Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper
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
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 forget what he has done (141). To
Dimmesdale, it is bad that Hester is shown publicly as a sinner, but
people forget that. What is far worse than public shame is Dimmesdale’s
own cruel inner shame. Knowing what only he and Hester know, the secret
eats away at every fiber of Dimmesdale’s being. As the Puritans hold up
Dimmesdale, the Romantics level him as a human.
The Scarlet Letter is a myriad of allegorical theories and
philosophies. Ranging from Puritanic to Romantic, Nathaniel Hawthorne
embodies his ideas to stress his Romantic philosophies through Pearl,
Hester, and Dimmesdale throughout all of this.