Symbolism Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s Scarlet Letter And...

Alex Rojas Ms. Bacon English IV H 11/3/15 Many dark romantics use symbolism to support the themes in their stories. The themes represented by these symbols tend to represent sin and evil. Like many of his writing counterparts, Nathaniel Hawthorne extensively uses symbolism in several of his major works to explore sin and human nature. The Scarlett Letter, â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and â€Å"The Minister s Black Veil† are all vivid examples of this exploration and are the focus of this analysis. Before discussing his works, it is important to explore Hawthorne’s background to better understand how they connect to his writing and to his use of dark romanticism. Hawthorne came from Puritan ancestry. His family was actively involved in religious persecution of others and participated heavily in witch trials. Hawthorne added a w to his last name in efforts to avoid any correlation with his family’s dark past. As a writer, Hawthorne is portrayed as a dark romantic during a time period where colleagues such as Emerson and Thoreau were seen as transcendentalists (Bacon). They believed that people and nature were inherently good if they were self-reliant and demonstrated individual strength. Hawthorne’s perspective was quite different since he believed that everyone had a dark side and that sin and guilt were needed in order to find ones true self in society. In The Scarlett Letter, Hawthorne uses one of his main characters, Hester, as a symbolic representation of theShow MoreRelatedSymbolism Is The Use Of Symbols To Signify Important Meaning1305 Words   |  6 PagesSymbolism is the use of symbols to signify important meaning to things. These symbols could be basically anything in which a meaning is more than just the literal context. Hawthorne has several uses of symbolisms in his stories. Symbolism was very popular literary device during the Romantic period, where the object embodied some sort of idea. â€Å"The symbolism of his works focused on isolation and guilt of the individual, the uncertainties of good and evil, and the continual hold of the past on theRead MoreThe Theme Of Guilt In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1668 Words   |  7 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne is the author of The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne is a anti-transcendentalist which means he writes a lot about Puritans in the 1600’s. John Hathorne ( Nathaniel H. great uncle ) is also an anti-transcendentalist . The book that John wrote that goes with The Scarlet Letter is The Ministers Black Veil. It as well as this novel talks about Secret sin and how the world is good and people are dark and mysterious. Nathaniels book The Scarlet Letter talks about Secret Sin , RevengeRead MoreThe Ministers Black Veil And The Scarlet Letter1000 Words   |  4 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most contemporary American writers of all time, was the great nephew of Judge Hathorne. Who was one of the prime judges of the Salem Witch Trials in Massachusetts. Although Nathaniel hated his uncle for his efforts during the horrific trials, he became obsessed with his ideals of puritanism. Through these ideals he became a anti-transcendentalist; someone who believes that naturally we are born evil and society is the only thing that keeps us from provoking chaos.Read MoreDark Romanticism By Edgar Allen Poe1625 Words   |  7 Pages like visually heart shapes, cute Costumes, and cupids, with distinct elements of the gothic, such as the color black ,animals familiar like cats and bats or other dark figures such as vampires and witchcraft†. This essay will bring to you information about dark romanticism and many literature artist who use this style of writing. Authors such as Edgar Allen Poe, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Herman Melville quickly became the leaders or the Gothic style Literature. Prezi also goes onto say â€Å"a commonRead MoreLiterary Analysis Of Nathaniel Hawthorne s The Scarlet Letter 1777 Words   |  8 Pageswho wrote about this in his famous novels is Nathaniel Hawthorne. He came from a family of Puritans; therefore, he was well associated with that lifestyle. He applied the Puritan’s beliefs on Satan and witchcraft into his books – especially â€Å"Young Goodman Brown† and The Scarlet Letter. Both of these amazing literary works involved people battling evilness every day. Their whole lives revolved around it. 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