Symbolism Of The Flower In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

1. “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.” In this quote the author is referring to the rose bush by the prison as being a symbol of the sweet moral lesson offered by Anne Hutchinson, a woman who preached to the Puritans without the male-dominated permission of the Puritan church. Like Hester Prynne, Anne was punished. She was sent to the prison. No matter how small an action is, the culture of a society can respond in rage, loathing disgust, even fear. It is behavior that is learned and passed on through religion and community. In colonial Puritan society people were socialized to be very strict and religious and to punish anyone who behaved in a way that was considered improper. Any kind of sin had an exaggerated evil in the Puritan’s eyes, especially ones regarding marriage and sex. Hester Prynne and Anne Hutchinson are both character representations of women who stood up for the rights of women to live their own lives in a strict society.

Flowers are an ongoing symbol in Harper Lee’s novel To Kill a Mockingbird. They are used to relate to or represent many of the characters all through the novel. The use of symbolism throughout this work of fiction is essential because it gives a deeper understanding of the characters. Mayella Ewell and the red geranium, Miss Maudie and her azaleas, Miss Dubose and her camellias, and Mayella Ewell and the violet are four major uses of symbolism in the story.

"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter 'A'" (51). That one simple letter set into the bodice of a young woman named Hester Prynne, tells a story of heartache, pride, strength and triumph in the book elegantly written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850). Hawthorne's novel provides many types of symbolism. One of such is the symbolism of a red rose bush growing outside the gates of the town prison.

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a very important and symbolic role.  Hawthorne uses nature to convey the mood of a scene, to describe characters, and to link the natural elements with human nature.  Many of the passages that have to do with nature accomplish more than one of these ideas.  All throughout the book, nature is incorporated into the story line. The deep symbolism conveyed by certain aspects of nature helps the reader gain a deeper understanding of the plight and inner emotions of the characters in the novel.

Hawthorne adds to The Scarlet Letter is when he explains the prison as “the black flower of civilized society” (2). By this Hawthorne means that the prison is a place of evil and a place that conceals the truth, in the event that Hester is being held there with the truth about her adulterous act. Hawthorne also describes Pearl’s eyes as having “another face, in the small black mirror”, instead of holding her mother’s “own miniature portrait” (48). This explains that Pearl’s eyes were empty and filled with sin as she came into life as a result of Hester’s scarlet letter. Another example of how Hawthorne uses the color black, as symbolism, is when Chillingworth states: “Even in the graveyard here at hand, they are new to me. I found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, nor other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly remembrance. They grew out of his heart, and typify, it may be, some hideous secret that was buried with him, and with he had done better to confess during his lifetime” (83). This takes place when Roger Chillingworth brings Arthur Dimmesdale herbs with dark, flabby leaves. By this quote, Hawthorne implies that the herbs that Chillingworth had collected had no meaning but to signify evil that had been growing out of the grave, the remains that were left from the dead man who had been buried there. Another major part of The Scarlet Letter also comes from the symbolism of the color black

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.

If it is important, it is remembered. If it has any value, it will last far into the future, if not forever. This is why Michelangelo’s David, the Mona Lisa, the automobile, The Beatles, and Pride and Prejudice are all remembered. If it is the first to make an impact, it becomes important. That is when it will affect people in future generations. For example, the Model T is not produced anymore, but is the grandfather of almost every car made today, affecting jobs, businesses, people, and the world. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is taught today because it was one of the first important American written novels that contained obvious symbolism. Since symbolism is used in everything of literary merit, it is important to see where it started. In the same way, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has lasted through the years and still be prevalent today. This is achieved in the original books and continuing in spin offs and adaptations.

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 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

In the first scene that is set by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the Scarlet Letter, there is a piece of land that is shared by a cemetery and a jail. Growing by the side of the prison is a wild rosebush. “It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.” The rosebush foreshadows the coming of trial, but also the goodness that can bloom from it. (Chptr 1)

Not only symbolism but imagery too, has a critical role in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne is successfully able to describe in detail the prison when it is first described in the beginning of the novel. From the door that is “heavily timbered with oak” to the building with a “beetle-browed and gloomy front,” Hawthorne successfully describes the place of darkness and sin. Oddly enough, in front of the prison, there is a rose bush. The rose bush can be used to describe a concept of peace or

Nathaniel Hawthorne begins The Scarlet Letter by introducing a theme of sin through the use of two symbols. The prison is described as “the black flower of civilized society” (Hawthorne 46), which is the first symbol, and having “a wild rose-bush” (Hawthorne 46) on one side that showed “the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” (Hawthorne 46). In The Market-Place, the community gathers around to watch Hester Prynne be punished. The first image of the society in this novel is harsh, as they want “the brand of a hot iron on

The first chapter of Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne describes a rose-bush in front of an old wooden prison door. Telling the reader that the rose symbolize some sweet moral blossom to the condemned. I can surmise that the author is foreshadowing the events that will take place throughout the story. The second chapter begins with women gossiping about a young lady named Hester Prynne and the consequence the magistrates decided on. The woman calls her a hussy, another women declares that the magistrates should have put a brand on her forehead, believing that having her wear the A on the bodice of her gown wouldn’t be enough. The woman’s crudity towards Hester was suprising, knowing these same women probably talked to her before she perpetrated her crime,

The rose is a motif shown multiple times throughout the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne resembling a source of hope, strength, and even courage. In the very beginning of the Scarlet Letter, chapter one is only concerned with setting the scene in the seventeenth century, where multitudes of miserably dressed Puritans stand before the weather-beaten wooden prison. In front of the prison lies an unpleasant plot of weeds and beside it grows a wild rose-bush. Here the rose-bush can bear a resemblance to its beauty rather than the gloominess of the prison-door.

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.