The Scarlet Letter

A detailed Summary of The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne used symbolism a great deal in many of his

works, including Rappachini's Daughter and "The Ministers Black Veil",

but most prominently in The Scarlet Letter. There are differences

between 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 important

events. The most important symbols in this book are the prison, the

The first significant symbol is introduced in the very first pages of the

novel. The Cornhill prison, where so much of this novel took place in or

around, is "marked with weather-stains and other indications of

age"(Hawthorne, 45) as it was built along with the first burial ground

when the Puritans first settled in Boston. The prison is a great deal more

than an edifice in the center of town, it shows the harshness and severity

of Puritan law. These people ventured to a new land, and immediately

set up a form of punishment and containment for breaking the law. The

severity of punishment was shown in Hawthorne's mentioning of Anne

its color also have very powerful meanings in relation to the story. The first

named after the color of the fire between her mother and unknown

prison-door"(103). Pearl not only believes, but knows, that the rose is a

daughter is far from. Also of hidden knowledge, wisdom, and spiritual

red rose is believed to have sprung from the blood of Adonis (Greek

the punishments rarely fit the crime... yet the Church and Puritan way of

Hawthorne says that the rosebush "may serve, let us hope, to symbolize

The color red is so evident in this novel, in the red rose, the scarlet

awareness. Throughout the book, Pearl has a great capacity to

reasonable and fitting solution. It was just the way of life though, strict

rose-bush, and the prison - very cleverly done by Hawthorne.

The rosebush is a piece of the wilderness, thrown into the center of the

Approximate Word count = 932
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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