THE SYMBOLISM IN THE SCARLET LETTERAbstract: “The Scarlet Letter”written by American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the readers a love story about the colonial time in Boston, America. The heroine Hester Prynne breaks through the fetters of her unhappy marriage bravely. But because she refuses to speak out the name of her lover, she has to wear the scarlet letter “A”on her breast. The story spreads out from here. The novel is full of symbolism. The main and minor characters, the settings, the natural phenomena are all given certain symbolic meanings. This paper will analyze the symbolism in this novel. Firstly, I will analyze the symbols in detailed way, such as the symbolic meanings of the main characters: Hester, Dimmesdale, etc., the settings: the rosebush, the woods, etc., the natural phenomena: the day and the night, the meteor. Using symbolism in novel is a good and popular writing skill, because it can increase the novel‟s artistry, the aesthetic feeling and shows the writer‟s ability of mastering the words. So then, this paper will analyze the advantages of this writing skill in novel. And because nothing is perfect, and Hawthorne is still clumsy in certain place in the use of symbolism in this novel, this paper will also analyze Hawthorne‟s disadvantage in using this writing skill. At last, at the premise of supporting the symbolic writing skill, this paper appeals more writing skills in writing.Key words:scarlet letter symbolism writing skill aesthetic feeling artistryContentsI. Introduction (1)II. The symbolic meanings of the main characters (2)A.Hester Prynne (2)B.Arthur Dimmesdale (4)C.Roger Chillingworth (6)D.Pearl (9)III. The symbolic meanings of the minor Characters (10)IV. The symbolic meanings of some settings (11)A.The rosebush next to the prison door (11)B.The woods and the town (12)C.The mansion and the garden of Governor Bellingham (13)D.The scaffold (14)V. The symbolic meanings of natural phenomena..............., (15)A.The day and the night..........................................,.. (15)B.The meteor (16)VI. Conclusion (17)Notes (20)Bibliography (21)The Symbolism in The Scarlet LetterI. Introduction"The Scarlet Letter" written by American novelist---Nathaniel Hawthorne tells us a love story happened in 17th century in Boston, America. The novel draws a clear picture of the people‟s lives about the love, the religion, the social life and the morality of the colonial time. But what make the novel have higher artistry is its use of symbolism in the novel. It makes the novel full of aesthetic feelings, more profound, and more attractive. This paper will analyze the symbolism in “the Scarlet Letter”. Firstly, I will analyze the symbolic meanings of the characters in detailed way. This part includes the symbolic meanings of the main characters: Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth, and Pearl, the minor characters: John Wilson, Governor Bellingham, Mistress Hibbins. Secondly, I will analyze the symbolic meanings in some settings: the rosebush next to the prison door, the woods and the town, the mansion and the garden of Governor Bellingham, and the scaffold. Then, I will analyze the symbolic meanings of natural phenomena: the day and the night, the meteor. The author gives them many symbolic meanings. Many of them are ingeniously arranged. Through the analysis, Hawthorne‟s deep thought and his skill in using the symbolism and mastering the words to express his idea become visible. The last part is theconclusion. I conclude Hawthorne‟s advantages and the disadvantages of the novel in the use of symbolism, and appeal for more skills in writing.II. The symbolic meanings of the main charactersSymbolism is a major literary device in Hawthorne‟s The Scarlet Letter. “Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts”1. Many people and objects in this novel are given certain symbolic meanings.A. Hester PrynneIt is the heroine‟ s name. On the surface, it is just a woman‟ s name, but in fact, it has symbolic meaning, and is related to her life implicitly. Prynne rhymes with “Sin”, which means Hester does something sinful ly. Hester‟s husband Chillingworth is a learner, who wants to emigrate America from their hometown---England. Because he has something to handle so he sends Hester to America ahead. But he delays the date when they meet. Therefore, people guess that he must be died at sea. In this condition, Hester is pregnant and gives birth to a child. That means she commits the sin of adultery.But “sin” is only a small part of her life. As the plot goes, Hester symbolizes other things. Although Hester is sinful, the author describes Hester with his sympathy. Of course, he doesn‟t want to absolve her responsibility, he only wants to say, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth are the real criminals. From many aspects, Hester is a victim of manus, church, and regime. Firstly, she is so young and beautiful, but she marries Chillingworth,who is an ugly and old man. They don‟ t love each other at all. But under the pressure of manus and morality, she has to be loyal to him. Secondly, Hester and Dimmesdale love each other, but their love is against the morals and the religion. All these make Hester a wretched and pitiful woman. But she does not been destroyed by her “sin” and her unfair fate. Hester endures the persecution. She becomes contemplative and she begins to help other people. Day by day, because of her philanthropic act, she gets the town people‟ s certain admiration. By the end of the novel, Hester has become a feminist mother figure to the woman of that community. The shame to her scarlet letter has gone. Women recognize that her punishment stemmed from the town Father‟ s sexism, and when they meet some forces, they come to Hester‟s house seeking shelter. So we can see although the author gives Hester' s name as a symbol of "sin", it can only represent the past of Hester, what the author really want to show is Hester' s dignified characters. Hester is the embodiment of the dignified morals, she doesn‟t only move hypocritical Dimmesdale, but also moves the society. In Hawthorne' s religious opinion, the" sin" is human' s nature and everyone has sin. The so-called" no sin" is just a pretending way. So although Hester commits certain sin at the beginning, because of her actions these years, she has become a respectable people. Hester has suffered so many persecution, so many unfair treatments, so she can easily accept the rebellious idea. She has the courage to seek her happiness, she wants to have freedom, to have sincere love. And she and Dimmesdale are loyal to eachother in love. She is portrayed as an intelligent, capable woman. She is the symbol of love, courage, rebellion and loyalty.Hester is also a symbol of an uncontrollable woman. When Hester is set free from prison, she can choose to leave Boston, or go to a place where nobody knows her. But she does n‟t. She lives in Boston bravely, undergoes many humiliation. What is her reason? Hester doesn‟t want to be controlled by others. She wants to control her own fate. The sin is one part of her life, so she doesn‟t want to deny it. If she leaves Boston and become another person, that means she has acknowledged that the religion or the society has controlled her, and under the pressure, she has to run away. These are what the ordinary people do. But Hester is an indomitable woman, and she chooses to live in Boston, facing her painful but true life.B. Arthur DimmesdaleArthur Dimmesdale is Hester' s lover, Pearl' s father, a respectable young pastor in Boston--- a Puritan settlement. The author also gives this name a symbolic meaning. The initial of his name is “AD”. This is also the initial of “Adultery”. It means that, Dimmesdale also commits the sin of adultery just like Hester. "Dim" means faint, dark and weak. So Dimmesdale is a dim, weak, indeterminate people, and his characters are deep and dark. This is very true to him. He does not see things clearly, and in the novel, he is said to be in a maze, which also shows that his mind is not very clear. Because of his character, he doesn‟t like to reveal what he thinks in his mind. He just thinkseverything in heart by himself. In the novel, Hester and Dimmesdale love each other. But when Hester gives birth to Pearl and is publicly condemned, he does not admit his relationship with Hester and the little girl. Hester is led to the town scaffold, where every town people can see her and humiliate her. The people who sit in judgment of Hester are: Governor Bellingham, Reverend Wilson, and Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is delegated demand that Hester reveal the name of her child' s father. He uses his eloquence to advise Hester to speak out her lover' s name. But she refuses. From Dimmesdale' s actions, we can see he is so weak, despicable and hypocritical. He is such a man who dare not admit his crime. Of course, for himself, he has certain reasons. From the description of the novel, we can see this story happened in 17th century, and at that time, the religion in the new colony was Puritanism. The Puritanism was very strict, and paid attention to the reason, excluded emotion, and completely banned the desire and pleasures. It had big and powerful influence and dominated the society. So the clergymen played very important roles in that society. Dimmesdale is" a young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forestland. His eloquence and religious favor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession”2. So from the social background and this description, we can see the town people respect this young clergyman extremely. They all believe that he is holy and pure. So he dare not admit his sin, his relationship with thismatter, because that will bring him shame. As such a people, he is very contradictory in his mind. What he learned about the religion is against his adultery with Hester. When Hester is blaming by the people, he is still a respectable clergyman. Although he does not admit his sin in public, he tortures himself day by day in his heart. In public, he is a dignified clergyman. While in fact, he is sinful. His rhetorical speech is eloquent and powerful, which expresses his repent implicitly. But other people think that his rhetorical speech is just allegorical, not his personal guilt. The two aspects make him painful. Then gradually, his health becomes worse and worse. He is both weak in his mind and body.In the book, when Hester' s image rises from the low level, Dimmesdale' s image falls down, becomes more paltry and lamentable. He knows his sin, but “in order to keep his social status, his conscience doesn‟t triumph over his hypocrisy, self-respect, and egoism”3. He is not like Hester, who is brave to seek ideal. He is still the slave of the religion. When Hester advises him to escape from Boston, he feels fearful. In his opinion, he cannot do this kind of rebellious thing. And in fact, if he cannot shake off the chain of his religion, he cannot really get happiness. Dimmesdale is very suitable for this name, like we analysis above, he is very weak, both in mental and physical parts, and has darkness in his mind. He is the symbol of weakness, surrender, and hypocrisy.C. Roger Chillingworth" Chill" means cold. So Chillingworth is a cold and inhuman man who brings a …chill‟ to Hester's and Dimmesdale's lives. Because he delays his date arrives at Boston and is captured by the natives, when he meets Hester in the Boston, Hester had given birth to Pearl and is standing on the scaffold, humiliating by the town people. He sure is a victim at that time, but soon he begins to revenge, which brings him abnormal mental state. He lets Hester keep secrecy about his identity, and then he begins to investigate his unfaithful wife' s secret lover. As his name suggests, Roger chillingworth is a man deficient in human warmth. His twisted, stooped, deformed shoulders reflect his distorted soul. Now his identity is a doctor. Of course, he has good medical skill. Because of his training in European science and his knowledge of native remedies, he is welcomed by the town people. Dimmesdale is suffering severe health problems, which makes the people concern him. Then Chillingworth live with Dimmesdale together to cure him. For Chillingworth, he is not warm-hearted, he just wants to know who is his enemy. Dimmesdale' s daily actions have drawn his attention. After living with Dimmesdale together many days, he finds Dimmesdale is abnormal in certain place. So he uses his words to detect the clergyman' s heart. He begins to doubt that Dimmesdale has something to do with the" adultery". But Dimmesdale usually covers something, which stimulates his interest. One day, Chillingworth sneaks up to Dimmesdale while he is asleep and pushes aside the shirt that Dimmesdale is wearing. He finds something on Dimmesdale' sbreast, which causes the doctor to rejoice. The author does not tell the reader what it is. But from the hint in the book, maybe what Chillingworth see is a scarlet letter "A", which means Dimmesdale is Hester' s lover. So now Chillingworth finds his enemy, he begins to torture the young clergyman. So from the name, " Chillingworth" has a meaning of “chill”, which brings Hester and Dimmesdale terror and pain. He symbolizes chill and mercilessness.Except for these, Chillingworth symbolizes demon and evil. In the book's catalogue, Hawthorne uses "leech" to refer to the doctor Chillingworth. At that time, the town people usually call the doctor as a" leech", which derives from the practice of using leeches to drain blood from the patients. It is so suitable to call Chillingworth a" leech", for he has attached himself to the minister' s side like an insidiously destructive worm. He owns knowledge, but he just uses it to revenge. He wants to use his scientific knowledge to get deep into his Dimmedale‟s bosom, delve his secrets, pry into his recollections, and probe everything in his heart with a cautious touch. He has lost his sense, and changed into a demon.About the three adults, Hester and Dimmesdale can get salvation at last, because their sin is from the “love”. They don' t want to do harm to any people. But Chillingworth cannot get forgiveness, because he does things due to the vicious goal. “He is interested in revenge, not justice. He seeks the deliberate destruction of others rather than redress of wrongs. His desire tohurt others is contrast to Hester and Dimmesdale‟s sin”4. Just as what Dimmesdale says that, he and Hester are not the worst sinners in the world. Chillingworth‟ s revenge has been blacker than his sin. Above all, Chillingworth is the symbol of chill, mercilessness, and evil.D. PearlPearl is Hester and Dimmesdale' s illegitimate daughter---the fruit of adultery. Her name has symbolic meaning. The name Pearl has a meaning of “pearl of great price”. She is the physical consequence of sexual sin. In Hester‟s mind, Pearl is her world. She loses everything such as other people‟s respect, but she owns Pearl.In the novel, Pearl' s primary function is as a symbol. “Pearl symbolizes the shame of Hester‟s punishment for adultery. She also symbolizes the wretch of Hester‟s life”5. She is the symbol of shame. She represents the “sin”, she is the real result of sinful passion. Pearl is a vivid demonstration of Hester' s scarlet letter “A”. But she is also the symbol of the pure love.Pearl does not only symbolize Hester' s sin, she also symbolizes the hope and the happiness. She was born in a so stern society, but she was not obedient. In the book, she is very lovely and beautiful. She has supernatural vigor. Although her living condition is so bad: people in the town always humiliate her and Hester, and they are separated from the town people' s world, etc., she never feel dark and painful in her heart. All of Pearl' s appearances are bright, which all give the readers the feeling of optimistic.And since she is the result of her parents, she represents their virtue and evil. At the end of the novel, her parents show their virtue more or less, so Pearl' s future is more or less optimistic. At last, Pearl gets her happiness. She returns Europe and gets married to a peer. The people in the novel are all miserable, why does Pearl get happiness? Her happiness manifests the brilliance of human future. Here, the author shows his optimistic ideas about the future.Pearl also symbolizes the rebellion. What she does is against the stern society. For example, when Wilson tests her knowledge of religious subject, she refuses to answer the simplest one. She loves nature and freedom. She does not lock her heart in the Puritanism, and she is very brave. In the later chapters, Pearl plays more important role in Hester' s lives. Her existence manifests that, it is meaningless to punish Hester and to pay more attention to her scarlet letter. Pearl is the real consequences of Hester' s action.III. The symbolic meanings of the minor charactersExcept for the four main characters, the symbolic skills play very important roles in the minor characters, because they affect the main character' s lives to certain extend. John Wilson, the eldest clergyman of Boston, symbolizes the" church". He is a Puritan father, who advocates harsh punishment of sinners. He strictly obeys the rules of Puritanism. But he is also grandfatherly, and he can usually be moved by Dimmesdale' s eloquence. He is a portrait of a stiff, stark man. The Governor Bellingham, stands for the “administration”. Just like Wilson, he strictly obeys the rules of the town, buthe is still very hypocritical. He neglects the evil things in his family. His sister is a witch, but he admits her existence. While Hester has erred but once, she has to live an outcast life and in danger of losing her child Pearl. That is very funny. Mistress Hibbins, the sister of Governor Bellingham, is known to be a witch. She symbolizes the witchcraft, and she also symbolizes that the hypocrisy and the hidden evil in the Puritan society. The three people play important roles in certain plots.IV.The symbolic meanings of some settingsA. The rosebush next to the prison doorIn the first chapter, the author describes the rosebush grows next to the prison door. The prison is a cruel and merciless place, symbolizes the Puritanism‟s severity, while the rosebush is so beautiful, so vivid and animated. It has many symbolic meanings. Firstly, The rosebush is the symbol of the nature‟s ability to endure and outlast man‟s activities. No matter how ugly the world is, how severe the laws are, the nature cannot be affected. It remains its beauty and animation. Secondly, in the book, the author suggests that, for his tale, it symbolizes a “sweet moral blossom”. When Hester goes out from the prison door, the rosebush is under her feet. Her sincerity, mercifulness, courage and other virtues show in the later chapters manifest that, the rosebush can show her morality. Thirdly, rosebush can also symbolize passion. In the grass-plot near the prison, burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru and such unsightly vegetation are overgrown. They stand for theordinary things, the common ideas, or common women. There are no other beautiful flowers. Only the passionate rosebush grows strongly. That expresses that Hester is different from other obedient woman. Her life is just like the rosebush, which is passionate. And because of the passion, Hester commits the “sin”.B. The woods and the townMany things happen in the forest. In fact, “the woods stands for a space of freedom and the wildness, while the town stands for the restriction and the civilization”6. They are contrast. In the woods, society‟s rules do not apply, and people can relax themselves and to be themselves. They can show their true aspect, and have no need to dare to be found by other people. Dimmesdale always walks here, because his body and mind is tortured in the town. He needs to have a rest, have freedom and peace. Here, he can escape from the evil Chillingworth and the disorderly society. And the meeting between Hester and Dimmesdale also happens in the woods. In chapter 16, “A Forest Walk”, the author returns the reader to the charming forests. Hester decides to tell Dimmesdale that Chillingworth is her husband, so she and Pearl wait him in the forest. Because she has heard that Dimmsdale will pass through here from a native settlement. The woods are wild and nature, unbound by any man-made rules or codes. So here, they can escape other people and speak what they want. In the woods, they are two lovers and they three are a family. But when coming out from the woods and go into the town,everything changes. Hester is still a fallen woman, and Dimmesdale is still a respectable clergyman. The reality is so stern and so cruel. They continue to play the untrue role. So we also can say, the woods symbolize the true aspect, on the other hand, the town symbolize the untrue life.C. The mansion and the garden of Governor BellinghamGovernor Bellingham‟s mansion is rich in symbolic meaning. In his mansion, the furniture, such as the ponderous chairs, tables, etc., are of Elizabethan age, or perhaps earlier. On the wall, there are the portraits of his ancestors. These replicate an Englishman‟s family. From the description, Governor Bellingham is very pride about his ancestors, about the old England. From the surface, we have no reason to criticize him about his ornaments in his home. But in fact, Boston is a new world. He chooses a new world to recreate an old one. When puritans leave England and arrive at America, they want to escape the persecution of the religion in England and want to create a new world and seek for the freedom. From Bellingham‟s mansion, we can see that Bellingham still has ties to the world that the Puritans want to escape, and he has brought with him the very things the Puritans seek to escape by leaving England: intolerance and the lack of freedom, which is also his mansion symbolizes.And about the garden, the garden should provide a pleasing aesthetic experience, but it is only used for grow the pumpkins, the cabbages. The decorative plants even have no root, and the garden‟s owner seems haveabandoned it. The English ornamental plants symbolize the principles and ideals of the old world. And the decaying garden means that, the things of the old England cannot be successfully transplanted to America. The garden is so poor, so desolated, it also symbolizes Governor Bellingham has no ability to nurture it, to some extent, has no ability to govern the colony.And why the cabbages and the pumpkins grow so well in the garden where should grow many beautiful flowers? The flowers here are ideals, are the hope of freedom and happiness of the immigrants, while the vegetables are the realities. The realities are not like what people have thought ever, it usually makes people disappointed. For the puritans, they don‟t attain their hope. They still don‟t dissociate the relationship with the old England. So the plants in the garden mean that the ideals and the realities are different.D. The ScaffoldThe scaffold is a platform where criminals are punished before all the town people. In The Scarlet Letter, the scaffold plays an important role throughout the book. “It symbolizes the judgment of God and the Puritan society”7. When the Puritans came to the colony, they wanted to escape the persecution of the religion in the old England and have new lives. They made many strict rules. They completely banned the enjoyment, desire. People even cannot laugh in the public. If people disobeyed the “law”, they will be punished. Hester offends the “moral”they thought. In their eyes, it is the worst thing and cannot be tolerant. So they punish Hester on the scaffold,where every town people can humiliate her. The scaffold can also symbolize the brutality and the sternness of the Puritanism. From the aspect of humanitarinism, Hester has met many pressures and sadness after her child‟s born. She has even been put into the prison. The punishment is enough. So the “show off” on the scaffold is more merciless to her. Because everybody can see her, humiliate her, and scold her. On the scaffold, she has no privacy, no place to protect herself. The suffering she needs to undergo on the scaffold is heavier than that of in other places. If the Puritans want to punish Hester, they can choose a place where Hester can maintain her self-respect. They needn‟t choose the scaffold. Maybe they think the goal of the scaffold is to punish the sinners, and let them know the “sin”, but in certain aspects, it shows the mercilessness of the Puritanism.V. The symbolic meaning of natural phenomenaA. The day and the nightIn this novel, the day and the night are also contrast in their symbolic meanings. In the day, everything is visible and can be seen clearly by every person. So in order to hide some evil thing, many people have to play an untrue role. During the day, the interiority of human being is hidden from public view. Just like Dimmesdale, he plays an untrue role in the daytime. In other people‟s eyes, he is so pure, so dignified and devout. He is the symbol of piety and goodness, even has no blemish. So he dares not to expose his secret.While in the night, people can do something secret, something cannot be accepted by the society. So night manifests inner nature, symbolizes the truth. It conceals and enables the activities that would not be possible in the day. For example, in the chapter 12, one night, Dimmesdale comes to the street and stands on the scaffold where Hester had stood seven years ago. He wants to repent his sin. It was an obscure night of May. The town seems asleep. There was no peril of discovery by other people. So under the shelter of the night, Dimmesdale dares to reveal his “sin”, his painful heart. He can show what he wants in the night, while in the day, he has to hide every thing in his mind.The day and the night are so contrast. It is not like people have thought ever. People usually think that, under the sunshine, every sin can be exposed. In chapter 2, when Hester goes out from the prison door, the beadle shouts that, in Massachusetts, the iniquity must be dragged out into the sunshine! In his heart, Hester is sinful and shows under the sunshine. But in fact, Dimmesdale, the secret lover of this “sinful” woman still sits on the chair of dignity. So we can say, usually, what people think is contrast to the fact. Because Dimmesdale‟s identity is a minister, so people think and believe he cannot commit any sin. While in fact, he does. So the day and the night also reveal that, the inner character is usually against the socially assigned role.B. The meteorIn chapter 12, Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold and repent his sin. Then he sees Hester and Pearl, who just come back from the family ofGovernor Winthrop. Winthrop has just died. They three stand on the scaffold together. The old Chillingworth is also here, but they don‟t find him. Then a meteor traces out an “A”in the night sky. This meteor has deep symbolic meanings. For the town people, the meteor means their respectable Governor Winthrop has entered the Heaven, and become an “Angel”. To the faithful Puritans, the natural signs were of the utmost importance, and the signs were usually read as the symbols of the divine will. But this is just the idea of the Puritans. They don‟t know what the meteor really mean. To Chillingworth, when he sees the meteor, Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdale are standing on the scaffold hands by hands. So the meteor reveals a secret, that is, they are a family, they had commit the sin of “adultery”. To Dimmesdale, the meteor has other meaning. Hester has worn the letter “A” for the punishment of adultery on her breast, and how about him? Nobody knows that he is also sinful and they still respect him. But he knows, the heaven knows. So in his eyes, the meteor “A” given by God means that he should also wear a letter “A” just like Hester. He is the “adulterer”. And for Hester, because of her good heart to help other poor people, her sympathy, her courage of facing difficulties, her loyalty to her love, her spirit to endure humiliation, etc., the meteor can also means that Hester is an “Angel”.VI. ConclusionThese above are the analysis about the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter. Using symbolism in writing is a traditional and popular literary device. This。
