Market place and the forest wildernes of the scarlet letter

An Analysis of the Market Place and the Forest

Wilderness of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

This research paper concentrates on the meanings of the two settings of the marketplace and the forest wilderness of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s the Scarlet Letter. The marketplace is to stand for religious doctrine and Puritanical code, and the forest wilderness is to present the evil of human nature, at times it works against its purpose and serves as an explanation for why things happen the way they do. To support thesis, the paper is developed into three major parts. The first part focuses on the symbolic meanings of the marketplace. The second part presents the allegorical meanings of the forest wilderness. The third part comes to a new view towards the two different settings in the novel. The conclusion restates the thesis of the paper.

An Analysis of the Marketplace and the Forest

Wilderness of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

1. The background of Nathaniel Hawthorne.

2. The brief introduction of Hawthorne’s the Scarlet Letter.

3. The view on the two settings that leads

4. Thesis: The two settings are created to exploit the flaws of Puritan society and the hypocrisy of their relations to Hester Prynne.

Descended from a prominent Puritan family, Hawthorne was the son of a sea captain who died when Nathaniel was 4 years old. His first novel, Fanshawe (1829), published anonymously, was unsuccessful. His short stories won notice and were collected in Twice-Told Tales (1837; second series, 1842). He did not share the optimism and idealism of the transcendentalist participants (see transcendentalism), and he did not feel himself suited to communal life. In Concord, there he wrote the tales and sketches in the collection Mosses from an Old Manse (1846).

Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter is considered by many to be the greatest ccomplishment of an author hailed as the master of the American short story. It is set in Salem, Massachusetts. In this strictly controlled Puritan town the inhabitants live by harsh laws and fierce prejudices. Hester Prynne, a young wife whose husband is presumed dead, is being publicly humiliated for the sin of adultery. The proof of her sin is her baby girl Pearl. She conceals the identity of Pearl's father to protect him from the harsh judgement of Puritan law. She however is doomed to spend the rest of her life marked as an adulterer by wearing a scarlet "A" on her chest. Hester's husband meanwhile has arrived in the colony and taken up practice as a doctor. He makes Hester promise that she won't reveal his identity to anyone. The book covers a seven year period during which the identity of the father becomes known. It is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, who is renowned as an especially holy and pious man. Wracked by guilt he starts to show outward signs of serious illness. Hester's husband under the assumed name Roger Chillingworth moves in and begins taking care of Dimmesdale. Chillingworth soon discovers that the Reverend is Pearl's father. Dimmesdale however thinks that Chillingworth is simply a doctor. Chillingworth uses his influence to multiply the feelings of guilt in the minister while trying to keep him in physical health, as a form of emotional torture. At the climax of the story, Dimmesdale confesses and dies. Hester and Pearl leave the colony. Chillingworth whose whole purpose was to get revenge from Dimmesdale suddenly finds his life without purpose and dies within a year. Hawthorne used the settings in the book, not only to develop the story, but to make a statement about Puritan Society through the use of allegory.

III. The symbolic meanings of the forest wilderness.

Some topics in this essay:
Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Scarlet Letter, Dimmesdale Chillingworth, Roger Chillingworth, Puritans God, Salem Mass, Pierce Aside, Hester Prune, Twice-Told Tales, forest wilderness, scarlet letter, hester prynne, arthur dimmesdale, hawthorne’s scarlet letter, hawthorne’s scarlet, marketplace forest, puritan society, forest wilderness hawthorne’s, wilderness hawthorne’s, unknown wilderness, wilderness hawthorne’s scarlet, marketplace forest wilderness, religious doctrine puritanical, dimmesdale chillingworth,