The Romantic Age followed a period called the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment period focused on action over contemplation and truth over speculation. Romantic belief emphasized the importance of the individual and his or her coinciding emotions, as well as the use of Nature as a means of symbolism and a place of refuge. In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne adheres to these ideals by creating a novel that is full of Romantic characteristics. Hawthorne effectively depicts Nature as a place of refuge, free from the constrictions of the Puritan society, that reflects the characters’ outlooks, emotions, and behaviors.
Nature is used symbolically throughout The Scarlet Letter to depict the characters’ true selves. In the first chapters of …show more content…
The contrast between these two aspects of nature at the onset of the novel foreshadows the differences in the characters’ outlooks and behaviors later in the story. The “wild rose-bush” symbolizes the goodness and compassion of characters such as Hester and Pearl, while the “ugly edifice” represents the accumulation of evil and sorrow in characters such as Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Nature is used very symbolically when describing Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale’s excursion to the forest. Upon entering the forest Pearl remarks, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (160). Nature hides itself from Hester because she has committed sin and is tainted by guilt and sorrow. Pearl, on the other hand, is accepted by the natural world. She is able to stand “in a streak of sunshine” and “the black forest bec[omes] [her] playmate… the mother-forest, and the wild things which it nourished, all recognized a kindred wilderness of the human child" (178). The forest and the sunlight adore Pearl and follow her everywhere she goes. Nature’s symbolic acceptance of
Nature is used symbolically throughout The Scarlet Letter to depict the characters’ true selves. In the first chapters of …show more content…
The contrast between these two aspects of nature at the onset of the novel foreshadows the differences in the characters’ outlooks and behaviors later in the story. The “wild rose-bush” symbolizes the goodness and compassion of characters such as Hester and Pearl, while the “ugly edifice” represents the accumulation of evil and sorrow in characters such as Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. Nature is used very symbolically when describing Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale’s excursion to the forest. Upon entering the forest Pearl remarks, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (160). Nature hides itself from Hester because she has committed sin and is tainted by guilt and sorrow. Pearl, on the other hand, is accepted by the natural world. She is able to stand “in a streak of sunshine” and “the black forest bec[omes] [her] playmate… the mother-forest, and the wild things which it nourished, all recognized a kindred wilderness of the human child" (178). The forest and the sunlight adore Pearl and follow her everywhere she goes. Nature’s symbolic acceptance of