The Scarlet Letter : Wilderness Vs. Society

The Scarlet Letter has a recurring theme of shame and guilt throughout the novel, Hester’s character is introduced shamed and outcast from society, and Dimmesdale’s character develops through his decay from guilt. Hawthorne introduces Hester Prynne emerging from a prison door to stand on a scaffold in the market square to face public shame for her crime, adultery. She is forced to wear a scarlet letter, a symbol of shame. After departing from the prison and standing before the crowd, hester begins to feel the burning sensation of shame. She is described as walking out “as if with her own free will” indicating individualism, strength, and a jab to the rigid judgment of society; but quickly she becomes embarrassed attempting to hide her mark of shame with her immediate reaction to clutch her baby, pearl, to her chest “not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token” revealing fear of judgment of others which is the cause of shame (Hawthorne). The Puritans were harsh in punishment for sins, especially one as great as adultery, but Hester is merely made to wear a scalert letter, of which she embroiders beautifully, the other women expect more to be done as punishment “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead” in

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 scarlet letter once held the meaning of adultery, but now means something completely different. The scarlet letter now means able; it becomes the embodiment of the strength seen in Hester (Hawthorne 121). Thus giving birth the to idea that a person’s mistakes define them in the way that they choose. Hester chooses to face her iniquities which allow her to decide how this decision will define her.

Nathaniel Hawthorne communicates through his novel The Scarlet Letter that some dogmatic attempts by society to label a person by his or her actions in the past will fail. Subjectivity across the community and throughout time changes the meaning of a symbol society implements to control an idea. The scarlet letter “A” Hester Prynne wears exemplifies this. The town wants the object to arouse feelings of ignominy towards Hester; however, not everyone who meets Hester interprets it the same way. The town originally regards the letters as a signification of ignominy, but this interpretation soon switches to ability, and, finally, to honor as Hester’s action prevail in the subjectivity across time. Subjectivity also leads the scarlet letter to

“Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you” (Ralph Waldo Emerson). The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, depicts a woman named Hester Prynne, who is isolated from her society due to a sin once committed, but instead of dissolving in the tenets against her sin she recognizes the ability to discover the light within her. Although Hester is elucidated as the output of the puritan society, she eventually learns the significance of the sin in her life. Being an epitome, Hester demonstrates that by transcending in society, one will truly embrace oneself with the illumination of the individual virtues. Hawthorne proves this with the use of pearl as symbolism, juxtaposition of light and darkness, and the scarlet letter “A” as

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is filled with violence, hatred, and social ostracism, and contains a dark and sinister plot. These inherent values make this dark romance seem true to itself. However, I believe that there is another meaning to the story’s events. Many parts of the plot relate to religion and nature, showing to Hester how resorting to nature when the many challenging situations are presented results in a much better outcome. While The Scarlet Letter is very dark on the surface, its real point is to convey how the prominent role of religion in society is the source of its ailments and darkness, and that adapting to nature leads to a more enjoyable and prosperous life. The church is corrupt, forcing you to live a lie, and the solutions to the Puritan’s corruption and these lies are found when abandoned and resorting to nature.

The novel, The Scarlet Letter, takes place in the seventeenth century Puritan society of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Being under Puritan rule means that each colonist had to obey by the rules set by the magistrates and were assigned a spiritual leader, which would watch over their spiritual health. Puritans society was entirely thoracic and bound by the mandates of the bible. Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale began an affair. When the pregnancy could no longer be hidden, Hester was forced to reveal the baby daddy. When she refused, she was forced to be humiliated because she had broken the sixth commandment. Moreover she was treated as an outcast, a joke. She was the topic of sermon, a laughing joke to the kids and an object of scorn to the

In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, made in the 1800s and takes place in the 1700s. The novel, the Scarlet Letter is about a woman, Hester Prynne, who committed adultery in a Puritan society. She is punished for committing her sin by have the letter “A” in scarlet sewn onto her bosom, The “A” standing for adultery and is scarlet, representing sex, sin and, evil. Hester's husband has mysteriously never arrived to the colony, assumed to be at the bottom of the sea. Hester who is punished for her sin has also given birth to a baby. In this novel Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbols, the Scarlet letter “A”, Dimmesdale, and the black blossom, to contribute to the main theme of secret sin.

The Scarlet Letter is a book about the suspense, love, guilt, and the pain of letting your emotions get the best of you. In one incident, Hester Prynne, a member of the Puritan society. Committed one of the most deadly sins, adultery, and was punished to wear the scarlet letter. The Scarlet Letter itself symbolizes isolation, sin, punishment and guilt.

In the story “The Scarlet Letter”, (Nathaniel Hawthorne) the symbol of the letter A means adultery, to ability, to angel, and finally to the living persona of Pearl. Hester started sinning when it came to adultery and ended up having a kid a a different man named Roger Chillingworth. Later on while being imprisoned, Hester wrote the scarlet letter to try to turn her personal sin in to a positive situation. Along through all this she did it with her daughter Pearl in which was not a ordinary child.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's thrilling novel, The Scarlet Letter. He tells the story of Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl. The story is told in the center of a 1600’s Puritan town. Hawthorne creates this dark society to show his Anti-transcendentalist belief in the world. He proves society is good and concrete but humans are sinful and naturally bad. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolism of the Scarlet Letter, the child Pearl, and Dimmesdale to contribute to the overall theme of guilt.

Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne's dark romantic “the Scarlet Letter” symbolism is used in order to express themes throughout the novel. From the beginning of the narrative Hawthorne introduces the protagonist Hester Prynne bearing a scarlet letter representing her sin of adultery. Shortly after Hester is introduced, Hawthorne displays another piece of symbolism when she is forced onto the town scaffold and publically humiliated in front of the townspeople. Finally, Through later progression of the novel Hawthorne bestows an additional sample of symbolism through Nathaniel Hawthorne's incorporation of light and dark within the novel.

My paper looks at the symbol of the scarlet letter ‘A’ and the symbol of the wilderness to demonstrate that Nathaniel Hawthorne uses these symbols to shed light on his secularist critique of puritan ideology. Hawthorne’s novel is not just an examination of the puritan life, but rather a criticism of their beliefs. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne shows how the puritan society casts Hester Prynne because their conceptions and deeds and values differ from hers. Hester, as a main character, symbolizes those who challenge such set standards.

The Scarlet Letter has two essential settings. They include the Massachusetts Bay Colony during the mid 17-century (the town), and the forest which surrounds the town. Hester, Dimmesdale, Pearl, Chillingworth and the other characters all live in the town. It is Puritan town, and they really believe in purity, and punishments for not being “pure” were extremely harsh. The entire Puritan community is based heavily around enforcing law and religion. The forest/woods that surround in the town is also a major setting. The forest that surrounds the town is thought to be the devil’s place.

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter ‘A’ as a symbol for one of the novel’s themes that sin can lead to heavy guilt and shame, if no reconciliation is sought. The Scarlet Letter is set in seventeenth-century Boston, which at the time was a strict Puritan society, meaning that they strongly observed religious law. Hawthorne begins this story by revealing the main character, Hester Prynne, being publically mocked in front of her entire town. Hester is seen exiting out of a prison and making her way to stand on a scaffold in the presence of her townspeople, carrying a baby, and bearing a scarlet and gold letter ‘A’ on her chest. “With all the townspeople assembled and levelling their stern regards at Hester Prynne,” the reader is