Scott Lee
11/10/07
Mrs. Himes
H.A.L. P.6
Romanticism Essay
“The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne 182). As in romanticism, symbolism is used very often, and Nathaniel symbolizes the letter A to shame, despair, and solitude in the story, “The Scarlet Letter,” which brooded on problem of sin such as adultery in the early Puritan society of early America. Also, in this story, there are many other symbols and settings used. Additionally, the story, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” describes human greediness and the consequences of greediness; furthermore, there are many symbols and settings, too. Also, this story is obsessed with evil. The Scarlet Letter and The Devil and Tom Walker significantly reflect to the ideas of Romanticism period. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, demonstrates that everyone is capable of committing sins by the way characters are symbolized, the settings of the story, and its plot. IN the Devil and Tom Walker, Tom Walker shows his greediness and the consequences of his greediness as well as the Scarlet Letter.
As the Romanticism period required many usages of symbols, there are many symbols in both The Devil and Tom Walker and The Scarlet Letter. In The Devil and Tom Walker, the black man whom Tom Walker deals with symbolizes the Devil. Washington writes, “Tom lost his patience and his piety—‘The Devil take me,’ said he, ‘if I have made a farthing!’ Just then, there were three loud knocks at the street door. He stepped out to see who was there. A black man was holding a black horse, which neighed and stamped with impatience” (Irving 244). In this quote, it can be clearly seen that the black man whom Tom Walker mentions to take himself is the Devil. From the beginning of the story, Washington does not describe the black man as the Devil until later when Tom Walker deals with him. As many as Washington Irving used symbols significantly in his book, Nathaniel used many symbols in the Scarlet Letter, too. For example, Nathaniel mentions about the letter A which Hester has, “The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne 182). Through this quote he symbolizes the letter A not only to adultery, but also to shame, despair, solitude, and able later on. This demonstrates how letter A symbolizes different ideas at a same time, and also how Nathaniel Hawthorne sees the problems in the early Puritan society, a problem that many people commit sins, hide their sins, and behave like hypocrites. Overall, symbolism is one of the important literary elements which reflect the Romanticism. Washington Irving uses symbolism to show that the black man is the Devil ion the story, “The Devil and Tom Walker,” while Nathaniel Hawthorne symbolized Hester’s letter A to adultery, shame, and sins. Therefore, the readers can see how symbolisms of each novel are connected to the Romanticism.
Moreover, as symbolism is essential to the Romanticism, settings are also important. Washington Irving for example, describes its setting as a dark, evil, and dim place, “Anyone but he would have felt unwilling to linger in this lonely, melancholy place, for the common people had a bad opinion of it, from the stories handed down from the time of the Indian wars; when it was asserted that the savages held incantations here, and made sacrifices to the evil spirit” (Irving 238). This basically shows how the place is related to evil by describing the place darkly like the place where evil things are associated. This also shows that this setting takes it to the Dark Romanticism because the settings are obsessed with the enigma of evil. In addition, Nathaniel Hawthorne also sued settings to reveal its Romanticism its Romanticism. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes the period of time the story takes place, “…But in that early severity of the Puritan character, an inference of this kind could not so indubitably be drawn” (Hawthorne 43). This definitely shows the characteristics of Dark Romanticism because its setting is no Puritan time, which the Dark Romanticism is built upon. In conclusion, both books are related to the Romanticism and these reflect the beliefs of the Dark Romanticism by showing the settings. The setting in Devil and Tom walker is likely to be dark and evil while the setting in the Scarlet Letter, which is Puritan time, reflects to Dark Romanticism directly.
Lastly, the plots of these books also reflect to Romanticism. The plot in the Devil and Tom Walker is described, “you shall lend money at two per cent a money.’ ‘Egad, I’ll charge four,’ replied Tom Walker. ‘You shall extort bonds, foreclose mortgages, drive the merchant to bankruptcy’” (Irving 242). The basic plot of this story is that Tom Walker deals with Devil for the wealth, and finally perishes because of his greediness. This quote provides how evil Tom Walker is and the reason he will eventually perish. Furthermore, the plot in the Scarlet Letter also reflects the beliefs of Romanticism. One of the townsmen in the story explains what Hester did, “else you would surely have heard of Mistress Hester Prynne, and her evil doings. She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale’s church” (Hawthorne ). Although this quote does not directly show the plot, this provides the fact that Hester had committed adultery in Puritan society and therefore is in trial. This obviously shows that Hester’s action reflects to the belief of Romanticism. Overall, the plots of each story reveal its Romanticism beliefs through the deals Tom Walker has with Devil and Hester being in trial for committing sins.
In conclusion, literary elements such as symbols, settings, and plots used in the Scarlet Letter and The Devil and Tom Walker reveal that these two stories are written based on Romanticism. Hester’s letter, Puritan society period, and Hester in trial because of her sin are the example of each element in the Scarlet Letter; they reflect the Romanticism beliefs. Moreover, the black man symbolizing Devil, the dim place where the Devil is, and the plot that Tom Walker deals in an evil way are examples of symbols, settings, and plots in the Devil and Tom Walker; these also reveal the beliefs of Romanticism. Through these books, the readers know how the sins lead to bad consequences, and the readers should try not to commit sins.
