Реферат: Scarlet Letter Essay Research Paper Often throughout

Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper

Often throughout The Scarlet Letter there are symbolic references made.

The story deals with a Puritan woman who commits adultery and raises an

illegitimate child named Pearl. The author, Nathanial Hawthorne, seems

to be rather fond of using religious and natural images to symbolize

different points, possibly because of his own Puritan background. One

of the purposes of this symbolism is to show that Puritanism is

hypocritical and that their religious viewpoints are against the

natural order, which is done by using contrasting natural and religious

symbols in the descriptions of Pearl.

First, Hawthorne uses the backdrop of the natural world to show

not only that Pearl is anonymous to the Puritan culture, but

also above it. This is done by using positive natural images

and metaphors to the natural world. Describing Pearl as a

“…lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a

guilty passion” (pg. 81), begins this image. This “rank

luxuriance” is based on the strict Puritan morals. It describes

the child as a mistake or an outcast even though the birth of a

child is supposed to be a wonderful thing. Pearl also has a

sort of love and disposition uncommon of other Puritan children

illustrated by the statement: “…Hester could not help

questioning, at such moments, whether Pearl were a human child.

she seemed rather an airy sprite…” (pg. 84). Her mother,

being of a Puritan background, seems to disturb her that Pearl

acts so free spirited. The best example of the difference of

Pearl in a positive way is a direct statement about Puritan

children: “…Puritan elders; the ugliest weeds of the garden

were their children…” (pg. 87). By describing the other

puritan children as weeds, Hawthorne symbolizes the paths that

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