Nature In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, incorporates nature regularly in his novel. Hawthorne was a romantic, meaning Nature and spontaneity are important ideals, and Hawthorne implants these ideals in his book about several years of Hester Prynes’, the main character, life. Hawthorne often includes Nature in his book to help contribute to the meaning of the book. The first instance of Nature that Hawthorne uses is almost immediately after the start of the book, Hawthorne describes the prison in which Hester Pryne has spent several months in. Outside of this prison, is a rose bush Hawthorne describes the bush, “On one side of the portal [gate to the prison] and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose bush, covered, …show more content…
After leaving the prison, Hester is the condemned forever damned by the puritan society, forced to wear an A at all times. Later, Nathaniel describes a particular rose on the bush, he says, “It may serve [the rose], let us hope, to symbolize some sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close to a tale of human frailty and sorrow” (34). This quote says that the rose symbolizes a sweet moral life that may be found along a path, or it can be used to lighten the morbid end to this tale of human weakness and sadness. This quote is also referencing Pearl, the infant of Hesters’ lover. Before the reader meet Pearl, Hawthorne launches into a description of her, he says “We have as yet hardly spoken of the infant; that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal Flower, out of the rank of luxuriance of a guilty …show more content…
An aspect a romantic would respect, however after Hester sinned, she spent time isolated in her home with only Pearl for company, occasionally making trips into the community for their needs. Hester spent time thinking on her sin, developing her reasoning and logical thinking, as she progressed into the later stages of her life, she seemed to lose the vibrant and vivacious look she had when she was younger. Until Hester goes into the forest to tell Arthur Dimmesdale, the priest and Hesters’ one time lover, a secret. On their way to meet Arthur, Pearl and Hester are taunted by the sunlight, beams of light appearing in front of them mere feet away until Hester gets close enough to it that it seems to disappear, as if it were scared of her. Pearl states to her mother, “Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (126).The sunlight does seem to be scared of Hester, and as she walks she thinks about a logical way of telling Arthur Dimmesdale her secret to Dimmesdale, and they make spur of the moment plans to leave the town and its inhabitants behind, Hester once again regains her beauty. Hawthorne describes Natures acceptance of them as, “All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest”