Literary Elements

There were a number of examples of literary elements in SL, which made it a really good "class read." Imagery, foreshadowing, symbolism, allusions, and characterization were all used in the story at some point.

Imagery was the most prominent feature in SL. It made SL a Romantic novel. The word choice was very good and descriptive, and the majority of the writing was a description of some sort; there wasn't really a whole lot of plot. This ties in with another aspect of the book: characterization. Four characters (Hester Prynne, Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth) were constantly being evaluated and Hawthorne put a lot of emphasis on describing their appearance and also contemplating their personality. The names alone (Chillingworth and Dimmesdale) create a vivid image of these characters for the reader. Imagery is a big part of Romantic writing. There were many instances in the book where I noted the imagery to be really exceptional: Hester and her baby Pearl on the scaffold, the characterization of Chillingworth, and the scene in the forest.

The use of symbolism in SL was blatantly obvious. Pearl was the living reminder of the sin Hester committed, the scarlett letter took away Hester's individuality, and the rose bush (contrasting to the ugly jail beside it) emphasized how Hester did not belong in prison, just as the rose bush did not belong there. These are just some of the examples of symbolism in the book. There were also several allusions in the book, relating to the Puritan Boston before the Romantic time period. Examples of these allusions included references to Ann Hutchinson, John Wilson, Bradstreet, Endicott, Dudley, Bellingham, and the list goes on and on.

These literary elements, unlike those in other books we've read for class, were clear and defined, which was surprising to me because of all of the flowery language. I expected the book to be very difficult to translate into present-day words, but once I got used to reading SL it was easy to pick out the important elements in the book.