The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

““There was witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes, and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elvish.” (Hawthorne 145) This, is a misleading description that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts of Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is the living product of sin for her mother. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is a unique child that tends to be very moody and unpredictable. However, Pearl, at such a young age, demonstrates outstanding knowledge and exhibits curiosity to her mother’s scarlet letter, and the hypocrisy of Puritan society. Although Pearl portrays devilish characteristics and performs mischievous behaviour, she

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

To start the book, we find that a young woman has committed adultery and when standing in front of a mocking crowd, she is ashamed of her actions. Continuing through the book we find that the adulteress, Hester Prynne, displays many examples of positive outcomes arising from negative situations. She becomes more and more aware of the faults of society and becomes wiser as she deals with the consequences of her actions. Even though Hester made a terrible decision that came with many extremely negative effects, she gained personality traits, perceptions, and people that rose from her mistake.

Surveillance can be considered the act of being watched under a close eye and can have either a positive or negative effect on a person. Some individuals feel more at ease knowing that someone is always there watching which is to create a supposedly safe environment. Others feel pressure from society or their peers to live up to their respected positions and morals of the society, much like Dimmesdale, which causes extreme paranoia. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Dimmesdale is an example that demonstrates negative effects that surveillance can have on a person. In the romance, Dimmesdale is faced with both his own surveillance and Chillingworth’s surveillance. However, Dimmesdale’s own scrutiny causes more damage to himself than Chillingworth’s does.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, reflects the ideals of American Romanticism by the use of the concept of Dark Romanticism, the evident appreciation of nature and innocent children, and the rejection of the standard rules of society and the influence of England, instead, answering to a higher moral code.

Hawthorne suggests that the forest is the only place in the novel where characters can be individual and thus, true to themselves because of the isolation it provides from society. This romantic idea criticizes the rigid Puritan values that limit the individuality of a person. In society, characters Dimmsdale, Hester and Roger all are very superficial and only act the way society permits them to act because of the fear of being punished for having different ideas than the accepted Puritan values of the community. In the forest, Hester's hair becomes a symbol of her free spirit and individualism as she takes "off the formal cap that confined her hair"(191) revealing her youth and beauty. Her cap stands as a symbol of society's impressment, because it "confines" her from being the person she truly is. But the forest allows her to escape the judgment of society, thus allowing her to freely express herself and be true to herself. In the Puritan settlement, Dimmsdale must take up his role as the "pious minister", in which he is forced to be the a person that society wants him to be. However, in the forest he is able to stop his superficial act and truly reveal his true emotions and feelings when he admits, that "but, now it is all fakehood- all

The forest is a representation of several themes. It is both a place of freedom and happiness, where Hester can escape the cruelty of Boston and it's people, but also a place of temptation and misbehavior, as seen in her and Dimmedale's "meetings" and Mistress Hibbon's "midnight rides." It's a place where witches gather, souls are signed away to the Devil himself and where Dimmesdale can,"yield himself with deliberate choice.....to what he knew was a deadly sin." In this instance the forest is a representation of evil and temptation.

In the “Scarlet Letter” written by Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolism plays a major role, especially the letter “A”. The letter “A” or the Scarlet Letter directly stands for adultery, which is committed by the main character, Hester, and the priest, Mr. Dimmesdale. The letter “A” though has a deeper meaning than just adultery because it is a symbol of sin and embarrassment, or at least is meant too. Although the letter “A” is meant to be a symbol of embarrassment it develops throughout the story and transforms into a symbol of normality and understanding.

People often keep secrets in an effort to hide their sins from others. This is a risky since secrets have a way of manifesting themselves externally, and thus, letting everyone know of their owner’s sins. Hidden sin is a prominent theme in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter. Names like Chillingworth and Dimmesdale let the reader know how, in reality, these characters are, before ever really encountering them. Characters whom the reader will encounter in this novel are going through some type of dilemma on the inside, which begins to show itself in the exterior of the particular individual. In The Scarlet Letter, two studious individuals, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale, two of the main characters in the novel, each

The scarlet letter symbolizes a part of Hester’s past that she can never forget but also represents a sense of strength that she overcame all the hardship that was a result of her sin, though she still feels the pain of the letter when encountering Mr. Dimmesdale. In chapter sixteen, Hester plans to meet with the minister in order to discuss their plans about what to do with Roger Chillingworth, but also just to talk to somebody who understands her situation. Eventually, Pearl brings up the Black Man again when she describes how “he haunts this forest, and carries a book with him [...] and how this ugly Black Man offers this book [...] to everybody that meets him here [...] and they are to write their names with their own blood [...] then

What exists within often does not match what appears outside. This statement is especially seen in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale commits adultery with Hester Prynne, but the Puritan community only knows, until the end of the book, that Hester committed adultery, but they do not know with whom. Arthur Dimmesdale therefore finds himself feeling guilty and attempting to repent himself before he dies. His actions, however, until the end of the book, are internal because of his internal conflict – confessing his sin to the community would alleviate his internal pain but could cause the community to disrespect or mistreat him. Dimmesdale therefore deals with his sin internally, but these effects are seen outside his skin. Arthur Dimmesdale demonstrates the relationship between individualism and society (the community) because his individual private actions and thoughts, those done internally, affect his societal public actions, those done externally and vice versa.

As far as I am concerned, the society of the 1850 was very religious; many people of that period were believers. Thus, there were many issues happened that influenced Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style. In that society, the religions was strict, the people were judgmental. The situation was different, thus people’s mind was also thinking in different ways.

" This could be his way of proving himself worthy in some way due to the fact that he say that neither his father nor his grandfather had completed his task at hand. The second idea is in the reasoning that Hawthorne had simply utilized it as the setting and forged the story around the forest and its characterized darkness and evil notions compared to that of the town which is light and absent of evil until Goodman Brown returns. This is a definite formalistic observation in the contrast of forest and the town. The forest is used as a setting which Hawthorne utilizes to expose the faults in all of mankind, including the self professed religious. No matter which way you believe, Hawthorne has successfully left the issue as a mystery and an undeclared element of the narrative.

Hester’s love for Dimmesdale is a major force in her life, and she lives for him and her child. She proves her love for Dimmesdale toward the beginning of the novel when is repeatedly asked to announce who the father is of her child.

Life can be proven to be extremely difficult at many different points; whether people are just finding their place in the world, or they are finally settling down after decades of toil and strain. In the words of American Dramatist Tennessee Williams, “Don’t look forward to the day you stop suffering, because when it comes you’ll know you’re dead.” This quote relates how everyone in the world is constantly suffering in some way, shape, or form and in the Scarlet Letter the situation is no different. The entire novel is based upon simple mistakes made by an array of individuals, and the repercussions of those choices that cause different forms of suffering. Throughout this fictional work, one individual sticks out as one who’s true faith has been tested through suffering, and this individual is Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. His constant suffering throughout the entire book is shown through; the beginning of his practices of vigils, the dilapidation of his health, and Roger Chillingworth’s deep desire for revenge. Along with these aspects, Dimmesdale’s loss of his formal, pious structure have been shown clearly through his complete shift in mindset, making him the character that suffers most throughout this novel.