What Is Chiaroscuro In The Scarlet Letter

Chiaroscuro: The Beauty in a World of Gloomy Grey
Defined as a technique of contrasting dark and light to highlight elements within a piece of art or a story, chiaroscuro is displayed throughout The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Also prevalent in many masterpieces created by Rembrandt during the 17 century, Rembrandt uses chiaroscuro to create a focal point in his paintings and evoke personal thought. Hawthorne uses chiaroscuro to focus on the element of overall sin and to illustrate conflicts between characters. A comparison of chiaroscuro in Rembrandts paintings and Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, provides a deeper understand of how light and dark play a key role in the development of characters and theme.
Sin is one of the
For example, the forest displays a moral wilderness that is encompassed within a dark and gloomy atmosphere. However in Chapter 18, Hawthorne uses chiaroscuro as a device to show a change in the forest as Hester succumbs to the evil of nature and of her sin. “…she undid the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, threw it…All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest…” During this scene, Hester releases herself from the burden that the scarlet letter brings. As Hester gives into her natural instincts, the forest around her slowly begins to brighten and become overcome by light. This new found light in the forest that grows hand in hand with Hester’s happiness is shown to be good and/or normal based on Hawthorne’s tone. He focuses on the beauty of the light and how it highlights every living thing in the forest, almost in an angelic
The way Hawthorne displays this development can also be viewed in pieces by Rembrandt. Sin is portrayed in many ways throughout the novel. The forest is used as a symbol of moral bareness of which Hester succumbs to when she takes off the scarlet letter and releases herself from her sin. At this moment, the dark dreary forest is flooded with heavenly beauty of light and life. This play with shadowing and light elements can be viewed in Nightwatch by Rembrandt. This paitning expresses a link between the light and the dark and how they can exist at the same time, however one will always triumph. In the case of the forest scene, the light and the happiness of Hester triumphed over the evil that surrounds her. Hawthorne draws his characters out by having one behold elements, Roger Chillingworth, and the other character behold elements of light, Minister Dimmesdale. Hawthorne then goes deeper to express that the darkness of one might not be of evil intention, but rather dulled by everyday sin of which the light could be redeemed. Rembrandt displays this in the paint Self Portrait as St. Paul, showing how shadows can make one look disconnected and spiritually or emotionally barren. Chiaroscuro is a tool used in both the literary and arts world that can help to evoke more emotion and audience thought. Without it, the