What Does The Rose Bush Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

From the beginning of the scarlet letter author Nathaniel Hawthorne starts off using symbolism. He represents the prison as a place of darkness and sin and describes the surrounding of the prison as old and worn. Then follows to tell the reader that there is a rosebush in the prison which is an odd place for it to be and it symbolizes the grace of God. Another major symbol in this story is Hester’s daughter Pearl, she illustrates the consequences of sin and the chance of redemption. The reason for Hester naming Pearl was that she was her only treasure and she lost all of the things she owned (her social status) to have her. Not to forget the biggest symbol The Scarlett letter which represents her sins, mistakes, skill, adultery, and much more. At first Hester wears the “fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” on her breast as a punishment but as the story continues the “A” changes from Adultery to Able as she is seen different from all the good deeds she has done.

Scarlet Letter: Chapters 7-12 In chapter seven, Pearl was dressed in a “crimson velvet tunic” which seemed to resemble much of the scarlet letter. Pearl was basically a living and breathing scarlet letter. Also in this chapter Pearl notices the letter was enlarged in the reflection in the shining body armor. This signified that the letter would be seen much more significantly by the people at the Governor’s house.

The first chapter of Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne describes a rose-bush in front of an old wooden prison door. Telling the reader that the rose symbolize some sweet moral blossom to the condemned. I can surmise that the author is foreshadowing the events that will take place throughout the story. The second chapter begins with women gossiping about a young lady named Hester Prynne and the consequence the magistrates decided on. The woman calls her a hussy, another women declares that the magistrates should have put a brand on her forehead, believing that having her wear the A on the bodice of her gown wouldn’t be enough. The woman’s crudity towards Hester was suprising, knowing these same women probably talked to her before she perpetrated her crime,

There are many forms of symbolism found in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne, the author uses his many forms of symbolism to project a lesson or moral created throughout the story. Even each of the main characters has a different moral representation. Guilt, repentance, purity, and strength each are shown through the eyes of a different character. Pear, Hester Prynne, Chillingworth, and Reverend Dimmesdale are main characters that are used to show that you should “Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!”(Hawthorne286)

My project consists of a cake garnished with the red letter A. The A is divided by two contradictory ideas. The initial fraction of the cake has black frosting and a red A on it. The A has thorns around it, showing the immoral part of the letter. The opposite half of the cake has white frosting and a red A and is ornamented with roses instead of barbs.

"On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter 'A'" (51). That one simple letter set into the bodice of a young woman named Hester Prynne, tells a story of heartache, pride, strength and triumph in the book elegantly written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter (1850). Hawthorne's novel provides many types of symbolism. One of such is the symbolism of a red rose bush growing outside the gates of the town prison.

Beauty is often found in the most unexpected darkest places just like the rosebush outside of the prison door in a puritan colonial village. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, mentions that the rosebush symbolizes pride or a catastrophe that occurs, however, the thorns on the rosebush portray the struggles Hester Prynne had to face and overcome as society confronts their evilness when she presents herself with her child that is seen as a witch as a result of the sin her mother committed.

Not only symbolism but imagery too, has a critical role in the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne is successfully able to describe in detail the prison when it is first described in the beginning of the novel. From the door that is “heavily timbered with oak” to the building with a “beetle-browed and gloomy front,” Hawthorne successfully describes the place of darkness and sin. Oddly enough, in front of the prison, there is a rose bush. The rose bush can be used to describe a concept of peace or

The rose is a motif shown multiple times throughout the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne resembling a source of hope, strength, and even courage. In the very beginning of the Scarlet Letter, chapter one is only concerned with setting the scene in the seventeenth century, where multitudes of miserably dressed Puritans stand before the weather-beaten wooden prison. In front of the prison lies an unpleasant plot of weeds and beside it grows a wild rose-bush. Here the rose-bush can bear a resemblance to its beauty rather than the gloominess of the prison-door.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses a numerous amount of symbolism to create a deeper understanding to the novel. The forest is a constant motif throughout the writing; representing the rebels of the puritanical society while the settlement represents the Puritan law. Hester Prynne and the forest are one in the same. While Hester is the forest personified.

Hawthorne makes extensive use of symbols-people,places,or objects that are made to take on a larger meaning. Explain briefly Hawthorne’s use of the following symbols: the scaffold, the forest, weeds, and poisonous plants. In the beginning near the prison door is a rosebush and this rosebush is a symbol.The rosebush symbolizes that nature is able to extend its pity and its kindness to its prisoners and in fact this rosebush grew once Anne Hutchinson passed by that prison door. The ending of the chapter the blossom of that rosebush symbolizes some of its sweet moral. The blossom can symbolize the relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.

A weak and deprived plant lingers on the fine line between life and death. The menacing trees of the forest have stolen all the resources that allow its survival. The plant’s roots were pushed to the top of the soil, causing it to lose access to the hidden resources deep within the soil. Other plants pushed the plant’s fragile roots away from sustenance, engendering the plant’s withering structure. Once, the plant was a strong flower, thriving within the forest, but now it is a ghastly representation of its former glory. The plant was abandoned by the rest of its species, and forced to live in agony for the rest of its life. Society shuns those it deems sinful. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne compels the reader to understand

Symbolism has many different meanings, and the Scarlet ‘A’ in “The Scarlet Letter” has many different meanings as well. Hester Prynne is the main character who is forced to wear the scarlet letter as remembrance for the crime and the sin that she has committed. This letter completely ruined her reputation in her community. How could a small piece of fabric do so much harm? This letter was a representation of something much greater than the letter ‘A’. This letter was originally made to stand for adulteress, as physical reminder of her sins. The vibrant scarlet red is meant to shame Hester, to make her feel sorry for her mistakes. Most importantly it was a symbol for change and an emblem of identity. In short, the scarlet letter meant much more than a letter of shame, it was simply a piece of fabric with meaning that could easily change.

Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the symbol of the flower in The Scarlet Letter in which its depiction varies for each character, either with the representation of virtue or sin. Hawthorne states "the soil that had so early borne the black flower of a civilized society, a prison", illustrating the flower with a dark aspect. The "black flower" represents the Puritan society as evil and sinful, albeit the Puritans want to develop Utopia. However, Hawthorne mentions that the "rose-bush" appears to be on "one side of the portal" symbolizing a sign of hope since it is assumed to have "sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson", who was a dissenter of the Puritans since she preached the idea of religious freedom and that God's grace

Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the color red significantly throughout The Scarlet Letter to show its importance of symbolism in the emotions of sin and passion that it represents. The first example in The Scarlet Letter is the red rose that is growing by the prison door (2), which represents Hester’s pride and passion. This rose is growing in a place that is not very fitting, which is identical