The scarlet letter

Charlotte Crocq                                                          September 17 2015

Literature                                                                               Stern

                              Commentary N°1. The Scarlet Letter

    "Nimium ne crede colori."Literally translated, it means "Do not rely much on the

colors." In figurative language, it invites not to believe in the first impression to the

appareances. In fact, this statement written by Virgil, an ancien roman poet, relates to

one of the main themes of Nathanial Hawthorne's book, The Scarlet Letter, which is

the opposition between appareances versus reality. Through the use of persona,

symbolism and imagery, Hawthorne shows that the protagonnist, Hester, is not

necessarily the culprit of the story.

  Hawthorne uses the symbol of the letter to show the paradoxical nature of the Puritan

society. In fact, the letter A is described first as a "token of shame."It shows that its

symbol is not a positive one. It also barres the "red" color, symbol of passion, and it is

surrounded by gold, symbol of power, visible in the hyperbole "fantastic flourishes of

golf thread." This foreshadows the revelation of the reason for why she is wearing the

letter (passion) as well as the strength (power) Hester is going to have to change its

meaning. The hyperbole "so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous

luxuriance of fancy," illustrates the beauty of the letter and contrasts with the Putitan

conformism. Hester challenges the Puritan authority, as her letter was " beyond what

was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony." However, the uniformity in

the Puritan culture is mocked, "but the point which drew all eyes [...] so that both men

and women [...]were now impressed [...] was the SCARLET LETTER." It is highly

ironic and paradoxical because Puritans focus on how Hester is dressed, but they

should not care about it because their religion encourages austerity. The contrast

between Hester and the hyprocitical Puritan society is enhanced by the letter, which

symbolizes her strength as she is the only one who "fully revealed" herself,  and it

separates her from the crowd. It is illustrated through the last line, "taking her out of

the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by

herself."Through the use of the symbolic scarlet letter, the author denunciates the

Puritan society.

   Nathanial Hawthorne uses the light imagery to exploit the theme of appareances

versus reality. He portrays Hester's good nature through the usage of light's dual

nature. In fact, Hester is characterized by the adjectives "dark" to qualify her hair and

"black" for her eyes. It  refers to darkness, the symbol of sin and death. This suits well

to the fact that she is presented as guilty in the story. However, in contrast, the bright

light imagery is also employed to describe her, "so glossy that it threw off the

sunshine with a gleam." This hyperbolic metaphor shows that the light, a natural

element synonym of goodness, emanates from her soul. The descriptors such as

"evanescent," "shone out," "halo," and "illuminated" emphasize it. Hester appears to

be sinful as she has a dark exterior but she has light inside of her. This foreshadows

the fact that Hester is not the real sinner of the history. The light motif also illustrates

the fact that the only words with a lack of light do not apply to Hester. In effect, it is

the society which "expected her to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous

cloud," which shows that darkness do not come from Hester but from the outside

world. Besides, the light, which symbolizes Hester's bright and clear soul, illuminates

the darkness of the Puritan society which incriminates a ligthning woman, as it is

highlighted in the sentence "her beauty shone out, and made a halo of misfortune and

ignominy in which she was envelopped." The author uses the contrast between

darkness and brightness to denunciate the Puritan society and to reveal Hester's true

nature.

Nathanial Hawthorn uses voice and space to further emphasize the contrast between

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