What does nature represent in the scarlet letter?

Nature, on the other hand, is the source of eternal strength and power. It provides comfort, life, and healing to humans. We come from nature, and it is to nature that our bodies will return. In the novel, Hester Prynne reconnects with the spirit of nature, enabling her to rekindle her relationship with Dimmesdale.

The theme of nature is portrayed heavily in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Nature is used to show the freedom or/and exclusion in characters such as Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and mostly Pearl as its symbols such as light/darkness, religion and the forest act upon them.

In ”The Scarlet Letter,” Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Personification of natural objects To express the degree of isolation and loneliness that the characters feel as they are shunned by their community.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic The Scarlet Letter, nature plays a very important and symbolic role. Hawthorne uses nature To convey the mood of a scene, to describe characters, and to link the natural elements with human nature. Many of the passages that have to do with nature accomplish more than one of these ideas.

Hawthorne clearly shows in The Scarlet Letter that Nature and society can affect an individual in a beneficial manner. On the other hand, both can be equally harmful to a person. Hawthorne appears to suggest in this work that the answer lies in developing an association with both nature and society.

Because Pearl was expelled from Puritan society Nature sympathizes with her. Nature’s sympathy and partiality with Pearl can be seen with the sunshine in the forest. Pearl attempts to “catch” the sunshine and according to Hawthorn “Pearl . . .

Little Pearl manifests the relationship between man and nature; her life and the life of nature are contiguous. When she is in nature, “The mother-forest, and these wild things which it nourished, all recognized a kindred wildness in the human child” (TSL 295).

The forest represents A natural world, governed by natural laws, as opposed to the artificial, Puritan community with its man-made laws. In this world, Hester can take off her cap, let down her hair, and discuss plans with Dimmesdale to be together away from the rigid laws of the Puritans.

The Symbolism of the Forest in The Scarlet Letter

The forest Represents a refuge from society for Hester Prynne and Minister Dimmesdale. At the same time, it symbolizes nature’s role as a shelter from society. This adds to the themes that society as a whole is morally deprived and nature is essentially good.

The letter of “A” written in scarlet color and placed around the neck of Hester becomes a symbol of sin, especially adultery. However, it is fascinating to note that the same letter becomes a symbol of innocence, penance and angelic character of Hester by the end of the story.

This means that Hawthorne, as a transcendentalist, Disapproves the Puritan belief in predestination and human depravity. Therefore, Hawthorne holds the view that Puritanism was characterized by cruelty and intolerance.

Hester brings her daughter, Pearl, to live in the forest because they are not accepted by society due to the Scarlet letter. The relationship between these two is Pearl creates a bond with nature mentally since Society rejects her as a product of sin.

There is hope in the forest, which is represented by the sunlight “playing” with Pearl. This shows that There is hope for a good life for Pearl.

Pearl is Impetuous, difficult to control, occasionally kind and loving, and always fascinated with the scarlet “A” that covers her mother’s breast. She intuitively knows there is a connection between her mother and the minister, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who always holds his hand over his heart.

Pearl does not recognize her mother because Hester has removed the scarlet letter and put her hair down. Having resolved to leave America and start a new life in Europe with Dimmesdale, Hester has finally felt confident enough to rid herself of the public symbol of her shame.

The man who meets brown in the forest appears to represent The devil. Goodman Brown is enticed by an entire forest. Like Adam, he suffers a great fall from innocence. Likewise, the dark forest is associated with danger, obscurity, confusion, and unknown or with evil, sin, and death as primordial symbol.

Gods and men often retreated to the woods in hiding. To this day, forests seem to retain a symbolic association with lawlessness and freedom. Traditionally, the forest has come to represent Being lost, exploration and potential danger as well as mystery and ‘other worldliness’.

Imagery and Irony in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

Darkness, therefore, is a symbol of the concealment of sin, and light becomes a symbol of truth and acceptance of guilt. The use of light and dark occurs many times throughout the novel to place emphasis on the underlying morals.

The Scarlet Letter Themes. ‘Theme’ is a universal idea presented in a literary piece of work. Themes in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne include Criticism of Puritan beliefs regarding sin, individual and society, social norms and sense of guilt.

“She had wandered, without rules or guidance, in a moral wilderness: as vas, as Intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest” (180). Nature plays an essential part in this American Romance novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter.

Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband was the most selfish person in the novel. He married her without love in return. He chooses revenge rather than support his wife. The novel is a ‘tale of human frailty and sorrow’ Implying both that the unhappy ending of protagonists is the inevitable result of human nature.