The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne

Symbolism and Allegory

A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it.

Symbols

Stop

Peace

Romance

Allegory
As a literary device, an allegory in its most general sense is an extended metaphor. As an artistic device, an allegory is a visual symbolic representation.

Allegories
Death

Victory

The most symbolic American piece of work is The Scarlet Letter.

Adultery

Able

Angel

"

The mother of this child-stood fully revealed before the crowd...On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourshes of gold thread..."

 "Such helpfulness was found in her-so much

power to do and power to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet "A" by it's original signification. They said that it meant Able".

"The angel and apostle of the coming must be a women, indeed, but lofty, pure and beautiful, and wise, moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of joy"

Prison

The black flower of society

Represents the crime and punishment.

Pearl

Pearl symbolises evil by representing Gods punishment on Hester. Throughout the novel Pearl is attracted to the "A. Even when she is just a baby, "her infant's eyes had been caught by the glimmering of the gold embroidery about the letter"

The Meteor

The meteor in The Scarlet Letter exposes both a communal and an individual reaction.

The forest and wilderness

The forest is seen as the home of evil.