The Scarlet Letter Essays -- Literary Analysis, Hawthorne

In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne traces the life of a young woman named Hester Prynne after she receives the shameful punishment of wearing a scarlet letter â€Å"A† on her chest. Throughout the novel, the forest outside the Puritan town serves a place for the characters to reveal their true selves away from the stringent Puritan lifestyle. The forest represents contradictory themes, creating a sanctuary for love and freedom, but also cultivating darkness and evil. Not only does the seclusion of the forest from society provide freedom to those who choose to perform evil deeds, but also protection to those searching for clarity and happiness. Hester finds comfort under the forest’s dense, imperfect canopy for it mirrors â€Å"the moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering† (173). Pearl also connects with nature, and similar to the brook in which she often plays, Pearl â€Å"danced and sparkled and prattled airily along her own course† (176). Pearl and Hester share an intimate conversation about the scarlet letter in the forest and Hester reveals that she â€Å"is doomed...