What Is The Symbolism Of The Forest In The Scarlet Letter

The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written in the mid 1800’s. Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the plentiful symbolists in American Literature. This novel was constructed upon the prolonged absence of puritan religion and law. This novel was built upon theocracy, meaning that the governmental system administered through priests and religion, in the name of God, almighty. The novel focuses on a women by the name Hester Prynne and the adulterous affair she committed with her minister and the catastrophic consequences that resulted. Hester was just an ordinary woman living in the Puritan society and her husband Roger Chillingworth was assumed to be lost at sea but Hester chose to believe he was dead, as a result Hester slept with her minister Arthur Dimmesdale. As a
The forest contributed such a great amount of symbolism to the universal subject of sin. The forest gave the people of the town access to sin and do as they will. Once one enters the forest, puritan law is not enforced nor does it matter. An example of this is when Hawthorne stated, It was with fear, and tremendously and, as it were, by slow, reluctant necessity, that Arthur Dimmesdale put forth his hand, chill as death, and touched the chill Hester Prynne…” (Hawthorne 171) “they glided back into the shadows of the woods…”(Hawthorne 172) within this sentence Hawthorne is expressing that the two, have accompanied one another in the sun filled forest, and that what they have done is forbidden in the puritan society outside of the forest. The forest is an open invitation that allows one to sin and do as they wish. For Hester and Dimmesdale they continuously committed sin, and only in the forest. They both showed a high amount of affection towards one another during this meeting also known as sin, which is forbidden and punishment will follow as appropriate e to the sin committed. Another moment where Hawthorne express… need one more