Motifs In Scarlet Letter

The beauty comes from the appearance of the roses but the thorns on the bush create the aspect and feeling of pain. Hawthorne explains, “... on the side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush… by strange chance, has been kept alive in history…” (Hawthorne 46). When describing the rose bush as wild, meaning it has been created by nature, this exhibits the evilness hidden within the bush. Hawthorne then continues by addressing how he wants the reader to portray his novel. He describes, “It may serve… some sweet moral blossom… or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (Hawthorne 46).

Hester having committed adultery and tries all what she can so as to ensure that she live of repentance and dignity. In the Scarlet letter, the influence and characteristics of Pearl, Hester Prynne daughter is used to convey the theme of sin and hypocrisy in the novel. Hawthorne uses pearl to draw a parallel between forgiveness and punishment From the beginning of her life she is viewed as, a product of sin. The puritans shunned her, their treatments affected Pearl

Settled in the cruel and repressive Puritan society, “The Scarlet Letter” is a story about a punishment of a horrible and unforgivable sin, the sin of love, committed by two lovers and their sufferings for tasting the ”forbidden fruit”. In the very heart of the novel the main theme that has being presented and observed is the sin itself. Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin is very closely connected to the “original “sin, because they are both forbidden and result in knowledge of what is it like to be a human being. While Adam and Eve gain the ability of knowing right from wrong and are expelled from Eden because of that, Hester and Dimmesdale taste the fruit of love and both suffer for that, but only Hester is the expelled one and the outcast. The

It's believed that the Black man was Roger Chillingworth who is Satan-like. Chillingworth is represented as Satan, who is evil and full of sin. Weeds symbolize evil and sin. Weeds grow through the hearts of sinners. The forest symbolizes darkness because the townspeople see the forest as a dark place where the devil dances and where the witches go.

The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, focuses on the life of Hester Prynne—the unlucky soul who is caught committing adultery and forced to live a life of shame and ignominy. The scaffold is not only the start of her predicament, but it is also the end of the once seemingly perfect Reverend Dimmesdale’s own guilt. The scaffold is the setting of a scene three times throughout the novel: the beginning, middle, and end. For such a lifeless object, it is difficult to recognize its significance in the novel; however, the scaffold is used by Hawthorne to portray the changing relationship between the characters, specifically Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl. In the first few chapters, the scaffold serves as the exposition of the novel to introduce Hester’s “walk of shame” and Dimmesdale’s absence from the very same fate.

What if the people of today were punished for all the wrong, but small actions that they did. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne does an outstanding job of expressing the true of his characters. In the story adults are constrained by societal expectations. Hester Prynne, the main character of the The Scarlet Letter, is accused of adultery, and has to wear the scarlet “A” on her chest. Hester, even after her punishment and the town forgiving her, she still kept the scarlet letter “A” on her chest.

This essay will discuss how the symbol “A” or the Scarlet Letter is represented in three different interpretations in the novel. In the novel The Scarlet Letter the letter “A” was originally intended to be a punishment for the main character Hester Prynne. She committed adultery as was branded with the “A” as public humiliation. Although she was branded as an adulteress, she continued to help others. Her good deeds toward others changed the letter “A” from Adulteress to Able as she was able to assist others.

Symbolism Within The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne created symbolism throughout The Scarlet Letter in order to develop the theme throughout Hester’s life. Hester is portrayed as a sheltered soul, shunned from society due to her adulterous acts. The red A and her daughter, Pearl, are symbols of Hester’s shame which she bares proudly despite society's harsh judgements. Hawthorne is able to use symbolism to develop themes, characters, and analogies in the Scarlet Letter. One of the best signs of symbolism is repetition shown throughout the story.

Some examples include the scarlet letter Hester wears, the rose bush, and even Pearl’s extravagant, crimson dress. It’s no wonder Hawthorne specifically intertwined red symbols so closely with Hester Prynne’s life, because by doing so, he allowed readers to better see her true character and her innermost feelings. This then makes it easier to understand her motivation to love Dimmesdale and Pearl, continue surviving, and secretly wish to be free. On the surface it may appear that the Scarlet Letter is

Pearl is seen as a devil child by the Puritan community, even making her own mother question her humanity. “...sometimes so malicious… that Hester could not help questioning, at such moments, whether Pearl was a human child” (Hawthorne 101). In the novel she is shown scaring away other children by throwing rocks at them. Described as, “An imp of evil, emblem and product of sin,” Pearl represents the scarlet A in a negative way (Hawthorne 102). Being the legitimate symbol of the scarlet letter herself, Pearl’s biggest symbolic representation is Hester’s sin.