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The Scarlet Letter Man and the Natural World Quotes Page 1
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
| Quote #1 But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him. (1.3) |
Ah, yes, the famous rosebush. And not just any rosebush, a wild rosebush that grows of its own free will, and not because a Puritan society has carefully looked after it. This rosebush contrasts greatly with the gloomy, grey world around it, creating a color scheme that will thread throughout the story. Our narrator also seems to give us a hint at this moment about some of the big underlying themes of his story. By the end of this chapter, we know that The Scarlet Letter will look at the battle between Nature and civilization or Nature and the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Something tells us we’ll be rooting for Nature – it seems like the underdog.
| Quote #2 But the proprietor appeared already to have relinquished as hopeless the effort to perpetuate on this side of the Atlantic, in a hard soil and amid the close struggle for subsistence, the native English taste for ornamental gardening. (7.20) |
So, the Puritans left England because they didn’t like it and it’s religious trends too much, and then once they get to America, they try to grow gardens like those back home. Apparently, American soil is very different from European soil. The governor (who owns this garden) is able to grow cabbages, a pumpkin vine, apple trees, and a rosebush. By comparing garden goals (England vs. America), we might infer that it’s hard to control or contain Nature in America – it’s got a mind of it’s own.
| Quote #3 [Mistress Hibbons:] “Wilt thou go with us tonight? There will be a merry company in the forest; and I well-nigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one.” (8.39) |
We learn pretty quickly that the forest is a place of naughtiness – that is, it’s where the witches go to hang out with the Black Man (a.k.a. the Devil). Mistress Hibbons is often trying to convince and recruit people to go with her to the forest at night. This might be a good time to go research witchcraft in America and the Salem Witch Trials. What kind of person might be drawn to the idea of witchcraft in this time? Why do you think Miss Hibbons is so excited to have Hester Prynne on board?
