The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne used symbolism a great deal in many of hisworks, including Rappachini's Daughter and "The Ministers Black Veil",but most prominently in The Scarlet Letter. There are differencesbetween Hawthorne's symbolism and "conventional" symbolism,Hawthorne flatly stated what his symbols meant on the uppermost level,when some other authors "beat around the bush" as to the real (or'subliminal') meanings of certain characters, settings, and importantevents. The most important symbols in this book are the prison, the The first significant symbol is introduced in the very first pages of thenovel. The Cornhill prison, where so much of this novel took place in oraround, is "marked with weather-stains and other indications ofage"(Hawthorne, 45) as it was built along with the first burial groundwhen the Puritans first settled in Boston. The prison is a great deal morethan an edifice in the center of town, it shows the harshness and severityof Puritan law. These people ventured to a new land, and immediatelyset up a form of punishment and containment for breaking the law. Theseverity of punishment was shown in Hawthorne's mentioning of Anne
In the Christian religion, the rose issymbolic of the blood shed by Jesus on the Cross. Pearl, the embodiment ofthe Scarlet Letter, brings all of the symbolism together - the color red, therose-bush, and the prison - very cleverly done by Hawthorne. ------------------------------------------------------------------------**Bibliography**WORKS CONSULTEDaol://4344:169. 528750303 (24 Oct, 1999)Hawthorne, Nathaniel. Also of hidden knowledge, wisdom, and spiritualawareness. He doesnot, in any manner, elude the reader from the symbolism of the prison. There was also a rosebush that lay in the shadows of the prisonwhich became a very significant symbol in The Scarlet Letter. This symbolism is verystraight-forward, and easy to understand, which is possibly one of thereasons that they are so meaningful. A rose is generally a symbol of sensuality, seduction, beauty,and passion : all of which have been found in the relationship betweenHester Prynne and Reverend Dimmesdale. Hawthorne says that the rosebush "may serve, let us hope, to symbolizesome sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relievethe darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow"(46). The rosebush is a piece of the wilderness, thrown into the center of thecity near the prison.
Common topics in this essay:
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Red Rose,
Pearl Canst,
Hester Dimmesdale,
Church Puritan,
Letter Hester,
Antinomianism Puritan,
Aphrodite Persephone,
Governor's Mansion,
scarlet letter,
Jesus Cross,
color red,
puritan laws,
red rose,
hawthorne's scarlet letter,
significant symbol,
rose color,
hawthorne's scarlet,
throughout book,
oct 1999,
rose symbol,
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Acceptance Essays
