The Role Of Nature In The Scarlet Letter

Pearl’s existence reminds Hester of her act of passion, which the cultural morality of Boston dictates as sinful. This is evident not only because Pearl is the product of Dimmesdale and Hester’s action, but because of who Pearl is at heart. Pearl’s personality is as stated,

The Scarlet Letter is set in modern day Boston, during the 1630s. The protagonist, Hester Prynne, is in a lot of trouble for committing adultery. She is put on the scaffold in front of the whole town and was publically humiliated. Not only was she publically humiliated, but she has to wear a letter A on her chest for the rest of her life. Many thought this punishment was not enough, for example they wanted her to be killed for this sin. The reason for Hester committing adultery is because her husband has been missing for two years. And she has lost her ‘love’ for Chillingworth, Hester’s husband. Pearl, Hester’s daughter, is the symbol of Hester’s sin in the

The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne shows multiple connections between characters and nature. As the story progresses nature becomes more prevalent in the characters and continues to establish certain characteristics for each character. This established connection provides a view into the depths of human nature that each character portrays.

At what point in time can one truly forgive themselves for a sin they have committed? A week? A month? A year? And what about peers? When do they start forgiving for a sin? Throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne learns answers to such questions after it is learned she in an adulteress. Hester’s scarlet letter serves as a reminder to herself and her peers of the sins she has committed, and there is a true evolution from the beginning to the end of the story of the views of not only the letter but the person wearing it from Hester herself, the villagers, Pearl, and the author.

    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.

From her initial introduction to the reader as the “yonder babe, (…) of some three or four months old”, Pearl represents the beauty of the truth (54). As she struggles to find answers about her mother’s scarlet A while simultaneously growing up, Pearl identifies as an innocent character, despite her creation. It is frequently noted that she looks similar to the scarlet letter that her mother so reluctantly bears, with her “bright complexion [and] eyes possessing intensity both of depth and glow, and hair already of a deep, glossy brown” (76). Her similar appearance to the scarlet letter furthers her permanent connection to the letter. Additionally, it highlights the notion that her mother will likely never be able to look at her without reminiscing upon her sin. As Pearl develops, her fire-like actions and dark appearance further molds her into the fleshly expression of Hester’s adultery. Furthermore, Hawthorne ensures to characterize Pearl throughout the novel as a friend to the sunlight, a friend to the truth. As she begins to pick determine that Dimmesdale is her father, the sunlight welcomes her. This is because she is the only innocent character who is not afraid to step into the sun’s rays. Pearl recognizes the light’s love for her and audibly notes, “the

Hester brings up this idea because she has had time away from the town and had no one to guide her on this path that she took. She does not think about how townspeople are going to perceive her and Dimmesdale leaving simultaneously. Hester very much resembles the forest because the forest cannot be tamed. The forest grows how it wants and only stops when others force it to. Hester will only gain guidance when the town forces her to listen to them. The forest also knows to show who Hester and Dimmesdale are inside: “Such was the sympathy of Nature-that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, nor illuminated by higher truth- with the bliss of these two spirits!” (139). The forest shows the truth about the townspeople. The forest was always dark around Hester when she had her letter on because of her sin. Hester removes her letter once she and Dimmesdale confirm that they are going to go to Europe. Once Hester removes her scarlet letter, the whole forest lights up. Hester has removed the symbol of her wrongdoing because it no longer is a part of her. Seven years has past and no one in the town remembers what the A stands for anymore. They believe that it means able because Hester has dedicated her life to making clothes for the townspeople. She never commits her transgression again and works to make her life good. The forest reflects who the townspeople are and shows their true self once they realise

Pearl was born in the prison into darkness, she is an elf-like child. She is the result of sin but she is a consient reminder of her mother's guilt. Pearl cried “mother I see you here. Look! Look!” Hawthorne explains “hester looked by way of humoring the child; and she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect to convex mirror, the scarlet letter.” (hawthorne 97) The quote shows that paerl is there to remind her mother of her sin and guilt. When Hawthorne continuous Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale are out in the woods. Hester feels free so she took off the scarlet letter. Hester and Dimmesdale are talking about if Pearl would like Dimmesdale, then Heaster calls her over, when she come. She starts “pearl still pointed with her forefinger and frown gathered on her brow the more impressive from the childish the almost baby-like aspect of the features that conveyed it.” (Hawthorne 188) The quote proves that guilt is in Pearl because she has only seen hester with the scarlet letter. That she only knows Hester's guilt and that she has to remind her that it is not there anymore. The symbol of Pearl is a theme of guilt to her mother because she is always reminding her of her

As Pearl grows up and the novel goes on, there is more and more evidence that Pearl may just be as evil as everyone thought to begin with. While Pearl is playing in the flowers one afternoon, she begins to throw flowers at the scarlet letter on her mother's’ chest. “When Pearl was finally out of ammunition, she stood still and gazed at Hester. That little laughing image of a demon peeped out from the deep abyss of Pearl’s black eyes” (page 79). Pearl is frequently compared to demons or sometimes even the devil

The characters in the Scarlet Letter are judged greatly through how and who they are able and unable to forgive. Such as the main female lead, Hester Prynne, and her struggle for the town to forgive her, finding the will to forgive herself and having God forgive her. Although, this was hard because every day she had to live with the scarlet letter upon her chest as a reminder of her sin. Another character that had one of the roughest times in the novel was Arthur Dimmesdale. This man kept a sin hidden for most of the novel and let it eat him away. The person that Dimmesdale needed to forgivehim the most was Pearl. He spent most of the novel trying to earn her beloved trust. Pearl would ask him favors to go into town with her but it

Pearl is the constant reminder of Hester’s sin; however, Pearl also brings Hester extraordinary joy. She is the cause of Hester’s determination to try and create a better life for Pearl and herself. Pearl was also a boundless joy to her biological father, Revered Dimmesdale, in one scene, Pearl grabbed Dimmesdale by the hand and kissed it. This shocked Hester because this was one of the only times that Pearl showed affection to anyone, which brought immense joy to Dimmesdale (Lorcher, Trent). Dimmesdale is known to have committed the same crime as Hester when he clutches his chest constantly and is seen having the marking or the scarlet “A” engraved on his chest. Reverend Dimmesdale’s sin is more permanently proclaimed than Hester’s that is sewn on to her clothes, while his is a tattoo burned on his skin (Analysis: The Red Mark on Dimmesdale’s Chest). It is seen like an outward representation of the sin that is inside him that he is not fully open with (Lorcher, Trent). Pearl is always talking about the “Black Man” and she is referring to Satan and how Dimmesdale wrote his name in the Black Man’s book (Analysis: The Black Man). Hester’s husband, Roger Chillingworth is a symbol of evil and a sort of revenge for Hester (Lorcher, Trent). When Dimmesdale, Pearl and Hester meet on the scaffold one night a meteor streaks across the sky in the shape of a letter “A” and it seems to mean that God has

While in the town, villagers persecute and criticize her endlessly for the sin of adultery. She is faced with name calling such as “the naughty baggage” and forced to wear the scarlet “A” to display her sin (49). Hester has a hard life in the strict Puritan village, but the forest is a mysterious place “never subjugated by human law, nor illumined by higher truth” (183). Although the forest is mysterious to others, Hester experiences it as an escape from the constant condemnation in the village which represents the punishment for her sin. In the forest, she does not have to be afraid of her feelings. It is the place where “she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, threw it to a distance among the withered leaves” (182). Hester escapes to not feel like a failure and even plans to run away with her love, Dimmesdale. Hester’s punishment and penance are publicized in the village, but she is able to find a haven in the

While Pearl does make Dimmesdale feel guilty she is the connection between Hester and Dimmesdale. Hawthorne says “Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two”(106). Hester and Dimmesdale are connected by both committing the same sin together. Pearl not only represents the sin they committed but also their relationship. Dimmesdale’s guilt is symbolized by Pearl who also connects him to Hester.

“She screamed and shouted, too, with a terrific volume of sound which, doubtless, caused the hearts of the fugitives to quake within them. The victory accomplished, Pearl returned quietly to her mother, and looked up, smiling, into her face.”(96). Pearl yells at the kids who are throwing mud at her mother because she is a child and doesn’t know any better. “At first, as already told, she had flirted fancifully with her own image in a pool of water, beckoning the phantom forth, and—as it declined to venture—seeking a passage for herself into the sphere of impalpable earth and unattainable sky.(168). Now that she is older, she has noticed how her mother acts around other people and plays by herself. She has fun even though she is her only friend. Pearl begins to care about other things than just herself. “Perceiving a flock of beach birds that fed and fluttered along the shore, the naughty child picked up her apron full of pebbles, and creeping from rock to rock after these small seafowl, displayed remarkable dexterity in pelting them.”(168). When she sees that she has hurt the poor creature she stops throwing the pebbles. Her emotions build due to her being alone for so long. Pearl wants a friend, but Hester knows that if Pearl has friends they will tell her the true meaning of the scarlet

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.