... off her scarlet letter and takes down her hair as a symbol of her freedom. As she does this, beams of sunlight light up the forest. The scarlet letter is a symbol of shame and punishment for Hester. The letter is originally intended to stand for Hester's sin of adultery. The "A" serves as a physical reminder of Hester's sin, but compared to the mental struggle she goes through every day it is insignificant. With or ... without the letter Hester would feel the same guilt, and she would still be ... ...

• Word Count: 361
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... renewed energy and joy. Dimmesdale regains his vigor and health while Hester flings the scarlet letter off her chest. The mother recovers some of her former beauty, such as described in the beginning of the book. Sunshine suddenly floods the forest with light, and the melancholy brook in the forest suddenly becomes merry. Hester talks to the minister about their daughter and is delighted that Dimmesdale can finally meet Pearl. Pearl, however, approaches ... warily when her mother calls her, eyeing her joyful parents with suspicion. The little girl makes ... ...

• Word Count: 3653
• Approx Pages: 15
• Grade Level: High School

... . That view is not very different from Nathaniel Hawthorne's view on the forest in The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter does not see the forest in such a grim light as does The Crucible, but it does see the forest as a place where you express your true self, outside the boundaries of society. The forest is the first place that Hester and Dimmesdale hold hands in public. So, the forest is seen as a place for weird happenings, but ... The Crucible sees it in a much more "evil" way then The Scarlet Letter. Truth had many meanings ... ...

• Word Count: 656
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... seems to be extremely clear headed in contrast to the rest of the community who are totally taken by the accusations of the girls and rumors of witchcraft. She keeps her identity while all the women play out their phallic fantasies by dwelling on the events in the forest. The forest in this case represents the subconscious mind of the Puritan society because to them the forest is the place of the devil and witches. It is a free place where no ... soul, like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls? "or a polluted soul, towards their purification? And as for the people's revere...

• Word Count: 1599
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... seems to be extremely clear headed in contrast to the rest of the community who are totally taken by the accusations of the girls and rumors of witchcraft. She keeps her identity while all the women play out their phallic fantasies by dwelling on the events in the forest. The forest in this case represents the subconscious mind of the Puritan society because to them the forest is the place of the devil and witches. It is a free place where no ... soul, like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls? "or a polluted soul, towards their purification? And as for the people's revere...

• Word Count: 1596
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... Pearl as evil or possessed or rather just as wild and free. The people of the village sometimes refer to her in comparison to the devil, for she throws rocks at their children, says crazy things and had an awful temper. The townspeople also look down upon Pearl because she is a child of sin, the product of adultery and they outcast her as much as Hester. Although many ... as most children do with much physical grace. She seems to fit perfectly in the forest where her wildness can run free; her nature is at one in the woods. As she runs, the light that her mother so desperately seeks fol...

• Word Count: 549
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... to light, suggesting darkness as a state of hiding where the person will not accept life's experiences and holds back. Pearl's eyes are called a "small black mirror," meaning they are empty and filled with sin as they reflect Hester's sin. Hawthorne explains black weeds growing from a sinner's grave as evil coming out and dying. The Puritan's describe Satan as the Black Man in the forest. Black ... is used to symbolize the worst and most evil part of an object or person. Hawthorne employs white and light to oppose darkness as a state of self-containment. White most clearly symbolizes pu...

• Word Count: 1044
• Approx Pages: 4
• Grade Level: High School

... Father Wilson continued to step slowly onward, looking carefully at the muddy pathway before his feet, and never once turning his head towards the guilty platform. When the light of the glimmering lantern had faded quite away, the minister discovered, by the faintness which came over him, that the last few moments had been a crisis of terrible anxiety, although his mind had made an involuntary effort to relieve itself by ... has made a few changes he and Hester had met in the forest where he looked the worst he has ever looked ". He looked haggard and feeble, and betrayed" (Page 185) Di...

• Word Count: 1308
• Approx Pages: 5
• Grade Level: High School

... to her. She is a reminder of her sin and causes her great pains, but she is nonetheless a blessing. When Hester thinks about giving up Pearl gives her mother reasons to go on. When Pearl knows who her father is she is truly human. She always has a certain amount of light on her. She represents to goodness in life. The forest is symbolic in many ways ... , such as the fact that Hester and Dimmesdale can profess their love for each other. In the forest sin tempts them. It is also the place of the "black man." The forest is supposedly where the witches meet. Mistress Hibbins says its were p...

• Word Count: 371
• Approx Pages: 1
• Grade Level: High School

... rage grows even more. When Hester realizes what is going on between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth she receives permission from her husband to reveal his identity to the minister. Dimmesdale learns of this in a romantic scene in the forest where all problems seem to be temporarily forgotten. He is shocked and agrees to flee to Boston with Hester and Pearl. However, Dimmesdale soon realizes ... he cannot go on without publicly acknowledging his guilt. When returning from the forest, he is changed and writes a new sermon for Election Day when he will finally reveal his sin in the third and ...

• Word Count: 1498
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... her to behave more politely, but in reply Pearl "paused to gather the prickly burrs from a tall burdock." She then began to "arrange them along the lines of the scarlet letter." After Dimmesdale's comment about her behavior, Pearl "threw one of the burrs at Mr. Dimmesdale." Dimmesdale "shrunk, with nervous dead, from the light missile." When Pearl saw how she effected him she "clapped her hands ... in the most extravagant ecstasy." Hawthorne is obviously showing how Pearl is there to remind ... Hester and Dimmesdale of their horrible sin, and to further escalate their pain and sufferin...

• Word Count: 421
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: High School

... peacefully. Hester and Pearl was relieved from their guilt. The theme within the story is unconfessed sins leads to the destroying of the soul. Hester who was dubbed with the guilt, openly admits it thus her soul was not destroyed, instead she gathers strength and courage to stimulate her soul which radiant with more light. In the other hand, Dimmesdale hid his secret from others which slowly ... corroded his soul, leading to sickness and guilt. Later when he confesses, he was released from the painful and died peacefully. Important Passage: "Mother," said little Pearl, "the sunshine doe...

• Word Count: 720
• Approx Pages: 3
• Grade Level: High School

... -glowing point of light gloomier than the shadow: -- On a field, sable, the letter A, gules" (240). Thus, the love the couple shares, symbolized by the letter A, is lighter and more pure than the ominous darkness and corruption of the world surrounding it. The natural purity of their love is addressed earlier as the two share and intimate conversation in the woods and the sun breaks through the clouds. "Such [is] the sympathy of Nature -- that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never ... subjugated by human law, nor illumined by higher truth -- with the bliss of these two spirits! Love ...

• Word Count: 1485
• Approx Pages: 6
• Grade Level: High School

... 's soul is still new and young while Hester's has had time to grow old. The last significant event in which Pearl is the embodiment of the scarlet letter is in the forest. This last event proves that Hester is not complete without the scarlet letter. Pearl notices that her mother is not wearing the letter on her bosom and will not obey her mother's call. Instead she stands ... . (Hawthorne 173-176). The last supernatural manifestation of the scarlet letter is when Dimmesdale goes atop the scaffold at night and gives his false confession. "We impute it, therefore, solely to the disease in ...

• Word Count: 1536
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School

... 's soul is still new and young while Hester's has had time to grow old. The last significant event in which Pearl is the embodiment of the scarlet letter is in the forest. This last event proves that Hester is not complete without the scarlet letter. Pearl notices that her mother is not wearing the letter on her bosom and will not obey her mother's call. Instead she stands ... . (Hawthorne 173-176). The last supernatural manifestation of the scarlet letter is when Dimmesdale goes atop the scaffold at night and gives his false confession. "We impute it, therefore, solely to the disease in ...

• Word Count: 1529
• Approx Pages: 6
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: High School