What Does The Labyrinth Symbolize In The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter uses “walking” as symbolism to connect to Dimmesdale. More specifically, walking was used to exemplify his moral actions. Ancient labyrinths and his encounter with the forest depict his moral struggle. Ancient labyrinths are connected to Dimmesdale. In Greek mythology, a labyrinth contained a minotaur, which was a creature wielding an axe, for the sole purpose of killing anyone that enters the maze. Additionally, the chance that anyone entering will come out alive is extremely slim, but there still is a chance. Greek mythology says that Theseus slayed the minotaur. In The Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale enters a place he never thought he would be in: committing adultery and bearing the consequences. He is in a symbolic
The chapter title, “A Forest Walk”, has the word walk in it to symbolize the importance of the chapter to the author’s purpose. The text specifically states about the forest, “to Hester’s mind, it imaged not amiss the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering”. This forest is a physical example of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin. The forest admitted nearly no light because Dimmesdale was in other words, consumed by his transgressions, and could not escape them. However, there was a small amount of light entering the forest, which is the little bit of hope and courage that Dimmesdale has to confess his adultery to the people and free himself of his internal pain. Again, the forest is an example of the clergyman’s slim chances of breaking out of his emotional trauma. The author uses walking to make a relation to Dimmesdale and to emphasize its importance to the author’s purpose. Both the labyrinth and the forest symbolize how Dimmesdale’s transgressions have overtaken his life. The forest is a physical example of this, and the labyrinth is a connector between Dimmesdale and the novel’s