Scarlet Letter Symbolism

Symbolism The book The Scarlet Letter is all about symbolism. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the course of the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify Puritanical and Romantic philosophies. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this unalterable harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest …

…than public shame is Dimmesdale's own cruel inner shame. Knowing what only he and Hester know, the secret eats away at every fiber of Dimmesdale's being. As the Puritans hold up Dimmesdale, the Romantics level him as a human. The Scarlet Letter is an endless account of fabulous theories and philosophies. Ranging from Puritanical to Romantic, Nathaniel Hawthorne embodies his ideas to stress his Romantic philosophies through Pearl, Hester, and Dimmesdale throughout all of this.