The Scarlet Letter: Symbolism in the Forest "The path strangled onward into the mystery of the primeval forest"(179). This sentence displays just one of the multiple personalities that the forest symbolizes in The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorn. As seen in the epic story Wizard of OZ‚ the forest represents a place of evil and delight‚ but in the Scarlet Letter the forest symbolizes much more then that. Each character brings out a different side of the forest‚ however the forest
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has the potential to represent something that is not manifested in the reading. Readers may comprehend something differently about what they are reading than what the symbols are actually revealing in the book. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel‚ The Scarlet Letter‚ is significantly symbolic. In this book‚ the forest is a substantial symbol due to the fact that there are many different viewpoints of what the wilderness represents throughout the story. The forest portrays a place of sin and darkness‚ a safe
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Perhaps the foremost purpose of The Scarlet Letter is to illustrate the difference between shaming someone in public and allowing him or her to suffer the consequences of an unjust act privately. According to the legal statutes at the time and the prevailing sentiment of keeping in accordance with a strict interpretation of the Bible‚ adultery was a capital sin that required the execution of both adulterer and adulteress--or at the very least‚ severe public corporal punishment. Indeed‚ even if the
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In The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne’s purpose for the ” A” was to demonstrate the clear absence of feminism in the 1850’s when the story takes place. Hester Prynne‚ the heroine of The Scarlet Letter‚ is a strong independent woman who demonstrates wisdom. Instead of allowing herself to be a victim of her situation and Puritan contempt‚ she lives as a irrepressible woman and does not allow herself to be controlled by particular normalities. Hester committed adultery while her husband was
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The edgy tale of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is comparable in many ways to Arthur Miller’s haunting play The Crucible. Both are set in Puritan New England in the 17th century and revolve around the harsh law enforcement of the time. However‚ The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman as she deals with her heavy Puritan punishment‚ whereas The Crucible follows hysteria as it spreads throughout an entire town. Hester Prynne‚ the main character of The Scarlet Letter‚ was found guilty for
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Hawthorne manages to create many metaphors within his novel The Scarlet Letter. The rose bush outside the prison door‚ the black man‚ and the scaffold are three metaphors. Perhaps the most important metaphor would be the scaffold‚ which plays a great role throughout the entire story. The three scaffold scenes which Hawthorne incorporated into The Scarlet Letter contain a great deal of significance and importance the plot. Each scene brings a different aspect of the main characters‚ the crowd or
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marriage. A reported 95% of Americans today have had premarital sex. In today’s society‚ premarital sex is not considered a sin to most people. In the 1800s‚ it was a different story. In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Hester Prynne was found guilty of adultery‚ branded with a scarlet A‚ and shunned by the town--an extreme punishment by modern standards. This A that Hester was forced to embroider onto all of her clothing symbolized not only her sin‚ but the A also held meaning for
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~ The Scarlet Letter ~ Psychological Analysis "I experienced a sensation...of burning heat; and as if the letter sere not of red cloth‚ but red-hot iron." These words in the introduction to The Scarlet Letter describe the letter as an object that contains power. The power left in the little red piece of cloth represents all the emotional toil that was associated with it - guilt‚ pain‚ betrayal‚ and vengeance. Throughout the novel the letter will stir all these emotions‚ creating an intense psychological
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Nathaniel Hawthorne published The Scarlet Letter in 1850. Hawthorne engenders a protestant society holding community values to be the standards‚ leaving Hester Prynne in a difficult situation. According to community values she’s a sinner‚ a wrongdoer‚ an atrocious person‚ conversely ‚ looking at her own morals she could be a hero‚ a role model‚ an overall admirable person. Hester’s burdened to wear the scarlet letter which stands for the deadly crime of adultery‚ but eventually denotes ambiguity
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happens to make a mistake. Chris Herren and Hester Prynne both made a great mistake in their lives but it does not make them awful people. When Hester committed her sin she had to be punished. Wearing the letter A presented the symbolism of adultery. At first she felt uncomfortable wearing the letter A”. .I happened to place it on my breast....It seemed to me then‚ that I experienced a sensation not altogether physical‚ yet almost so‚ as of a burning heat” Pg 31. Hester soon accepted the fact that she
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