The Scarlet Letter: The Symbol Of The Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper

The Scarlet Letter: The Symbol of the Scarlet Letter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne & # 8217 ; s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne & # 8217 ; s vermilion

item liberates her more than it punishes her. First of all, Hester & # 8217 ; s psyche is

freed by her admittance of her offense ; by digesting her earthly penalty, Hester

is assured of a topographic point in the celestial spheres. Besides, though her visual aspect is much

hampered by the vermilion missive, her head is freed by it, that an rational

passion rises from her isolation and agony. Finally, it defines her

individuality, for the missive makes Hester the adult female that she is ; it gives her roots,

character, and a singularity to her being that sets her apart from the other

Puritans. The vermilion missive is so a approval to Hester Prynne, more than

the expletive she believes it to be.

The vermilion symbol of shame may hold defiled Hester & # 8217 ; s public image,

yet it has been a benefit instead than a curse to her psyche, for by acknowledging her

offense to the crowd, her psyche is freed from two snake pits: foremost, the fiery cavity

where she would otherwise travel after decease, and 2nd, the ain personal snake pit

Hester will make for herself if she had chosen to conceal her wickedness in her bosom.

Though it was ordered for Hester to have on the missive, it was still her ain pick

to do it in a graphic vermilion, & # 8220 ; so fabulously embroidered and lighted

upon her bosom. & # 8221 ; Hester chose ruddy as the colour of her trade name of shame, to

declare to the remainder of the townsfolk that she is prepared to admit her

wickedness, alternatively of denying it ; she could hold chosen to have on her & # 8220 ; A & # 8221 ; in a field and

nondistinct colour, to get away the townsfolk & # 8217 ; s contempt. By exposing her guilt

nevertheless, she is granted the chance to confront her penalty courageously, therefore

through her public humiliation, she achieves freedom from the personal guilt of

non enduring plenty for her offenses. Furthermore, & # 8220 ; the vermilion missive,

forthwith seemed to sear into Hester & # 8217 ; s chest, as if it had been red-hot. & # 8221 ;

The vermilion A & # 8217 ; s glowing coals, searing they may be, besides serve to mend, for

the hurting they inflict on Hester enables her to properly atone for her wickedness ; by

giving this life-time to penitence and atonement, she would have alleviation in

her following life. To the Puritans she is shamed, yet to the celestial spheres she is honored

as a penitent evildoer who has returned to the loving weaponries of her Creator.

Finally, Hester & # 8217 ; s vermilion emblem is found on the outside, while the grade that

her lover Dimmesdale is found in & # 8220 ; his inmost heart. & # 8221 ; Though Hester and

Dimmesdale are both branded with the vermilion & # 8220 ; A & # 8221 ; , there is a universe of difference

between their badges of shame, for Hester & # 8217 ; s vermilion item is embroidered in

dazing gold yarn and is displayed for everyone to see, demoing that she

fells nil, while Dimmesdale & # 8217 ; s missive is branded on his thorax: hidden from

the public oculus, yet with an consequence that is more powerful than that of the vermilion

token on Hester & # 8217 ; s chest. Indeed, the heat of glowing metal inflicts a far

greater hurting than that of needle and thread, the throb of fire against tegument is

more powerful than a pin on a piece of fabric ; though Hester may hold to digest the

twits of the pitiless Puritans, at least, unlike Dimmesdale, she does non hold

to digest those of her ain creative activity. Therefore, it can be concluded that Hester

was better off have oning the missive, for by a digesting a life-time of hurting and

torment, she escapes an infinity of intolerable torture.

The vermilion missive restrains Hester & # 8217 ; s passionate nature in her

visual aspect, transforming her into a colorless and faceless adult female, yet her

passion finds another mercantile establishment in the deep deferrals of her ain head ; Hester is

liberated by the vermilion missive since she discovers an rational passion as a

release from a dull and humdrum being. Hester & # 8217 ; s physical visual aspect may

be one of & # 8220 ; marble coldness & # 8221 ; , yet buried underneath those marble slabs her & # 8220 ; freshly

emancipated & # 8221 ; intellect Burnss with great ardor. The pure yet difficult marble

R

epresents the Hester seen by the people ; Solid and reliable, possessing a

serene yet pale beauty. The vibrance that one time dominated her characteristics now

dominates her ideas, her warm passion this clip happening release in the

profusion of her superb head. & # 8220 ; Hester [ imbibes ] the spirit & # 8221 ; of rational

emancipation. Her passion, which one time flowed liberally in her physical

visual aspect, is now geared towards the geographic expedition of her head & # 8217 ; s interior deepnesss. A

dazing face is replaced by a dazzling head, as Hester escapes her devastation

in dallying with new and absorbing thoughts. Driven by ground alternatively of emotion,

Hester & # 8220 ; [ dramatis personaes ] off the fragments of the broken concatenation, & # 8221 ; disputing the archaic

philosophies of the Puritans. The writer mocks the antique and out-of-date beliefs

of the Puritans by picturing them as these & # 8220 ; fragments & # 8221 ; ; in projecting off these

antediluvian beliefs, Hester is freed from their unjust limitations, in spirit if

non in organic structure. Alternatively of being destroyed by the vermilion missive, Hester additions the

bravery to oppugn the Puritan & # 8217 ; s position of justness ; in a sense, Hester is freed

from her penalty, since she casts uncertainty on the existent magnitude of her wickedness.

Therefore, the strangulating gold togss of the vermilion missive are unable to choke out

the last of Hester & # 8217 ; s passion, in fact, their searing hurting enables to lift

against the boringness of Hester & # 8217 ; s life a liberated head, unrestrained by the

endangering bonds of Puritanism.

Finally, the vermilion missive liberates Hester Prynne because it makes her

unique, and gives Hester her individuality. First of wholly, the missive is fashioned

& # 8220 ; in vermilion, fabulously embroidered in gold thread. & # 8221 ; The colour of the missive

itself attracts attending, for its graphic chromaticity sets it apart from the

monochromatic attire of the other Puritans. It eclipses everything else, so that

Hester is the cardinal figure in the image that Hawthorne pigments in the readers

head ; the remainder are simply portion of the inexorable background, functioning merely to heighten

the keen beauty of Hawthorne & # 8217 ; s female supporter. Besides, & # 8220 ; [ New England ]

had been the scene of her guilt, and [ it ] should be the scene of her earthly

punishment. & # 8221 ; Thus Hester finds her roots in New England ; the vermilion emblem had

made Puritan Boston her place, and gave her a sense of belonging. Hester had

made herself in Boston, it is the lone topographic point where she had truly lived, and the

merely topographic point where she should decease. Most significantly, the vermilion missive & # 8220 ; is excessively

profoundly branded & # 8221 ; upon Hester, it has become a lasting portion of her, that one

can non be without the other. The missive was born upon Hester & # 8217 ; s wickedness, lived in

Hester & # 8217 ; s shame, and died in Hester & # 8217 ; s decease ; it can non be taken off from her no

affair how difficult she tries. To take it off would be to deny Hester & # 8217 ; s own

individuality, because without her ever-present comrade she is nil but simple

Puritan Mistress Prynne, alternatively of Hester, the adult female of the vermilion missive.

Though she may hold the missive a & # 8220 ; wretchedness & # 8221 ; , it had made her the adult female she is, and

she would non be herself without the vermilion symbol.

Indeed, though originally meant as her penalty, the vermilion missive

really liberates Hester from her guilt, and from even greater penalty. The

scorn she feels towards it, and the lengths she goes through to free herself of

it show that she does non recognize the good that the missive has done her. It may

hold punished her, it may hold caused her hurting, yet the good deep within the

missive is greater than the immorality that surrounds it on the exterior. The vermilion

missive can therefore besides be viewed as an instrument of God, instead than an

instrument of Satan ; sent to learn a lesson, instead than to penalize ; a sanctum trade name,

instead than a grade of shame and shame. It was given to Hester as a agency of

expiating her wickedness and accomplishing redemption, and as the vermilion missive & # 8220 ; A & # 8221 ; remainders on

her sin-stained bosom, it mends alternatively of doing more harm. Its vermilion

fire therefore exorcises Hester Prynne & # 8217 ; s personal devils, so that in the Afterlife

she can eventually achieve her peace.