Extoic Themes In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, took place in Boston in the 1600’s. This romanticism novel is exhilarating yet depressing. The main character Hester Prynne, is punished for adultery and Chillingworth, another main character, seeks revenge. The major themes in the novel are nature, libertarianism, and extoic settings and are still expressed in today 's society. Not many people realize these themes are in everyday lives today but back then people relied on the desire to be free, the love of nature, and found unusual, gothic settings. Considering nature plays a major role in the way the Puritans view what is happening in their town, they connect with it and how it affects their everyday lives. The novel starts out talking about the …show more content…
An example, is when Dimmesdale goes to the scaffold at midnight and can be thought of as a ghost because no one seems to care or be awoken by him. The puritans also believe in witches and believe seeing them around Boston. For example, “Beyond the shadow of a doubt, this venerable witch-lady had heard Mr. Dimmesdale’s outcry (Hawthorne 102).” This displays dimmesdale’s belief in witches and how the theme extoic settings is described in the novel. He considers the witch Mistress Hibbins to bring evil upon him and soon enough everyone will distinguish his secret but, that does not happen because it is only his imagination. The governor 's home is an example of exotic settings because it is an old, eerie looking house and stands out from every other house in Boston. Hawthorne writes, “Now moss-grown, crumbling to decay, and melancholy at heart (70).” The house is a representation of the Puritan society and how the way of Puritan life will eventually come to an end resembling the Governor 's house. Even though the Puritans way of life is ending, there are still some exotic settings in today’s …show more content…
People should care about the themes present in the novel because people wanting to be free is still a desire in today 's society. Also, the love of nature and seeing weird, unexpected things is still in people 's everyday lives. Most often, people do not realize these main themes because they are displayed in a different way. In the Puritan society, people view them as more important and the themes are usually symbols or signs. In today’s society people do not understand the concept or the Puritan 's beliefs therefore, they think of libertarianism, exotic settings, and nature in a more brief, concise

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