Your Status: Logged out Log in

Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses plant imagery to symbolize both the negative and positive character traits and to set the mood of the novel.  

Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Mon Nov 17 2003

Page Preview
Preview
Previous 1 of 1 Next

On the left is an image preview of every page of this document, and below are the first 150 words with formatting removed:

Throughout the novel, Hawthorne uses plant imagery to symbolize both the negative and positive character traits and to set the mood of the novel. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place during the age of Puritanism in Boston where a young and attractive Puritan woman commits adultery with the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale. Chillingworth, Hesters' husband, whom everyone thought was captured by Indians comes to town, but only Hester knows his true identity. Chillingworth vows to figure out who Hesters' lover is and he succeeds. Ultimately, this novel contains deception and guilt which is in the form of plant imagery. Hawthorne uses many different negative variations of plant imagery to illustrate his ideas. First of all, living plant life, portraying the torturing of Dimmesdale by Chillingworth, remains evident throughout the novel. For example, when Chillingworth went to the forest to gather herbs he "dug up roots and plucked off twigs...

Get instant access



  • Instant, unlimited access to our documents in full
  • Swap your work for free access, or pay £4.99
  • To see the full version of this document and 147,231 others
Register Now
OR

Receive email updates for this category



  • Simply tell us your email address and receive a weekly Study Help Email for FREE
  • Receive 3 FREE essay views with each email
  • Get all the latest essays from Coursework.Info & discussion from TheStudentRoom.co.uk