The Importance of Light and Darkness in The Scarlet Letter
One of the biggest illusions in The Scarlet Letter is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s use of light and darkness to hide and reveal his characters. The three characters used most in Hawthorne’s literary symbols are Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. They are used most frequently because of their importance; they all have something to hide. Throughout the novel, Chillingworth is hiding that he is actually Hester’s husband, and not a doctor. He also hides his revenge for the father of Hester’s child, whom he later finds out, is Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is a very guilt-ridden man, painfully hiding that he is the father of Pearl. Hester, perhaps with the most secrets of all, hides that Chillingworth is her husband, and that Dimmesdale is both her lover and the father of her child. In scenes that use light, there is something hidden that other characters do not see, while in the darkness, the characters true feelings and situations come to be known. The writer of this paper contends that The Scarlet Letter uses light to disguise the characters, and darkness to show reality.
“Mommy, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 166). This quote, uttered by Pearl in the forest depicts Hawthorne’s use of light to hide the characters. This is used when Hester is in the forest for one of the few times alone with Dimmesdale, and the light does not touch her. Through Pearl, Hawthorne shows that the only time Hester is able to show her true self and come out of hiding is in the darkness. Hawthorne uses light to disguise the three characters, Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, on many different occasions in The Scarlet Letter. This is seen within the first few pages, as Hester mounts the scaffold for the first time. The scene takes place in they day, light surrounding the marketplace. Hester hides two things in this scene. First, she refuses...