Theme Of Wilderness In The Scarlet Letter

The desire of rights to liberty and independence are constantly in conflict with the necessity of maintaining a stable and controlled society. The Scarlet Letter depicts this conflict in the context of a late 1800s Puritan society. With an emphasis on conformity in Puritan society, the introduction of a wild and free force completely threatens that design. This concept of wilderness is conveyed through the characters of the book and reflect how humans want freedom. Nature in The Scarlet Letter represents freedom from the constraints of society; the connections between Pearl and nature reflect humans’ base instinct to seek freedom, which conflicts with the need to conform to the structure of society.
Throughout the book, nature is closely associated with the idea of
In the opening chapter, Hawthorne juxtaposes a dark prison, which “is a symbol of government and law,” with a beautiful and delicate rose bush, which “in obvious contrast, is wild” (Eisinger 325).Wilderness is being contrasted to the strict hand of the law, the prison door is the gateway between free will and conformity. Residing outside of the prison and unrestricted by rules, the wilderness thrives in defiance of society’s attempts to subdue its freedom. The wilderness also affects the characters in the book, specifically Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester is exiled from the community, living on the brink of wilderness, “outlawed from society, and so freed, in a sense, she…. [goes] beyond accepted Puritan attitudes toward society and theology” (Eisinger 325). No longer an active participant in society, living in nature with only her daughter, Hester is presented with a sense of freedom. She embraces that freedom and uses it to break down the walls of society that have governed her life. In a similar fashion, Dimmesdale is exposed to the wilderness when he meets with Hester in the forest and afterwards feels the inexplicable desire to disturb the order of the Puritan