Themes And Symbolism In The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The scaffold shows how the punishment imposed on us by others may not be as destructive as the guilt we impose on ourselves. When Hester was standing on the scaffold she is not thinking about being punished. She is having flashbacks to earlier times and feeling guilty for what she had done. The scaffold is a platform used for redemption and a symbol of the harsh Puritan code.

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 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the author uses three scaffold scenes to mark the development of Hester Prynne. The image of Hester atop the scaffolding is a metaphor for her forced solitude; for her banishment from society; and for the futility of her punishment. In the first scene, Hawthorne uses the scaffold to explain how Hester can not believe that the “A'; and the baby are real. In the second scaffold scene, Hawthorne tries to convey to the reader that Hester has fully repented for her sin, however this is not true. In the final scaffold scene, Hester does not yet fully repent for her sin because her love for Dimmesdale is still strong. Through Hester, Hawthorne is trying to communicate to the

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we notice that action only happens in a few places, among which are the forest, the market place, the governor’s residence, and Dimmesdale’s house. Although all these locations are significant to the story, the most important symbol among them is certainly the scaffold in the market place, where the story begins and ends. The scaffold’s meaning changes throughout the story and has different values for different characters. It represents humiliation, then insight, and finally redemption for Hester and Dimmesdale, but for Chillingworth, it symbolizes birth of sin, growth of sin, and ultimately consummation by sin.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, symbolsim is constantly present in the actual scarlet letter “A” as it is viewed as a symbol of sin and the gradally changes its meanign, guilt is also a mejore symbol, and Pearl’s role in this novel is symbolic as well. The Scarlet Letter includes many profound and crucial symbols. these devices of symbolism are best portayed in the novel, most noticably through the letter “A” best exemplifies the changes in the symbolic meaning throughout the novel.

If it is important, it is remembered. If it has any value, it will last far into the future, if not forever. This is why Michelangelo’s David, the Mona Lisa, the automobile, The Beatles, and Pride and Prejudice are all remembered. If it is the first to make an impact, it becomes important. That is when it will affect people in future generations. For example, the Model T is not produced anymore, but is the grandfather of almost every car made today, affecting jobs, businesses, people, and the world. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is taught today because it was one of the first important American written novels that contained obvious symbolism. Since symbolism is used in everything of literary merit, it is important to see where it started. In the same way, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has lasted through the years and still be prevalent today. This is achieved in the original books and continuing in spin offs and adaptations.

The three scaffold scenes bring great significance to the plot of the Scarlet Letter. The novel is based on repenting the sins of adultery. The scaffold represents a place of shame and pity but also of final triumphs. Each scene illustrates the importance of the scaffold behind them with many potent similarities and differences.

From the beginning, we see that Hester Prynne is a young and beautiful woman who has brought a child into the world with an unknown father. She is punished by Puritan society by wearing the scarlet letter A on the bosom of her dress and standing on the scaffold for three hours. The scaffold is a painful task to bear; the townspeople gathered around to gossip and stare at Hester and her

Dimmesdale realizes that he must confess his sin and face whatever consequences may lie ahead of him, whether or not his confession is seven years past due. Before reaching the “well-remembered and weather-darkened scaffold,” where Hester Prynne had encountered the “world’s ignominious stare,” Arthur Dimmesdale cautiously comes to a pause (246). Only two people in the crowd, Roger Chillingworth (Hester’s husband) and Hester Prynne, understand why Dimmesdale halts before ascending up the scaffold. He will finally reveal his identity to the town and release the guilt that has built inside of him for seven years. As Hester and Pearl are about to accompany Dimmesdale up to the scaffold, Chillingworth “trusts himself through the crowd” – or, from Hawthorne’s description, “so dark, disturbed, and evil was his look,” Chillingworth “rose up out of some nether region to snatch back his victim from what he sought to do” (247). Ignoring Chillingworth’s effort to stop Dimmesdale, the three mount the scaffold and face the eager crowd. In one of Dimmesdale’s final speeches, he claims that Hester’s scarlet letter “is but the shadow of what he bears on his own breast” (250). The moment after Dimmesdale reveals his ‘scarlet letter’, he stood “with a flush of triumph in his face as one who had won a victory” (251). As Dimmesdale had wished, his remorse and internal pain is forgotten once he reveals his true identity, allowing his soul to experience its elapsed freedom.

As with any piece, symbolism plays an important role in representing the main ideas of a novel. The plot in "The Scarlet Letter" revolves around three significant events that describe the development of the story. As both starting point and ending point of the novel, the scaffold scenes hold symbolic meaning.

The scaffold is meant to depict the sin and shame that the sinner feels, when they must stand on top of it. Later on in the novel, Hester and Pearl find themselves walking through a forest. Hester notices that the forest is wild and untamed, much like the “moral wilderness” that she wanders through over the course of her life.

Multiple instances in the novel where a scaffold is used in the main setting of the chapter. In chapter two, Hester walks to the scaffold, “ Hester Prynne set forth towards

In The Scarlet Letter, the three scaffold scenes are very important in advancing the action of the story and developing the characters. The scaffold is located in the middle of town and is where Hester is being punished for her sin. Dimmesdale hid his sin from the town, however his guilt led him to confess on the scaffold as Hester did. Through it all, the scaffold shapes both Hester and Dimmesdale as individuals. The scaffold makes both Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin public, leading them to more obstacle which brings the story along.

The scaffold scene at the beginning of the novel is the first significant setting that is present in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Our group decided to recreate the scaffold scene from chapters 2 and 3 because it presented a very powerful introduction to this old English book. This scene is pivotal in understanding the rest of the novel. This is the first time that the readers learn about Hester standing on the scaffold and being taunted by her letter “A” on her bosom, as people from her community scorn her and use her sin as a moral lesson. In order to construct this scene, our group used numerous materials: popsicle sticks, toothpicks, clay, paint, Styrofoam, paper, cardboard, fake moss, felt, and a string. With all of these materials, we were able to re-enact the scaffold setting. The people were created with the toothpicks, clay, paint, and for Hester, the red paint. The letter “A” was created using the red paint because it has to be noticeably apparent compared to the rest of her dim, beige clothing.

in jail for being pregnant outside of wedlock, she had to face her community, wearing a big scarlet letter across her bosom. The scarlet letter was the community 's punishment for her sin and was their way of trying to get her to repent. The community forced her to wear the scarlet letter at all times and she was constantly shunned and abused for it. She wrestled with the decision to leave, and one time even considered killing Pearl and committing suicide. Also, she sees her husband for the first time in a long time on top of the scaffold. At the first scaffold scene, it says, "Be that as it might, the scaffold of the pillory was a point of view that revealed to Hester Prynne the entire track along which she had been treading, since her happy infancy. Standing on that miserable eminence, she saw again her native village" (Hawthorne 88). This not only shows Hester as miserable, but it is the start of