Scarlet Letter Symbolism Essay

Scarlet Letter Symbolism
Symbolism is used a great amount in the story The Scarlet Letter. "Both characters and actions are
soaked in symbolism" (Wagenknecht 61). Both characters from the novel and even main settings
and objects in the novel were symbolized by something in some sort of way. Examples of characters
and objects from the book that used symbolism in some way were Hester, Dimmesdale,
Chillingworth, the forest, Pearl and many more were in the story. Hester was one the most if not the
most popular fictional, female character in American fiction. Hester Prynne, dark beautiful of form
and featured, and unmistakably of genteel background, was the first great female character in
American fiction" (Wagenknecht 64).
Hester is a perfect example when talking about symbolism. In The Scarlet Letter Hester has
committed one of the worst, if not the worst sin any human can think of. She has committed
adultery. Hester now has a child, has to deal with Chillingworth, who was Hester's husband
before she committed adultery, and has to keep Dimmesdale's identity secret for a few reasons.
Since hester has committed such a crime she must now wear a letter "A" on her chest. "Was that
SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom"(Hawthorne
61). Hester must wear the Scarlet Letter for the rest of her life. Hester had to go to jail for
committing such sin and after time she was released from the prison that she was kept at. "Hester
Prynne's term of confinement was now at an end" (Hawthorne 87). So for example one of the things
Hester is a symbol for is sin. However, as the story continues it becomes clear that Hester not only
is a symbol for sin, but also a symbol for pride and individuality. Hester has a lot on her plate,
especially because she has to now raise her daughter Pearl on her own because if Dimmesdale
would help people would know he was the man who has been the other half of the sin. Being
known as the women to commit adultery and still being able to raise a child and take in what
people say shows that she is a strong women. People on the streets talked bad on Hester to her face,
yet she took that in because she knew what they were saying might have been obnoxious, but she
realized that also what they
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Symbols in The Scarlet Letter Essay
Symbols unlock the secrets of a story. Hawthorne, in The Scarlet Letter, uses many symbols to
represent different things. Some symbols represent the same thing. The letter "A" has many
meanings, each character has their own meanings, and even the different parts of nature are
symbols. Also, apart from providing structure for the novel, each scaffold scene conveys something
different. One could say, arguably, that nearly everything in TheScarlet Letter is a symbol for
something else.
In the novel, there are four different versions of the letter "A". The first is presented at the
beginning of the book, where Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" upon her breast. The
second occurrence is during the second scaffold...show more content...
Also, she is a symbol for the Catholic faith. When she is on the scaffold, during the first scaffold
scene, Hawthorne describes her as Divine Maternity (53), another name for the Virgin Mary, who
the Catholics revere. Also, like the Catholics believe, she repents by working all her life to do good
deeds, instead of the Puritan belief that repentance is spontaneous and forever. Another example of
such is the fact that she embroidered her letter "A" to be decorative and fancy, which is a more
Catholic idea. The Catholics decorate their churches, where Puritans feel that such decoration takes
away from God.
Dimmesdale symbolizes a few things as well. He is a symbol of temptation, as shown by the
original sin of Hester and Dimmesdale, and also later in the story when he asks Hester to run off
with him. He tempts her, and she gives in to the temptation in both instances. He is a symbol of
Puritanism, not only because he is the pastor, but also the way he repents. When he confesses and
dies, he goes straight to heaven, because he repented once and for all. That is a representation of
the Puritan belief, that one only needs to repent once, and all is forgiven. Also, one might say that
Dimmesdale is the Black Man, from when Hester says that the letter is a mark from her encounter
with the Black Man (170). While in the forest, Dimmesdale tries to take Hester away, and according
to the townspeople, the Black Man meets

Symbolism In Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in 1850. This novel was extremely
controversial for its day because of the symbolism it possessed and the implications of that
symbolism. The Scarlet Letter may have been a book about symbolism because nearly every object
that appears in the novel has more than one symbol. These symbols tend to represent different
feelings, thoughts, and ideas throughout the novel. Symbols are crucial to the story because when
the story is over, the symbols and the meaning of the symbols influence the afterthoughts.
Discovering symbols in a novel can sometimes be tricky, although in the end, knowledge is much
greater when the symbols can be identified. Some of the most prevalent symbols in The Scarlet Letter
...show more content...
The letter A is what this novel has been known for. It is the whole reason why there is such a
struggle between sin, conscience, and self. Relating to the beginning of the novel, yet again,
Hester is put in jail because she bore a child out of wedlock. She had been deemed an adulteress
and because she didn't confess her sin and the man whom she slept with, she was required to wear
a scarlet A on all of her clothes so everyone knew. This A can be described as, " On the breast of
her gown, in red fine cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of
gold–thread, appeared the letter A." This description was gathered from chapter one on page fifty.
Another A also haunts Reverend Dimmesdale as mentioned above. He is haunted and hurt by a
branded A that appears on his chest. That specific symbol, along with others, is his lasting reminders
of his transgression. The letter A appears in vast amounts of ways throughout the novel, but those
two are the most prominent. In conclusion, it is obvious that the symbols in The Scarlet Letter
make the novel what it is. Pearl's symbolism of the rose and rosebush define her character and her
connection to nature. The scaffold represents the public affliction because of the sin. Lastly, the
Letter A represents not only Hester's sin, but also her ability to help in addition to Dimmesdale's sin.
Some of these symbols, such as the letter A, prove to be fateful, but as for the novel, it could not and
would not be the same without these characterizing

The Scarlet Letter is mainly about how sin and grief affect people. During the Puritan time period
many people were judgmental and not open to new ideas. In The Scarlet Letter the characters are
mainly faced with having to confront what the Puritans believe is right, by their sins/actions. Many
symbols convey the theme to the reader, some examples are Dimmesdale, Hester Prynne, and light
and dark. The theme of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is that confessing is better than
hiding the truth.
Throughout the novel, Dimmesdale is being presented as a symbol of how not confessing the truth
has negative effects on a person. Dimmesdale represents this symbol because he is torturing himself
and by Chillingworth plotting his revenge on him; all because he is not confessing the truth about
his sins. One can very clearly see that Dimmesdale is abusing himself by his weak physical
appearance. Dimmesdale explores how popular he is with the other ministers, and how that pains
him to know that he is lying to them. He goes into what his troubles cause him to practice:
In Mr. Dimmesdale's secret closet, under lock and key, there was a bloody scourge. Oftentimes, this
Protestant and Puritan divine had plied it on his own shoulders...It was his custom, too, as it has
been that of many other pious Puritans, to fast,–not, however, like them, in order to purify the body
and render it the fitter medium of celestial illumination,–but rigorously, and until his knees trembled
beneath

What Does The Sin Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne, a notable writer in the nineteenth century, wrote a book known as "The
Scarlet Letter" in the year 1850. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses excessive amounts of
symbolism to aid the reader in understanding precisely what he attempts to portray. A few examples
of symbolism used in the writing include: the Scarlet Letter, Pearl, and scenes of conversation among
the characters.
In the story, the main protagonist Hester, commits a sin with reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. She
becomes pregnant with their child, and society knows about it, but not about Dimmesdale being
involved. Hester married a man years ago that is assumed to be gone, but there are no confirmations,
allowing some leeway in punishment. As for consequences, Hester is required to wear the Scarlet
Letter on her bosom to show for the sin. The community slanders Hester with words and insults
because of it. She wears the Scarlet Letter for shame, and is required to wear it. This Scarlet Letter
becomes quite symbolic throughout the story.
The Scarlet Letter symbolizes the sin Hester and Dimmesdale committed. Later in the story, it is
revealed that Dimmesdale dealt with a "Scarlet Letter" of his own, although with different
consequences than Hester. Hester dealt with the consequences of her sin by wearing a visible Scarlet
Letter and receiving endless slander from the community. Dimmesdale dealt with it by going insane
mentally and physically self–inflicting pain to "purge his sin". Although the two

"Symbolism Shining Through" Hester Prynne, the heroine and main character of The Scarlet Letter,
written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, went through many hardships because of one decision. She is a
very strong woman in a mental sense. For many years, she had to carry the burden of her sin, which
was adultery, by herself. Although being alone, with the exception of her beloved daughter Pearl,
amidst public shame and humiliation for a multitude of years, she somehow repeatedly looked for a
light at the end of the tunnel. Even though Hester did not end up with the happy ending she had
longed for, she learned many lessons on her journey throughout this novel, along with showing the
Puritans what a real person looked like. Nathaniel Hawthorne possesses a very exquisite skill when it
comes to the use of symbolism. The Scarlet Letter uses symbolism on many different accounts to
make characters' significance obvious, to expose hypocrisy in the Puritan society and the world
of Puritan ministers, and to bring importance to everyday objects. Nathaniel Hawthorne knows
how to play with words and even small qualities of a character, specifically when it comes to the
main characters in The Scarlet Letter. One example of his remarkable word play is used with
Hester. Even though her name had no significance to what she stood for, Hester's physical and
mental qualities helped show that she was a different kind of beautiful. "The young woman was
tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy
that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity
of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep
black eyes (Hawthorne 48)." She also showed amazing strength throughout all of the hardships she
faced on a day to day basis, which included raising a child on her own and being shunned by the
Puritan society just because she messed up once. The reader knows that Hester has been through
some bad, unwelcomed situations in her life, but her beauty and might shine through everything she
has been through. She represents that even though nasty circumstances can surround a person,
strength and

Symbolism in the Scarlet Letter Essay
In the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolism is used to represent the
evolution of the characters primarily that of Hester Prynne. Two of these symbols as they are used
repeatedly create underlying truths telling their own story of growth and understanding as sunshine
and the letter "A" bring to light who Hester Prynne truly is.
The first and perhaps the most obvious use of symbolism in the novel follows the progression of
meaning of the letter "A" that Hester is forced to wear on her chest. From the beginning the "A" is
a recognized symbol of adultery. There "on the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded
with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread..." lies evidence of her sin
...show more content...
Again near the end of the novel Hawthorne continues to further portray Hester as an able– bodied
human being rather than the adulteress she is originally seen as by the townspeople. The letter
further develops its meaning and creates a new importance even stronger than the significance
before. Hester begins to find her true self before the scar of the letter was placed onto her clothing
and to her esteem continues to change along with the meaning of the "A" that adorns her clothing.
Hester realizes then that, "the angel and apostle of the coming must be a woman, indeed, but lofty
pure and beautiful, and wise moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of joy" as
she "glanced her eyes downward at the scarlet letter. And after many years a new grave was delved
after a sunken one..." Yet again we see that the letter further changes its meaning and proves to be not
a shameful one, but one that allows her to see herself as a positive influence in the community again.
Hawthorne also uses the sunshine as a predominant symbol in the novel. He uses it to represent
purity and hope numerous times throughout the novel. In one part of the novel Pearl asks her mother
to grab sunshine for her and give it to her to play with. Hester replies "no, my little Pearl! Thou must
gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee." Here Hawthorne is suggesting that Hester has
no sunshine to give her daughter Pearl because she has committed adultery and

Throughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses a few key symbols
to represent major themes in the book. The most obvious and well known, as it is in the title, is the
scarlet letter Hester is forced to wear. Three other symbols are the scaffold, the sun, and the forest.
To begin with, the most important and influential symbol in the entire book is the infamous scarlet
letter, hence the title, The Scarlet Letter. In the second chapter, Hester walks out of the prison,
wearing the infamous scarlet letter 'A'. During the first few years of Hester's punishment, the letter
was a daily reminder of shame. In chapter five, Hawthorne writes,, "...Hester Prynne had always this
dreadful agony in feeling a human eye upon the token; the spot never grew callous; it seemed, on
the contrary, to grow more sensitive with daily torture." As the story unfolds, though, this letter
comes to mean other things to Hester and the people. Rather than bringing torture to Hester, it
eventually becomes a symbol to some people meaning "able." In chapter 13, Hawthorne writes,
"They said that it meant 'Able'; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." A few
pages later, Hawthorne writes, "The scarlet letter had not done its office." The scarlet letter was
meant as a punishment for Hester, and yet here we see that it hasn't punished Hester. Then, in
chapter 18, Hawthorne writes, "Thus, we seem to see that, as regarded Hester Prynne, the whole
seven years of outlaw and ignominy had been little other than a preparation for this very hour."
Although the scarlet letter does bring shame to Hester, as Hawthorne writes, it has not performed its
duty. Hester plans to skip town and go back to Europe with Dimmesdale. If she had learned anything
from the letter, she would have known better than to run away with a man who wasn't her husband.
Throughout the book, there are various meanings to the scarlet letter. It means different things to
different people – a sign of wealth to the butler, curiosity for Pearl, guilt for Dimmesdale,
rebelliousness, revenge or motivation for Chillingworth, and betrayal of one's spouse, to name a few.
Regardless, the true duty was to punish and teach a lesson, neither of which the

It would not be a total lie to say that upon reading a few passages of Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The
Scarlet Letter", the average reader would show signs of complete bewilderment, as should anyone.
Between the complex spirituality of the novel as well as the old–timey speech, learning to
comprehend it can seem a daunting task. This, along with the unchangeable period of time the
story took place, is all thanks to Hawthorne's strategic use of symbolism. In other words, his use
of characters, objects and even settings as symbols to represent an underlying meaning or idea. A
meaning or idea that along with the basic structure of symbolism, can be seen from various
viewpoints depending on the reader. When one might see the color red, for instance, they might
involuntarily assume to associate it with the ideas of war and destruction, while others lean more
towards the concepts of love and romance. The beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder with
these types of works, referred to as allegories for their abundant use of these symbols. In order to
fully grasp Hawthorne's allegory "The Scarlet Letter", the reader must take time to absorb and
analyze the symbols they stumble upon throughout the novel, whatever form the symbol might be.
Characters, for instance, are one type of symbol used in the novel, and most likely the simplest to
point out at that. Why would they not be? They take up all the dialogue, and they are human, in this
way the reader can more easily empathize with them

Scarlet Letter Symbolism Essay

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