The Scarlet letter

In this passage, that narrator considers Hester and women in general as items to men, only

to be loved if they are beautiful”...there seemed to be no longer anything in Hesters face for love

to dwell upon…”. Throughout the rest of The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne uses several

devices to describe Hester and women in general.

The first device that seems to be the most prominent throughout the book is symbolism.

One of the symbols was the scarlet letter itself. Due to Hesters sin of adultery, the letter “A” is

given to her to wear. She is publically ridiculed because of her human nature “...was the

SCARLET LETTER, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom.”.

Hawthorne uses this to show that she had sinned. The books main focus is on Hesters

punishment and does not really touch on Dimmesdale's punishment. Hawthorne thought that

hester deserved the most punishment out of her and Dimmesdale.

The second device that is shown is a metaphor. When Hester has Pearl, she was

considered “Being of great price-purchased with all she had-her mothers only treasure”. Another

metaphor would be the meteor. When Dimmesdale is standing on the scaffold, he sees a meteor

in the sky. HE sees that is speels out the letter “A” “but with no shape as his guilty imagination

gave it, or, at least, with so little difiniteness.

The third literary device would be anaphora. “Live, therefore, and bear about thy doom

with thee, in the eyes of men and women-in the eyes of him whom thou didst call thy husband-in

the eyes of yonder child !”. Hester can’t escape from the sins she has done; wherever she is

everyone will know that she is a sinner. “In the eyes of her people she will always be a sinner.”

The previous devices show how Hawthorne feels toward women who sin. He feels they

should be punished and treated by society. He gives us examples with Hester on how he thinks

about sin.