Literary Analysis in the Scarlet Letter

raven 1 In Nathaniel Hawthornes book, The Scarlet Letter, the phrase Opposites force does non always ring true. much(prenominal) is the case amidst a tender(a) beauty and an aging scholar. Through Hawthornes use of figurative speech and im datery, he creates a wintertime- boundary affinityship in the midst of the 2 fonts Roger Chillingworth and Hester Prynne, which ultimately leads to Hesters d possessf each. The character Hester Prynnes unparalle guide y prohibitedhful beauty and concupiscent nature makes her the perfect embodiment of spring.Early on in the text, Hawthorne says She had dark and abundant cop, so burnished that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides organism beautiful from regularity of feature and fetidness of complexion, . . . (50) This picturesque description of Hester is used to not only to show her beauty, tho as well how her beauty is so fresh and vibrant. Her hair creation describe as glossy and abundant alludes to her spring-like qualities because in spring, all plants and creatures argon new and plentiful in number. Hesters position as universe a new mother also makes her typic of spring, because both represent fertility and new action.Hawthorne even goes as far as saying with the infant at her bosom, an reject to remind him of the image if Divine maternalism (53) Hawthorne employ this comparison portrays Hester as being a perfect representation of fertility, nigh to a god-like degree. It is Raven 2 undeniable that spring is the more or less benign and lenient time. Hawthorne almost directly states that Hester is spring when he says, Hesters nature showed itself warm and flush a well-spring of hu troops tenderness, un-failing to every true(a) demand, and inexhaustible by the macroscopicst. (146) This is why Hesters demeanor and character also contributes to her embodying spring. make up by saying that her nature was warm, Hawthorne adds to Hesters emblemism, because spring is the first normalize where tenderness is introduced the warm quality it possesses is also why spring is considered friendly, because it is the savior subsequently a cold, hard winter. Roger Chillingworth represents winter in every possible aspect. His demeanor and display both are strong manifest of how he symbolizes the season of cold.When he is examining Hesters health in the jail, he had a gaze that made her heart ricochet and shudder, and yet so strange and so cold,.. (67) His cold demeanor directly relates to how winter is the coldest of all the seasons. Even something as unbiased as his gaze made Hesters heart, which is the warmth of spring, shudder and get smaller. This parallels how a winter hoar can fling off off the warmth and vibrancy of spring. Chillingworths appearance also contributes to him symbolizing winter.He is described as a man well-stricken in years, a pale, thin, scholar-like visage (55) Winter is the season where things get old, barren, and start d ecaying. So Hawthorne advisedly describes Chillingworth as old, pale, and thin to make the most obvious statement of how the man and season are so closely related. Chillingworth is anything but a thriving individual being thin and pale, he possesses the attributes that a sickly, perhaps dying, would have. Chillingworths insatiable appetite for vindicate against Dimmesdale also lends to him being seen as a representation of winter.Winter, by itself, is a symbol for wrath and revenge. So when Hawthorne says that This un euphoric man had made the very principle of his life torevenge. (232), he is showing the uncanny similarities between Chillingworth and winter. Raven 3 Finally, Chillingworths own name alludes to how he embodies winter. The first 8 letters of his name spell out chilling, which can only be associated with the cold temperatures in winter. The vast leaving between the two characters Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth leads to the rapid descent and incompatibilit y of their birth and to Hesters downfall.Chillingworth is right away to admit how unrealistic his expectations of their relationship are when he says I, - a man already in decay, what had I to do with juvenility and beauty like thine own (69) Chillingworth, describing himself as a man already in decay re-instills how he represents winter, which is the season where all things decay and die. He also says that mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding young into a false and unnatural relation with my decay. (70) Hawthornes use of figurative language is ingenious when he describes Hesters age as a budding offspring. Flowers begin to bud at the radical of spring, so by describing Hesters youth as budding, Hawthorne gives Hester spring-like qualities. The combination of the two prior quotes explains why a relationship between winter and spring could neer endure in harmony. Chillingworth and Hester are two entirely antithetical individuals Chillingworths cold frost h alted any hope of the seedling of love to contract within Hesters heart.Chillingworth acknowledges this fact when he says My heart was a habitation large enough for many guests, but lonely(a) and chill, and without a household fire. (69) In the end, a relationship between this pair could never mould. Hesters lack of love for Chillingworth led her to commit the sin of adultery, her ultimate downfall. When Chillingworth says from the split second when we came down the old church steps together, a married pair, I index have beheld the bale-fire of that scarlet letter glary at the end of our path (69) its as if he knew that Hester would cheat on him all along. Hesters downfall was requisite because Chillingworth could not make her love him receivable to them coming from two entirely different places winter and spring. Raven 4 The character Hester Prynne experiences a downfall due to the winter-spring relationship established between her and Roger Chillingworth, which Hawthorne illustrates by exploitation the literary devices of figurative language and imagery.By using the characters as symbols for seasons, the meaning of why a relationship between the two characters cannot work is intensified and given depth. Through this particular(prenominal) analysis of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, readers can perhaps see that when two people are so tout ensemble different from one another, a happy relationship cannot exist love is never going to grow in spring when it is halted by a winter frost. Raven 5 Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 1850. peeled York Bantam Dell, 2003. Print.