The Scarlet Letter takes place in Boston, Massachusetts among a group of people known as Puritans. The Puritan beliefs already provide symbolism within the book, as the Puritans believed in the devil and that Satan was loose in Massachusetts which is ironically where the story takes place. Along with Satan, the Puritans also believed in witchcraft, and many people blamed witches for their wrong doings, leading the reader to wonder if Hester Prynne or people among the community will blame Hester’s adultery upon the work of witches.
Right away, the reader is introduced to a scene of “bearded men, in sad-colored garments and gray, steeple-crowned hats” that are “assembled in front of a wooden edifice, the door of which was heavily timbered with oak and studded with iron spikes.” The first buildings in Boston were of “practical necessities” as the people appointed one “portion of the virgin lot as a cemetery, and another portion as the site of a prison.” The Puritan people believed strongly in sin, as Eve led Adam to sin, therefore all of mankind are contaminated with sin. The Puritans believe that “Dancing was acceptable, but sexual dancing was not. Drinking alcohol was acceptable, but becoming drunk was not. They believed strongly in marriage and were opposed to illicit sexual activities. Adultery was punishable by death.” The sin that the Puritans believed existed among every person led them to build cemeteries and jails right away in towns, because the Puritans also believed in punishing all wrongdoings.
Among all the “dark” “gloomy” and weeded” appearance of the prison, lies a “wild rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems.” The rosebush has been part of the land for quite some time, and no one is sure what is keeping the rosebush alive; whether its “merely survived out of the stern old wilderness” or whether “it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison door.” Anne Hutchinson is a woman who organized religious groups of the Puritans, but spoke beliefs without being sanctioned to do so, and was therefore thrown into jail. The rosebush is hoped to “symbolize some sweet moral blossom that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow” much like what Ann Hutchinson was attempting to accomplish.
Hester Prynne is the main character in the story, who has committed adultery after her husband left. Not only is Hester Prynne’s personality and sin different from the rest of the towns, but the reader also sees a physical appearance that differs. Along with the scarlet “A” that Hester so neatly and glamorously sewed upon her breast, the physical appearance of Hester was of a “beautiful women, so picturesque in her attire and mien.” In all of Hester’s beauty, lies a scarlet colored “A” with golden stitching upon her breast, which seems ironic that for committing adultery, one would be forced to put something on her bosom that draws more attention in an area that one should be ashamed of. The color scarlet symbolizes sin, which is why the ‘A’ that Hester sews upon herself is of that color.
Hester Prynne is forced to stand upon a “scaffold” in front of the community for her punishment, where she set eyes on a stranger with “so fixed a gaze that, at moments of intense absorption, all objects in the visible world seemed to vanish.” The reader wonders if maybe the stranger that has arrived is Hester’s adulterer?
Not only does one pose questions about the stranger, but also about Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. While Reverend Mr. Wilson, Mr. Dimmesdale, and the Governor are supposed to convince Hester to “speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner”, Mr. Dimmesdale only asks the question once, and then asks no more. Perhaps because Mr. Dimmesdale could also be Hester’s adulterer?
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