The Role of Nature and Society in Nathaniel Hawthrone´s The Scarlet Letter

In a surface examination of the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is quickly evident that no good things come from the wilderness. Therein, the wilderness is often associated with the savages and the devil. In his work The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne finds herself exiled by society for having an adulterous affair with the town reverend which brought forth the child known as Pearl. Pearl is quickly established as the child of the wilderness: wild, capricious, and thought by the town to be a demon-child. She represents several entities in the novel just by her being, but when her morality is delved into, much more of the nature of the story can be revealed. Pearl’s role is often overlooked as a formative force in the novel. Some scholars have gone as far as to denounce her as unnecessary to the story’s makeup. Upon close examination, it can be determined that Pearl is indeed a necessary element. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl presents themes of morality, both personal and cultural, as well as the divide between society and nature, through her interactions with Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and the scarlet letter itself.

In the 1850’s, America was undergoing a massive internal changes via the industrial revolution. With this new era, American culture was drastically changed as women started to take a more prominent role in American society. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to stimulate this change by illustrating the positive influence of a strong female character in a Puritanical society through his heroine, Hester Prynne, by putting her in a scandalous situation capable of drawing out the worst in people.

In The Scarlet Letter Hypocrisy is evident everywhere. The characters of Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the very society that the characters lived in, were steeped in hypocrisy. Hawthorne was not subtle in his portrayal of the terrible sin of hypocrisy; he made sure it was easy to see the sin at work , at the same time however, parallels can be drawn between the characters of The Scarlet Letter and of today’s society.

Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the ideology of Puritan society in the novel the Scarlet Letter; however reader also get to witness his characters being an illustration of hypocrisy and victims to their own guilt. In the Scarlet Letter, as in many of Hawthorne’s shorter works, he makes profuse use of the Puritan past: its odd exclusionary belief, its harsh code of ruling, its concern with sex and witchcraft. The Scarlet Letter is a story that is embellished but yet simple. Many readers may view this novel as a soap opera due to the way Hawthorne conveys this Puritan society’s sense of strictness and inability to express true emotion along with the secrecy and how deceiving the characters are being. As the story unfolds the main character Hester Prynne is bounded in marriage at an early age. She engages in an adulterous affair with an unknown member of their small village. Hester soon becomes pregnant and with her husband’s absence the chances of this child belonging to her husband are slim. The towns’ people know that she has committed a sin and imprisons her for her crime.

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.

    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.

In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes the forest as the embodiment of freedom for members of the Puritan society in need of a refuge from the daily Puritan life. The forest itself is a free world with no Puritan laws. Nobody watches in the woods to report misbehavior, thus it is here that individuals may do as they wish.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne often demonstrates the frailty of humans. Nature is often described as beautiful, while the Puritan society and human nature are viewed in a harsh light. Hawthorne illustrates that human nature is flawed and judgmental through use of figurative language, critical diction, and symbolism.

Danish author Hans Christian Andersen once said, “Just living is not enough... one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.” A person should be able to find beauty in nature to truly live their life. Nature gives symbols for how life happens. Every spring trees comeback to life and every winter trees “die”. Sunshine gives warmth and life to the plants. By being free to live however they please, plants are given the truth of how life truly is. People have to find nature and believe in the power of nature to explore life. Just as Hans Christian Andersen believes one should find nature, Nathaniel Hawthorne believes nature should be shown in The Scarlet Letter. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, nature uncovers the truth about

The forest in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, represents an array of personas. Both rumors and scandal surround the forest, causing a biased view of this secluded location within the Puritan community. Yet, Hawthorne designates the forest as a place of truth, independence, and joy to those with secrets.

The man-made world seems to be engrossed in itself and has no intelligence of the natural world that it is assembled over. However, whether humans acknowledge it or not, they are dependant on the physical world’s knowledge. Architecture and roadways are constructed over the natural earth in an attempt to isolate it from their “civil” community. The societies they create are liberated of pandemonium and sinister spirits that lurk in the uncertainties of the unknown world. Although, it occasionally peeks out and uncovers the bitter reality that the man-made world is corrupt. This phenomenon that comes with the natural world, is camouflaged to most because they are completely submerged in false deception and sins of the artificial world. Nevertheless, outcasts that are forced away from the contaminated world are welcomed by the untouched world. These fugitives are insightful of the honesty and purity that the human world has concealed with their sins. In The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is isolated from society because she is a product of adultery. Her state of outcast allows her access to the organic world, man-made world, and the truth they both bear. Pearls appearance in the forest, actions on the beach, and her knowledge of the truth at the governor's mansion are classic signs of how she demonstrates her supernatural connection to the natural world in all different environments, due to her state of isolation. All of these occurrences portray her inner power to illustrate unwanted

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter introduces adultery between Hester and Dimmesdale to oppose Puritanism, which believes in absolute goodness and wickedness. These two sinners’ mutual crime and yearning for redemption indicate dualism in humanity. The conflicted irony between their inner and public selves heightens the tension in the novel that dissolves with their unity. Hawthorne’s use of contrast in The Scarlet Letter reveals the duality of Dimmesdale and Hester’s identities to criticize Puritanism’s inflexible judgment and to promote tolerance within humanity, which resolves with the acceptance of one’s unchanging identity at the end.

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a timeless classic with many symbolic meanings. Such as the forest which symbolizes much more than one might imagine. In this mysterious dark landscape Hester and Dimmesdale met once again and this time they let their guard down profess their love to one another and committed adultery here. Nathaniel Hawthorne, created a literary masterpiece. He took a landscape and made it a place of morally astray, and a place for natural innocence.

Nature is a theme that often serves as mere fluff in novels, with little to no purpose other than to produce a setting for the reader to imagine. However, this is far from the case in The Scarlet Letter. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne takes advantage of the natural world and uses it to express deeper meanings and ideas. Key pieces such as the rosebush by the prison, the forest, and the use of natural light assist him in emphasizing important details within the story. Hawthorne utilizes the rosebush, the forest, and the natural light in order to uncover new connections in the story, provide deeper explanation and meaning towards the actions of characters, and to place emphasis on the good or evil of a character.

In the novel Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne presenting the idea for humans to endure the laws of nature and conscience, rather than following the laws of man, to fulfill happiness. The novel consists of a young woman named Hester Prynne carrying her infant daughter named Pearl. The golden letter "A" embroidered on Hester’s bosom symbolizes adultery, a vile sin which is looked down upon in her community. She encounters Dimmesdale, an influential Puritan priest who commits adultery with Hester. Their main priority is to escape their society and live a new life. There are many symbols displayed in the Scarlet Letter, in particular, wilderness vs. civilization. The wilderness represents opposing behaviors while civilization represents bounded to rules.