In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne conveys several different types of irony – not just in the characters but in the symbolism and true meanings as well. There are numerous examples throughout the novel. One example is the rosebush, a plant which stands outside of the prison and is considered the only living thing in society. The rosebush is ironic because it is marked by both the thorn and the color red and it is where Hester is located for a period of punishment of love. One of the most obvious examples of irony is that Dimmesdale is a minister who is highly admired for his sermons but is Hester’s lover.
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses several literary elements while writing “The Scarlet Letter” to carefully craft the novel; such as biblical allusions, symbolism, and personification to portray the flaws of human nature. Biblical allusions are referred to throughout the novel to provide reader with an understanding of the nature of sin. He uses Dimmesdale as the main focus point towards this literary element during his death. Hawthorne also uses symbolism and it is present when the Black Man is mentioned, comparing human nature and the evil that can sometimes overcome it. Finally, personification helps bring out another theme, in which light and darkness show through nature in the book.
Trust is a very important element in being a social person. Being trustworthy and loyal is extremely honorable in human character but at times the truth is too hard to swallow. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, by classic American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, the contrast of truth and lies is a reoccurring idea throughout the novel. Hester Prynne is a young puritan woman of God who had committed adultery while her husband left Boston, Massachusetts to travel to Europe. Because she lived in such a God driven and puritan town, the judicial system of the settlement had decided for her to acknowledge her sin by embroidering a vibrant scarlet letter “A” onto her dress to symbolize adultery.
To begin, the theme of identity in society is developed through the characters of Hester, Mr. Dimmesdale, and Pearl. Hester helps show the theme first when she make the decision to stay in her town rather than leave after she was found guilty of adultery and sentenced to wear the “A” on her chest. Elizabeth Perry Hodges states, “The town gossips and magistrates--are guilty at one time or another of reducing the complex humanity of Hester Prynne to the fixed meaning associated with the letter she must wear on her breast for life, the "A" that identifies her, simply, with the single fact of adultery.” Hester Prynne is expelled from society. Hester, although ridiculed and isolated, emerges as the representative of the new female image. She defies the status quo as a advocate of feminism and individuality, a product of her rebellious spirit, self-reliance, and strong mind.
Conclusion 8-9 Bibliography 10 Ehrenerklärung 1. Introduction The Scarlet Letter is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and was published in 1850. The subtitle A Romance purposely places the novel apart from everyday life. Set in Boston, in the 17th century, the author tells a story about sin, guilt and love in a Puritan community. Hawthorne uses the imaginative and symbolic form of the romance to veil the impression of the serious themes in his novel.
If you lived in Puritan society as characterized by The Scarlet Letter, there’s no difference between God’s law and man’s law. The combination of church and state creates an intolerant religious society. For the people in the community, an even public humiliation isn’t enough and believe that ‘…At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead…’” (45). They think that public shame is still too merciful. The community’s final judgment is Hester’s tombstone which reads “‘On a field, sable, the letter A, gules.’”(205).
The Scarlet Letter In the passage of the scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, we see the narrator doesn’t have the same attitude or views of the community. The harsh judgment Hester Prynne receives from the wives is predictable. Hawthorne’s diction in the narration reveals a tone of sympathy, while the words of the women scorn Mistress Prynne. The women who stood outside the prison door commenting on Hester Prynne punishment are described to be goodwives of a puritan community. The first woman to speak is a “hard featured dame of fifty”, she believes the good mature women of the church should have a say in the sentence of the mistress for they are wives, and will punish correctly.
The effects of sin in The Scarlet Letter are the sins that are represented through characters, events, and symbolism. Hester represents the effects of sin throughout the novel by showing the ways it can affect characters. When Hester is at the forest, she takes off the scarlet letter, and she “felt the freedom.” She has to wear the scarlet letter her whole life because of the crime she committed. This causes her to become depressed and sad, but if she did not wear the scarlet letter she would feel free. Also, when Pearl and Hester were at the governor’s hall, the governor thought Hester was not “of authority and influence” and had “stumbled and fallen amid the pitfalls of this world.” The
My poem that I chose is “Identity” by Julio Noboa Blanco. The literary element I found was symbolism. He showed symbolism when he wrote “Let them be as flowers … I’d rather be a tall, ugly weed.” The poem’s theme is independence; the author is trying to get the reader to understand that you have to be independent to get farther in life rather than just doing enough to get by. The first example of symbolism I found in the poem was “Let them be as flowers, always watered, fed, guarded, admired, but harnessed to a pot of dirt.” When he talks about flowers, he’s talking about the people who have to be looked after by everyone and never take risks or do anything different. Then he says “harnessed to a pot of dirt.” That’s talking about how the ‘flowers’ are just “rooted to the ground” and stuck in the same place as everyone else.
Maya Stephenson Chapter 5 “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin.”(54) Most people think that sin is an abstract concept. But this quote shows that in the Puritan community sin is very real. It also says that every town needs a scapegoat and Hester is the scape goat for her community. The people focus their attention on Hester’s problems instead of working out their issues. The townspeople look at Hester and think about how she used to be pure before she committed her sin.