The Scarlet Letter
Uploaded by imob1 on Jan 22, 1999
The book The Scarlet Letter is all about symbolism. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the course of the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify Puritanic and Romantic philosophies.
Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this irrevocably harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life. However, the Romantic philosophies of Hawthorne put down the Puritanic beliefs. She is a beautiful, young woman who has sinned, but is forgiven. Hawthorne portrays Hester as "divine maternity" and she can do no wrong. Not only Hester, but the physical scarlet letter, a Puritanical sign of disownment, is shown through the author's tone and diction as a beautiful, gold and colorful piece.
Pearl, Hester's child, is portrayed Puritanically, as a child of sin who should be treated as such, ugly, evil, and shamed. The reader more evidently notices that Hawthorne carefully, and sometimes not subtly at all, places Pearl above the rest. She wears colorful clothes, is extremely smart, pretty, and nice. More often than not, she shows her intelligence and free thought, a trait of the Romantics. One of Pearl's favorite activities is playing with flowers and trees. (The reader will recall that anything affiliated with the forest was evil to Puritans. To Hawthorne, however, the forest was beautiful and natural.) "And she was gentler here [the forest] than in the grassy- margined streets of the settlement, or in her mother's cottage. The flowers appeared to know it"(194) Pearl fit in with natural things. Also, Pearl is always effervescent and joyous, which is definitely a negative to the Puritans. Pearl is a virtual shouting match between the Puritanical views and the Romantic ways.
To most, but especially the Puritans, one of the most important members of a community is the religious leader; Arthur Dimmesdale is no exception. He was held above the rest, and this is proven in one of the first scenes of the book. As Hester is above the townspeople on a scaffold, Dimmesdale, Governor Wilson, and others are still above her. But, as the reader soon discovers, Arthur Dimmesdale is his own worst enemy. He hates himself and must physically inflict pain upon himself. "He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify, himself" to never...