In Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’, nature is presented as a sympathetic and forgiving force that is in direct contrast with the stringent Puritanical society and authoritative figures which are representative of civilisation in the novel. Some characters in the novel align themselves with nature, such as Hester and Pearl, whilst the majority of the townspeople vehemently avoid places such as the forest and seem to even live in fear of it. The former characters – Hester especially – are more individualistic and divert from Puritanical norms. This suggests that submersing oneself in the privacy of nature allows for a certain degree of self-reflection to take place - a practice that is not taken part in by the townspeople in the novel who instead
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She is presented as nature’s playmate when she entertains herself in the forest. When in the Governor’s house, Pearl is overcome with “naughty merriment” – this house being the symbol for Puritanism and authority, it is significant that Pearl seems less agitated in more natural surroundings. Just as Puritanical society does not approve of Pearl in the novel, Pearl is made just as uncomfortable in the presence of Puritanical society. This might be because Pearl is the product of a natural union as opposed to a controlled, religious union, and the animosity directed towards her in the town is absent in the forest as it is almost as if nature is approving of the union. At one point in the novel, Pearl is insistent that Hester reattach the scarlet letter to her dress, “here again was the scarlet misery, glittering on the old spot!”. To Hester, the forest is the only private sphere available to her to escape the prying eyes of the town. In making Hester put back on the scarlet letter, Pearl here is representative of Hester’s disquieted conscience and impacts the reason Hester favours the forest so – to shed her guilt, “the forest cannot hide it!”; no longer is nature such a safe haven for Hester. Finally, Pearl likens herself to a flower when questioned about her family, “she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door”, once more solidifying her character as being very much intertwined with
She is presented as nature’s playmate when she entertains herself in the forest. When in the Governor’s house, Pearl is overcome with “naughty merriment” – this house being the symbol for Puritanism and authority, it is significant that Pearl seems less agitated in more natural surroundings. Just as Puritanical society does not approve of Pearl in the novel, Pearl is made just as uncomfortable in the presence of Puritanical society. This might be because Pearl is the product of a natural union as opposed to a controlled, religious union, and the animosity directed towards her in the town is absent in the forest as it is almost as if nature is approving of the union. At one point in the novel, Pearl is insistent that Hester reattach the scarlet letter to her dress, “here again was the scarlet misery, glittering on the old spot!”. To Hester, the forest is the only private sphere available to her to escape the prying eyes of the town. In making Hester put back on the scarlet letter, Pearl here is representative of Hester’s disquieted conscience and impacts the reason Hester favours the forest so – to shed her guilt, “the forest cannot hide it!”; no longer is nature such a safe haven for Hester. Finally, Pearl likens herself to a flower when questioned about her family, “she had not been made at all, but had been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that grew by the prison-door”, once more solidifying her character as being very much intertwined with