Essay about Symbolism Used in The Scarlet Letter

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.

In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is more than a literary figure in a classic novel, she is known by some people to be one of the earliest American Hero’s. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester commits adultery and has a child that she must care for all alone. She is forced to wear a powerful, attention grabbing “Scarlet A” on her chest while she must try to make a living to support her and her child, Pearl. Even though she must face all the harsh judgment and stares she does not allow her sin to stop her from living a successful life. She looks past the Letter as a symbol of sin and turns it into a sign of approval. Hester

To begin, Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter “A” to reinforce the theme of Guilt. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” upon her bosom because she has committed the sin of adultery. This leads Hester to feel guilty for the rest of her life. Hawthorne states, “... that scarlet letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 51). The quote shows how feeling guilt has made her much more distant from the rest of the townspeople. Hester experiences this agonizing guilt whenever she glances in a mirror, or down at her chest. Pearl is the result of Hester’s

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)

As time goes on, the townspeople view the letter with a different meaning. It was a great mistake at first showing her imperfection, but later it became something of awe and almost respect. Hawthorne explains, “That many people refused to interpret the Scarlet Letter “A” by its original signification. They said it meant “Able”; so strange was Hester Prynne…” (Hawthorne 158). This proves the letter is double sided in a figurative sense. It was painful but it taught Hester and the town a lesson. It also lead to respect. The Scarlet letter burns on her bosom with great agony, but it made her smarter and more respected over time. It’s a teacher and a form of torture. Imperfection comes in many forms, even in the form of her child.

Hester has acknowledged her sin and learned to live with it even though it was hard at first. She hot used to to and moved on to live a normal life. “When the young woman— the mother of this child—stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant close to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token.” (Scarlet Letter page 50.) Hester shows that she is uncomfortable with the A of her chest, so she tires to hide it, and for a while she becomes very haughty towards society. “The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much power to do, and power to sympathize—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that is meant Abel, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.” (Scarlet Letter page 110.) Hester is starting to become abel to do things by herself. “Hester Prynne went one day to the mansion of Governor Bellingham, with a pair of gloves which

In the Puritan society, the Scarlet Letter represents the Puritan’s view on the "sin of adultery" that Hester has committed in her life. However, Hawthorne shows throughout the novel that the Scarlet Letter evolved to be a potent symbol of Hester’s identity. The scarlet letter "A" again was originate to represents adultery, however it also represents rebellion against the puritan culture. Hester's attachment to the scarlet letter isolates her from the puritan’s society but it allows her to have freedom on her beliefs and actions as quote “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom” (Hawthorne). Later when she believes her relationship with the town minister, Dimmesdale is pure base on her 'free will’; she separates her 'free will' against the Puritan definition of 'sin'. As a result, it is a symbol of Hester's pride and burden. Because of this, Hester was forced to carry the scarlet letter of which she later accept the letter and the identity that it has placed upon her as quote, “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness... Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods... The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne). Overall, her sin teaches her a lesson while obstructs her at the same

Hoping to preserve his reputation and protect the one she loves, Hester Prynne refuses to betray her accomplice and as a punishment for her sin, is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter A on her breast. The first and most obvious symbol is the scarlet letter itself. Throughout the story the scarlet letter takes on a variety of symbols and meanings, while remaining true to its original meaning. The letter is first presented as a punishment, meant to represent Hester’s sin of adultery, hence the letter A (Schmoop). Later in the story, the scarlet letter is presented in a new manner, as time goes on and Hester’s life of saint like service and discipline overshadow her sin, the letter too gains new symbolic meaning (Schmoop). While the

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathanial Hawthorne centers on sin, identity and society. The meaning of the A in the Scarlet Letter is meant to mean “Adulterer”. The meaning is not definite, the A meaning rather ambiguous is taken to mean what the person wants it to mean, equivocally it can be said that the meaning(s) of the A mirrors the beliefs and thoughts of its onlookers. The meaning of A as a motif is a recurring concept and idea centering on society and identity. “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness... Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods... The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.” The A was meant to cripple Hester; to be a warning a reminder to others that sin would forever follow till death, as this was puritan belief. Hester though lonely

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,

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.

In the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne describes the letter “A” as a symbol of adultery. Hester has to wear the “A” after the townspeople find out that she has given birth to a child that is not her husbands. She has to appear with the “A” on her bosom in front of all the townspeople to take responsibilities for her actions. The “A” appeared on Hester Prynne’s bosom of her gown and was gorgeously stitched (p.50). The “A” is a symbol of Hester’s sin that she committed, but she does not put herself in the category of being a sinner and

     Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes its form.

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 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