Scarlet Essay Essay
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne portrays the personality of each character along with the secrets within, using mirror imagery to reflect the inner truth. In the beginning, Hester seems to be a passionate woman, and then turns into this sinful reflection of Puritan belief. Ironically, the man she commits adultery with is Reverend Dimmesdale, who is a reflection of the evil that has taken over Chillingworth. Lastly, the embodiment of the sin, Pearl, is a mirror image of Hester’s punishment. Mirror imagery helps characters recognize the real complexion that lie within.
The main character, Hester Prynne becomes a reflection of the ideas of Puritan society, influenced by her guilt. When the reader is first introduced to her, she is “glowing with girlish beauty, and illuminating all the interior of the dusky mirror which she had been wont to gaze at it” (56 ). Hester looks back at her past when she was independent. As time passes, the Puritan society exemplifies her as someone not to be and neglect her presence. Her broken personality is due to the fact that she is ostracized and looked down at by everybody. The Puritans have a huge influence on Hester, and her thoughts and actions are mirrored off of society. She even agrees with the townspeople that Pearl could be a demon child. “Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child’s expanding nature; ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity” (86). Because Hester is a reflection of society, she expects her daughter to be evil. Hester’s mind is filled with her neighbor’s thoughts, and the scarlet letter which was “exaggerated and gigantic” and “the most prominent feature of her appearance” in the mirror, where the true sensual woman was “absolutely hidden behind it” (102). Mirror imagery helps develop Hester throughout the story, and shows that she is a reflection of how Puritan society has hurt her. Chillingworth is a mirror image of the devil, and his evil deeds result in the mirror image of a
The main character, Hester Prynne becomes a reflection of the ideas of Puritan society, influenced by her guilt. When the reader is first introduced to her, she is “glowing with girlish beauty, and illuminating all the interior of the dusky mirror which she had been wont to gaze at it” (56 ). Hester looks back at her past when she was independent. As time passes, the Puritan society exemplifies her as someone not to be and neglect her presence. Her broken personality is due to the fact that she is ostracized and looked down at by everybody. The Puritans have a huge influence on Hester, and her thoughts and actions are mirrored off of society. She even agrees with the townspeople that Pearl could be a demon child. “Day after day, she looked fearfully into the child’s expanding nature; ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity” (86). Because Hester is a reflection of society, she expects her daughter to be evil. Hester’s mind is filled with her neighbor’s thoughts, and the scarlet letter which was “exaggerated and gigantic” and “the most prominent feature of her appearance” in the mirror, where the true sensual woman was “absolutely hidden behind it” (102). Mirror imagery helps develop Hester throughout the story, and shows that she is a reflection of how Puritan society has hurt her. Chillingworth is a mirror image of the devil, and his evil deeds result in the mirror image of a