Symbolism of the Scarlet Letter

A detailed Summary of Symbolism of the Scarlet Letter


The Scarlet Letter, written in the 1800's by Anti-Transcendentalist Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of Hester Prynne. Young Hester lived in New England, about the same time witch trials were still conducted, and she is found guilty of carrying a baby whose father she refuses to confess. The punishment for this crime is from then until the rest of her life, Hester had to bear a stitched "A" on her breast. This "A" carries the namesake of the book, The Scarlet Letter. Although thought to be an embarrassment and form of torture for Hester, this scarlet letter seems to become a sense of pride for Prynne. This scarlet letter grows to become a part of Hester an identification to her child Pearl. The scarlet letter is a constant recurring symbol in Hawthorne's novel, but it doesn't satisfy only one purpose. As many symbols tend to do, the scarlet letter serves numerous functions, which enh


The first and most obvious symbol would be the actual "A" that was stitched on Hester's chest. In this example, the scarlet letter was a symbol for the entire world to see and ridicule Prynne for her "wrong-doing" This use of public humiliation for Hester was thought to be necessary to punish and teach Prynne a lesson. This puts much focus on the way people harass and torture others simply because they feel other people have done things morally wrong and deserve punishment. While the "wrong-doers" are being punished, the punishers in turn commit wrongs. Here many questions arise. Was it wrong for Hester to keep her child's father a secret from the public? Was is wrong for her to have to live her life as a walking, breathing example of what that Boston community thought was bad?

Another usage of symbol in this book was what the scarlet letter becomes for Hester. This punishment which w

Some common words found in the essay are:
Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, Prynne Hester, scarlet letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne, book scarlet letter, hester prynne, usage symbol, book scarlet, child pearl, symbol pride,

Approximate Word count = 606
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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