“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other word would smell as sweet.” Shakespeare penned these immortal words to express that names don’t really matter. However, the tragedy of Romeo and Juliet and our everyday lives show that names are the tools we use to create ideas and organize them in our world. It is human nature to attach preconceived notions to our varied experiences. Everything has to have a meaning so people can order it in their reality. Purpose and reason dictate our daily lives. With this precision, Nathaniel Hawthorne structured his novel, The Scarlet Letter. He helps us appreciate his characters’ strengths as well as their weaknesses with symbolic names. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses
evocative names to portray the characters’ inner self and what they represent in the story.
Not only do Pearl and Chillingworth have telling names, but the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale’s name also serves a symbolic purpose within the book. The name Dimmesdale implies obscurity within his character. From the very beginning of the book, Hawthorne portrays this character in a shady light. His personality is somewhat in the dark. Therefore, the use of “dim” in the Reverend’s name correctly identifies with the shadowy behavior of the character throughout the story.
Just as Pearl’s name serves as a doorway to an idea about her character, Hawthorne also displays Roger Chillingworth’s name to have a deeper importance in the
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