Analysis of Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter

Abstract. The Scarlet Letter is the American novel of the nineteenth century. In The Scarlet Letter, symbolism runs through the novel. This paper researches the symbolism from the aspect of the symbolic meaning of the scarlet letter.

Key words: The Scarlet Letter; symbolism; romance

I.Introduction

The Scarlet Letter is the American novel of the nineteenth century. It was published in 1850. The period from 1840s to 1870s was the central part of the so-called Victorian history. Petter J.Parish discussed this in his essay Confidence and Anxiety in Victorian American. In this essay Parish argues that a "peculiar combination of confidence and anxiety seems to have been a distinctive feature of Victorian American". That means, on one hand, the rapid social change, the industrialization and urbanization, the expansion of the religious intolerance, all these form the serious social conflicts at that time, and the most important of which is that the humanity is realized and accepted by people wider, and the conflicts between divinity and humanity becomes hotter. The Scarlet Letter is the most famous works that reflects this situation. This remarkable novels mirrors the strong humanity and the criticism of the society.

Some of Hawthorne’s contemporary writers such as Henry James, Edgar Allen Poe and Herman Melville were his first critics. Henry James(1843-1916), US-British famous novelist, regards it as the most excellent classic novel. He claims that “The book was the first piece of imaginative writing yet put forth in the country-something might at last be sent to Europe as exquisite in quality as the thing that had been received, and the best of it was that rhe thing was absolutely American; it belonged to the soil, to the air…Edgar ALLEN Poe(1809-1849), U.S poet, eritic and short story writer, hailed him as the finest practitioner of art, prised him as “extraordinary genius, having no rival erther in America and elsewhere”. Herman Melcille(1819-1891), Hawthorne’s best friend, one of the greatest U.S writers, called him “the largest brain with the largest heart.” in America literature. He compared him to Shakespeare, he wrote in 1850, the year when The Scarlet Letter was published, “Now I do not say that Nathaniel of Salem (Hawthorne) is a greater man than William of Avon (Shakespeare), but the difference between the two men is by no means immeasurable”. D.H. Lawrence acclaimed, “It is a marvelous allegory. It is to me one if the greast allegories in all literature, The Scarlet Letter. Its marvelous under-meaning! And its perfect duplicity.” For many critics, this novle is not only Hawthoren’s personal success but also the first native American novel that rceveives a worldwide reputation. It is the declaration of cultural independence of U.S., the proof of an emerging distinctive American literary tradition.

Based on a theme that appears in Endicott and the Red Gross. This somber romance of conscience and consequences of concealed guilt is set in puritan Boston in the mid-17th century. The story is simple but very moving. An aged English scholar sent his young wife Hester Prynne to establish their home in Boston. When he came over two yeas later,he found Hester in the pillory with her illegitimate child in her arms, She refused to name her lover and was sentenced to wear a scarlet letter “A”as a token of her sin throughout her lifetime. Minister Dimmesdale, the adulterer dare not admit openly the sin he committed but was constantly tortured by a sense of guilt. Doctor Chillingworth, Hester’s Husband, discovered who was the adulterer and made up a cruel plan of revenge to torture the Mininster mentally till his death. However, the author does not describe the novel just as a love tragedy, on the contrary, he puts the characters into a peculiar surrounding and entrusts them with a special symbolic significance.

In The Scarlet Letter, symbolism runs through the novel, it revolves around one major symbol: the scarlet letter “A”. At the beginning it symbolizes the sin of Hestrer-‘adultery’, and then gradually when Hester is accepted by the community, it stands for Hester’s intelligence and hard working-‘able’. At the end of the novel the symbol has evolved to repersent the high virtues of Hester Prynne-‘angelic’.

Moreover, the name of the little Pearl also has certain symbolic meanings. The natural environments described in the novel are all endowed with a deep symbolic significance. In view of these, the paper is divided into three parts to discuss the symbolic of the novel. The first part mainly talks about the symbolic significance of the scarlet letter “A”; the second part discusses the symbolic significance of little Pearl in which she is identified as the living scarlet letter in the whole story. In the third part, several typical natural enviromments, such as the light and darkness, the forest, the jail, the rosebush, are examined to reveal their deeply symbolic significance.

II.Symbolism

In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne describes Hester very carefully an attentively. In his description, we can see a vigorous and sexual woman image, which strongly reflects the humanity. Her hair is dark and abundant, and it is so glossy that it throws off the sunshine with a gleam. She also has beautiful feature and richness of complexion, marked brow and deep black eyes. What Hawthorne exposes to us are her feminalities. And this is the character of humanity. This vigorous and sexual woman image sharply contracts with dull and strict Puritanism doctrine. When we see Hester, we have the confidence that the vitality of humanity will win in the war between the divinity.

Then the description of Hester's life also reveals the humanity. Hester breaks the rule of that society and is published and deserted by others. But she is calm and still insists her quality as a human. For example, she still longs for and pursues beauty. The letter "A" on her breast is a symbol of adultery. But it is artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that is has all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wears. Besides, she also tries her best to make up her daughter; she buys the most expensive and beautiful cloth for her. Pearl becomes the light of the town .

The Scarlet Letter is regarded as the first symbilic novel in American literature because he use symbolism intelligently in this novel. D.H. Laurence said, “That blue-eyed darling Nathaniel kenw disagreeable things in his inner soul.He was careful to send them out in disguise. Many critics make attemptt to interpreter the symbolic meaning of the novel. Many os them focus on the letter “A”, which is the first letter of the word “Adultery” at the beginning of the story and a symbol of shame. But with the developing of the story, it was imbued with new meaning. People interpret it as “Able” and “Angel”. However some critics interpret it as ”Arthur”, ”Artist”, ”Aggression”, etc. Besides, critics slso pay much attention to the sumbolic meanings of the characters and scenes mentioned in the story. Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is interpreter as the image of a real sinner. The scaffold, symbolizes a warning and penalty to the worldly evils. The prison is linked to the “evil” concealer in everybody’s heart. The rosebush symbolizes the firbidden passion ro beilefs. Yet forest stands for the nature of man, etc. Through these symbolic imges, the auther expresses his ambivalent feelings towards his characters. Symbolic meaning can ba found thought the whole story. James Henry says, “In The Scarlet Letter there is great deal of symbolism. These is, I think, too much. It is overdone at times.” Because of the complexities if its symbolic images, critics interpret them from carious diimensions and perspectives. But no ceitics formulate more than what he has been able to perceive, so symbolism in the novle remains a recurring topic of the criticism.

Just as the novel The Red Chamber Dream,“red” is a bed omen, thus in this novel, the“scarlet”embodies many bed omens. Hester’s fateis closly tied to the scarlet letter “A” which is something like the God’s measure standard, which has profound influence on her. In the beginning, the letter is symbol of disgrace and a kind of cruel punishment for her both physically and spiritually. She always regarded as an immoral and a degenerated woman by the authority and the people in the society. They insisted that she should be responsible for her misbehavior .

However, as time went by people begin to endow the letter “A” with new meanings. They treated it as a symbol of ability when they saw Hester endure the bad treatment of the society. She engrossed herself in the embroidery and spared no effects to help the others even when they still had some kind of hostility and prejudice to her and thus the letter also become the epitome of “art”.

The letter “A” like the crucifix before the apostles. They could become the angle who can take the direction of our humen beings. However, Hester always struggled continuously with the Puritanism. When she was for forced to tell the name of the man who lured her into committing adultery, she insisted that she would never tell the secret and indeed she didn’t compromise at last. It is her first victory overt the Puritanism authority. The letter“A” on her breast was a disgrace for the authority but she embroidered it delicately and mad it becomes a specimen of her delicate and imaginative skill. Meanwhile she allowed her imaginative faulty full play in the argument and decoration of the dress which pearl more before the public. Those things made the governor judge that such a child’s mother must be a scarlet woman and a worthy type of her Babylon. As long as she has the chance, she would fight against the Society. when the governor and the possessed every right to fight against the world and she was ready to defend for them to death. She thought that she still had the right to pursule for hapiness althugh she violated the creed. She had the courage to struggle against the authority and this is her second victory.

The letter“A” in her breast is a spell that presses humankind and deprives orther’s happiness. Only by going far away from the rigid puritanism society, can she retrieve her youth and her beauty. It’s no doubt that Hawthorne had sympathy with Hester and condemned the notorious puritan system.

The scared letter“A” is the symbol of love as well as sin. On the other hand, it arouses people’s agnoy and sympathy. It not only incates the tragedy of American. We have seen the “nature” and the true love lost in this puritanism world. In the novel, the special meaning were fully displayed in one character-Pearl. The welfare of Hester’s spirits, at the time, was perpetated in pearl, she could recognise her wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in her heart. They were illuminated by the morning just as she said that pearl is her happiness as well as her agony. It’s who make her live in the world and makes her being punished. Pearl is her another scarlet letter .

As a matter of fact, the scarlet letter“A” is the epitome of the novel as well as the most typical symbol.“Scarlet” is the color that combining the blood and fire. It is the symbol of life, strength, and enthusiasm. In this novel, ”scarlet” is the symbol of Hester and Dimmesdale’s love that means the basis of an ordinary family and a society life. It is necessary for human beings to continues to live and it should be accepted in any ordinary society. However, under the cruel control of the Puritanism, the truth and humane were always distorted. What is the worst: the common proper things of love and the origin of live were regarded as ridiculous by the foolish society. On the other hand, as we know, fire is vital to humankind’s life, the swinging scarlet in her breast also like a bundle of burning fire which can give her warmth, courage, and hope in the lonely despair winter. Other’s hospitality couldn’t make her surrender but make her get over what she had to suffer and thus she got a deeper understanding of that ugly society. She almost got over the obstacles she faced. She always believed that a brighter world would come soon where people could gain love and happiness.

III.Conclusion

Symbolism is a traditional artistic form; it is also a major feature of romanticism. Through the symbolism used when dealing with the scarlet letter, the author paves the way for our deeper understanding of this novel, especially his inner world and that blackness in Hawthorne. In a world, the various usage of symbolism and other artistic skills make The Scarlet Letter one of the classics of the world.

References

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[3] Bible, Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press, 1997

[4] An outline of American Literature [M]. Huadong Normal University Press, 1992

[5] Annette T.Rubinstein, American Literature Root and Floor [M]