Biblical Allusions and Symbolisms in the Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is filled with Biblical allusions and symbolisms that help enhance and deepen the context of the story. Watson found 38 allusions in his A Dictionary of Biblical Allusions in the Scarlet Letter and even “acknowledges the possibility that he may have overlooked some of the novel’s more obscure biblical allusions” (Watson 4). Knowing that the Puritan “interpretation of scriptures was a harsh one” (Puritans) and “emphasized on redemptive piety and conversion and not repression” (Puritans), what would these references have meant to Hawthorne’s original Puritan audience? First, let’s take a quick glance at just how Puritan’s viewed and interpreted the Bible. As already
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“Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet only half his victim, that the outward guise of purity was but a lie and that, if truth everywhere be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom beside Hester Prynne’s”(Hawthorne 61)? Scripture tells us that Satan was a fallen angel. “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). This one is an interesting one for me, because not only does it show the symbolism with Satan as a “bad angel”, but just the thought of how in today’s age people show or “wear” their sin so much more outwardly than they did in the Puritan age. The Puritan audience would have interpreted this as just another evil thought from the evil Satan, because the devil is behind all things that are evil. However, I wonder if more of today’s readers would read it with intrigue as I did. The Puritan audience would however, also realize that there are in fact more people who commit the crime of adultery. Even Hester’s partner, that we now know is Dimmesdale, would not come forth, because of the dire …show more content…
According to Watson, he goes way beyond that however, “refabricating Jewish and Christian ideas and tailoring them to his own particular literary needs” (Watson 3). “The sheer numbers of these references, when coupled with his marked willingness to adapt biblical themes to The Scarlet Letter, demonstrate the profound significance that he invests in biblical figures and concepts” (Watson 3). The Puritans audience would portray Hester, as a fallen, tempted, adulteress woman; Dimmesdale as the holy soul of the community; and Chillingworth as the man done wrong, the husband abandoned and deceived. To a modern day reader, Hawthorne portrays Hester as a woman who continues to defy the dark side of her even after making a grave mistake; Dimmesdale as a not so saintly, morally weak man who can share in Hester’s punishment rather he hides in sin; and Chillingworth as a disfigured man, ugly on the inside and out, seeking for
“Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet only half his victim, that the outward guise of purity was but a lie and that, if truth everywhere be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom beside Hester Prynne’s”(Hawthorne 61)? Scripture tells us that Satan was a fallen angel. “And he said unto them, I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven” (Luke 10:18). This one is an interesting one for me, because not only does it show the symbolism with Satan as a “bad angel”, but just the thought of how in today’s age people show or “wear” their sin so much more outwardly than they did in the Puritan age. The Puritan audience would have interpreted this as just another evil thought from the evil Satan, because the devil is behind all things that are evil. However, I wonder if more of today’s readers would read it with intrigue as I did. The Puritan audience would however, also realize that there are in fact more people who commit the crime of adultery. Even Hester’s partner, that we now know is Dimmesdale, would not come forth, because of the dire …show more content…
According to Watson, he goes way beyond that however, “refabricating Jewish and Christian ideas and tailoring them to his own particular literary needs” (Watson 3). “The sheer numbers of these references, when coupled with his marked willingness to adapt biblical themes to The Scarlet Letter, demonstrate the profound significance that he invests in biblical figures and concepts” (Watson 3). The Puritans audience would portray Hester, as a fallen, tempted, adulteress woman; Dimmesdale as the holy soul of the community; and Chillingworth as the man done wrong, the husband abandoned and deceived. To a modern day reader, Hawthorne portrays Hester as a woman who continues to defy the dark side of her even after making a grave mistake; Dimmesdale as a not so saintly, morally weak man who can share in Hester’s punishment rather he hides in sin; and Chillingworth as a disfigured man, ugly on the inside and out, seeking for