame, when she really shouldn’t of had. I think that a huge moment that helped form Hester into who she is today was that time when her and Dimmesdale were together and he apologized to her. I think this is very important because it shows that Hester is able to forgive. He did not take blame for his crime. He left Hester to suffer the consequences alone, when really, he should have been by her side every step of the way. This event showed how
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter provides a window into the puritanical mind through his character Reverend Dimmesdale. Reverend Dimmesdale comes to understand that one's relationship with God supersedes any other relationship one has, whether it's with one's beloved, one's children, or one's social circle. He expresses it publicly on the scaffold in a dramatic sequence in a passage in chapter 23. Throughout the story Dimmesdale is supposed to be an example of upright godly behavior but he's lying everyday, all the time, in every relationship because he had an affair with Hester. While adultery was illegal, it was also against one of God's Ten Commandments.
The Puritan era in New England was inundated with an atmosphere of righteousness and judgment. This culture spurned those who strayed from its religious codes. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses multiple symbols to bring a deeper meaning to the society, his characters, and to adultery. One of the motifs used comes as the character Pearl, the daughter of the two adulterers. Pearl has multiple descriptions; physically, she is “a lovely and immortal flower,” yet also “an airy sprite . . . as if she were hovering in the air and might vanish” (80, 83). She has a “wild, desperate, defiant mood” and is often referred to as a “flower,” a “bird,” and an “elf” (82, 80, 98, 87). Hawthorne uses Pearl’s multi-layered personality
Instead of really confessing to his crime, as he claims he will to Hester, he continues to speak vaguely with a speech that echoes his previous attempts to confess to the Puritans: “ ‘People of New England!... ye, that have loved me!–ye, that have deemed me holy!–Behold me here, the one sinner of the world!...Lo, the scarlet letter which Hester wears!...it hath cast a lurid gleam of awe and horrible repugnance roundabout her. But there stood one in the midst of you, at whose band of sin and infamy ye have not shuddered!’ ” (233). In this speech, Dimmesdale renounces Hester as a sinner, going back on their previous agreement that they didn’t really sin. As well, Dimmesdale calls himself the only one to have sinned, and therefore raises himself above Hester, instead of revealing his sin to be with Hester. By doing so, Dimmesdale is distancing his sin from Hester’s sin to the Puritan community. He is also emphasizing how even the seemingly purest man can be the greatest sinner in the eyes of God, once again stressing the Puritans beliefs and highlighting his own zeal for the Puritan religion, just as he did in his earlier ‘confessions’. This all serves to make the Puritan community like him even more. Following this, Dimmesdale then
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.
Hester stood on the scaffold with their baby, Pearl, for her sin. Dimmesdale did not and he feels guilty for not confessing his sin and keeping it secret from everyone. He feels guilty because he is a pastor and so many people look up to him. “It is inconceivable, the agony with which this public veneration tortured him!” (Hawthorne 158). He feels he should not have so much admiration. Secretly he is a sinner, Hester’s lover, and the father of Pearl. Only he, Hester, and Chillingworth know, even though he does not know that Chillingworth knows. Hester has to wear the scarlet letter, but he goes unpunished, or at least by the public. He punishes himself rather than be publicly shamed. Under his clothes, on his chest, he bears the scarlet letter, too, but hidden. Not only that, but he tortures himself. Consumed by guilt, he fasts and holds vigils, depriving himself of basic human needs. Not only that, but he whips his self, purposefully inflicting pain on himself. Punishing himself, though, has not worked for him. “Of penance, I have had enough! Of penitence, there has been none!” (Hawthorne 212). He doesn’t regret what he did with Hester, he doesn’t regret his sin, because he loves
Authors employ symbolism to convey a complex idea and incorporate a deeper understanding of a novel. Many writers exert symbolism through an object, character, or a circumstance that signifies a deeper meaning rather than directly pointing out how they feel about their novel. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne includes symbols to represent his life experiences under Puritan ideals. Hawthorne uses symbolism in the names of the following characters; Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl which represents different aspects of each characters personality. Hawthorne selected these names based on biblical references, Puritan era, and evocative names. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne writes a historical and romantic fiction novel riddled with symbolism to help portray a profound understanding of the main characters.
He uses the character Pearl to make Hester feel bad about herself. The old minister says, “Pearl?- Ruby, rather! _ or Coral!- or Red Rose, at the very least judging from thy hue” (Hawthorne 100)! They make fun of Pearls name and they refer to her as a sin baby. They make it seem as if because Hester has created Pearl in a act of Sin Pearl is less of a person.
In the novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are some distinct ways that symbols are used by the Puritans and Hawthorne. Some of the symbolism involves some kind of religious implications, but not always. The symbols in the book give characters a complicated understanding of their life and purpose, they even foreshadow thing that may happen later. The symbols also help the reader comprehend the book.
Pearl primarily serves the role of silently urging Dimmesdale to overcome the pressures to conform to society, and to allow his guilty inner-self to emerge and receive retribution for his sins. She exists as a constant and living reminder and product of the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed, and acknowledges the false innocence Dimmesdale tries so desperately to maintain. Her inquisition, "Why does he not wear [a scarlet letter] outside his bosom as thou dost?" (ch 16) to her mother concerning Dimmesdale is evidence of this. Pearl has no chance to conform to society because at birth she is regarded
[Angels] are never always a blessing. [In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a baby named Pearl] is introduced into this story from an act of sin.[ Pearl] can easily be seen as a blessing with her positive attitude, but then again she can cause a lot of destruction because of a sin.[ People] have said angels are seen as someone who does no wrong, but they can cause a bad life if you do wrong. [They are] extremely beautiful and caring. [Most likely an angel] could be curious because they are always wanting to know what is going on with other people’s life and if they can change it or even be involved. [Let’s not ]forget once upon a time the bible said that satan himself was an angel. [Therefore, I] am going to explain three reasons on how Pearl just might be compared to an angel, or even is an angel.
By revealing this small, hidden regret, he exposes Hester’s tortured state of mind. Unable to reach salvation in the town she desired to live in, she regretfully decided to leave and abandon her sorrows. The burden society placed on her with the scarlet letter was too demanding for her to handle any longer. Similarly, Arthur Dimmesdale was distressed from his ignominy. Afraid of societal repercussions, Dimmesdale had been “overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast” (102). Society’s extensive honor toward him exacerbated his pain, thus causing society to trap Dimmesdale; this prevented him from revealing his dark secret and reaching salvation. Additionally, he began to picture his surroundings as an obstacle designed to hinder his path to redemption. His shortcoming to reach salvation agonized Dimmesdale to the point where he was incapable of recalling “[any] text of Scripture, nor aught else, except a brief, pithy, and, as it then appeared to him, unanswerable argument against the immorality of
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author presents three symbols that all reinforce the main idea of the novel. The main idea that reoccurred throughout the novel is that people don’t have to let their mistakes or circumstances determine who they are or what they become; it’s all in how one interprets life. Many symbols may seem as just an ordinary character or coincidental object to some readers, but the symbols have a deeper, underlying meaning. Although there are many symbols in this book, there are three that really help support the main idea: Hester Prynne’s scarlet letter, the meteor, and Hester’s daughter Pearl.