Transcendentalism In Scarlet Letter

A sin doesn’t always identify its committer. A symbol of scorn can be turned into something else with the right amount of determination. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame to Hester; however, it becomes a powerful symbol of identity for her. The scarlet letter represents her individualism, her strength to overcome the image her peers tried to enforce upon her, as well as her willingness to aid others.

In the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, lots of symbolism is used. He wrote this book in the 1800’s, but it actually took place in the 1600’s. His uncle was one of the judges in the Salem Witch Trials, and he was the one judge who never apologized. In this time, they had a way of life called Puritanism. Puritanism was the belief that God has formed an agreement with us, and we should live according to the scriptures and set a good example to other people so they change their sinful ways.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of many stories. Including, but not limited to, The Scarlet Letter and The Minister's Black Veil. He was an anti-transcendentalist. His books take place in Puritan age towns and time periods. Puritanism took place in the 1600’s and was against anything that brought pleasure upon them.

Hester Prynne, who cares for her child in the absence of the child’s father, chooses to dress her child similar to the symbol of the scarlet “A” on her chest. “…the child’s whole appearance, that is irresistibly and inevitably reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life” (101). Many of the community’s residence, look at this as Hester punishing her child, however she uses Pearl dressed in scarlet clothing to remind herself on what she will never do again. Hester knowingly tries to remind herself of her faults and intends on being the example for Pearl. Hawthorne’s point of sin is applied here as Pearl embodies sin and Hester can not only feel it inside but must live

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1800s, takes place in a New England Puritan society in the 1600s. Hawthorne was an anti transcendentalist, the great nephew of John Hathorne, who believed that all humans have an innate darkness within them. Hathorne was the only judge who did not apologize for the Salem Witch Trials. The basis of anti transcendentalism also included that the forest/nature is evil because that is where the devil lives, and that society was good because it kept humans from giving in to their evil natures. Hawthorne uses symbolism, a literary device that uses objects and people to stand for something outside themselves, throughout the book to depict and explain many events.

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the early 1800s, was a novel that used symbolism to create a picture of a fictional story in the Puritan town of Boston in the 1600s. During this time period, Boston was a theocracy, meaning that its government was ruled by religion. The Puritan people lived their lives in total service to God and even went as far as living without any earthly pleasure in the hope that they would be rewarded in heaven. They thought that if they lived their lives without giving themselves to God, they would be sent to hell. N. Hawthorne had almost an obsession with Puritanism, and that was because his uncle, John Hathorne participated as a judge in the Salem Witch trials, and was the only one who never apologized

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the story revolves around the Puritan society. The Puritan society is a religion that doesn’t believe in having pleasure on Earth. The Puritan society also revolves around punishment. Nathaniel Hawthorne hates the Puritan society but is fascinated by how it works. His great uncle Hathorne was the only judge during the Salem witch trials who wouldn’t apologize for what he did.

The author Nathaniel Hawthorne illustrates the use of symbolism in the book, especially with the scarlet letter “A.” Symbolism in English or literature is defined as a figure of speech used for an object, or a word to represent something else in literature. The Scarlet letter “A” had a change of meaning in the novel. In the inception of the book it is known as a symbol of Adultery, Pearl as a living symbol or embodiment from the Scarlet letter and as the book continues, the scarlet letter assumes a different meaning on Hester Prynne’s chest which was from Adultery to Able and served as her liberation from the Puritan town. Hester Prynne is the central character of Hawthorne’s book the scarlet letter. She is the woman who was forced to wear

Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter in 1850, and it’s considered his most influential work. The gothic romance explores the themes of sin, Puritan legalism, and guilt, and incorporates a heavy use of symbolism. One of the most important symbols in the book, along with Pearl and the Black Man, is the scarlet letter donned by the story’s protagonist, Hester Prynne. In the very beginning of the book, the scarlet letter means that she is “Animal”, an inhuman creature to marvel at and ridicule as it stands upon the scaffold. In the early stages of the plot, the scarlet letter meant simply “Adulteress”, a cold reminder of her sin. As the story progresses, the letter she wears upon her bosom develops a second meaning equally central to Hester’s pain and development: “Alone.” Hester works diligently over the course of years to repent for her sin and improve her reputation, and her hard work and improved reputation gain her the title of “Able”, even though she’s still considered an impure sinner. At the end of the book, when Hester returns to Boston and becomes a trusted advisor and helper to the women of the

Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel attended Bowdoin College and graduates in 1825. After getting a job at Custom House and then losing it, he starts to write a novel about adultery. In 1850, The Scarlet Letter is published and because of its adultery immediately was a best-seller. Hawthorne portrays Transcendentalism through characters by using Self Reliance and depicts ideas from Nature by Ralph Waldo Emerson. Through symbolism and tone, Hawthorne conveys elements of Transcendentalism philosophy by promoting individuality while restricting puritan ideals.

According Puritan moral values, one is guilty of adultery if married man or woman had a sexual relationship with a person who is not their wife or husband. The situation becomes worse when women bear an illegitimate child and such behavior is considered as one of the sinful acts in the Puritan society. The protagonist and the bearer of the scarlet letter “A” signify that Hester Prynne is an adulterer. Hester was married to an elderly scholar, Roger Chillingworth who sent her ahead to America to live but never followed her. While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, after which gave birth to Pearl. Hester giving birth to Pearl became an attention of that Puritan society and she was humiliated in the public where she showed her faults to the world without revealing the names of Pearl’s father. Mr. Wilson said, “Speak out the name! That, and thy repentance, may avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast.” “Never!” replied Hester Prynne. “It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (Hawthorne, p 58). Unwillingness to reveal the name of Pearl’s father by Hester shows the strength and

The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 1800s, but the book is placed in the Puritan times of the 1600s. Hawthorne is an anti-transcendentalist, which means he thinks society is pure, nature is evil and humans are naturally evil. Puritanism is a very strict religion in the 1600s, if you are a Puritan you are against all earthly pleasure and your life is hell on Earth. Symbolism is a literary device that uses symbols to represent ideas. In this novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the symbolic significance of the Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth to contribute to the theme of guilt.

The Scarlet Letter is about a woman, Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear the letter 'A' on her dress, representing adulterer. In the story, Hester Prynne bears a child without being married. In Hester's society, that is considered a crime because the society follows the Christian faith, which refuses to allow people to give birth without marriage, and therefore, Hester has to wear the scarlet letter. The father of the child, Pearl, is unknown until the end of the novel, which is the minister of the society, Arthur Dimmesdale. The scarlet letter is looked upon as a sign of shame. However, Hester Prynne shows the community that she is strong, even though she is carrying a heavy burden. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses symbolism to show how the scarlet letter is something that gives Hester Prynne courage and bravery through her own strength and

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.

‘The Scarlet letter’ is meant to be a symbol of shame for Hester, and instead it becomes a symbol of identity. As Hester’s character develops the Letter ‘matures” along side her . As it ages, it shifts from meaning “Adulterer” to stand for “ Able”.. Hester bonds to the letter as much as she bonds to little Pearl, by choosing to keep them both. She could have given Pearl to the minister and she could have fled New England and left the letter far behind her and moved on with her life, instead she chooses to embrace her punishments. The letter is almost insignificant beside Pearl as a symbol of the sinful act commited by Hester, and helps to point out the meaninglessness of the community’s system of judgment and punishment. The ineffectiveness of this course of action is reinforced in chapter seven “...and the bond-servant, perhaps judging from the decision of her air and the glittering symbol in her bosom, that she was a great lady in the land, offered no opposition.”