Themes and Symbols in The Scarlet Letter

NAME :HARIYANI KISHA .R ROLL NO :17PAPER :10 THE AMERICAN LITERATURESUBMITTED TO :S.B.GARDI

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH M.K. BHAVNAGAR UNIVERSITY

BATCH 2015’17kishanhariyani1992@gmail.com

Major Themes

1) Sin 2) Women and femininity3) Isolation4) Fate and Free will5) Memories vs The Present

Themes In SCARLET LETTER

Sin: Associated with breaking of law.

A hierarchy of sins Chillingworth’s pursuit of revenge is deemed as “worse” than the passion of Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale to commit Adultery.

In Puritan era, women were expected to be subordinate to their male counterparts. E.g

Hester was willing to take on her own shame while protecting the man she loves .She keeps his secret faithfully for 7 years

Women and Femininity

E.g Hester Prynne lives in isolation for years and years, even cast out from Puritan society for having a child out of wedlock.

Her isolation leads her to see her society in a new light and allows her to think out of this box.

Isolation

Memories vs the Present Time was passing but memories of past were

always there .Hester learn to forgive herself for adultery but society continues to scold her for it.

Pearl is enough of a reminder of the wild choices in her past.

As Pearl grows up, Hester continuous to live in the present rather than in the past.

Scarlet A

Hester A DIMMESDALE

Pearl

2. Pearl• Pearl represents two perspectives

Positive & Negative Positively Innocence & Solacenegatively Sin & Punishment

The color Scarlet The scarlet color is associated with

Evil Punishment

Immorality prostitution

Adultery sin

Other Symbols • Chillingworth is consistently a symbol of cold

reason and intellect unencumbered by human compassion. Dimmesdale is a symbol of hypocrisy and self-centered ; he knows what is right but has not the courage to make himself do the public act.

Work cited :• http://

www.shmoop.com/scarlet-letter/symbolism-imagery.html

• http://www.globalgreyebooks.com/scarlet-letter-ebook/

• http://www.gradesaver.com/the-scarlet-letter/study-guide/summary-the-custom-house

• https://prezi.com/o5p8k_go-pid/the-scarlet-letter-presentation-mrhill/