The Scarlet Letter: Rhetorical Devices

"Direct opposition to two things compared"

"an unclear, indefinite, or equivocal meaning to a word or phrase"

"The suggesting of additional meanings by a word or expression, apart from its literal definition"

"Representing concepts or objects with other things"

"the precise word choices used"

"A symbol that can be interpreted to reveal a hidden meaning, typically a moral or political one"

"A distinctive feature or dominant idea in an artistic or literary composition.

"To compare in order to show unlikeliness or difference"

"The quality of being in two parts"

Rhetorical Devices in The Scarlet Letter

Diction

Reflects time period and knowledge.

Examples:

• "Meagre, indeed, and cold was the sympathy."
• “Lurid fire in his heart.”
• "The symbol...was red-hot with internal fire, and could be seen glowing all alight."

Description

• Imagery
• Syntax
• Explanation

"The wooden jail was already marked with weather stains and other indications of age, which gave a yet darker aspect to its beetle-browed and gloomy front."

Connotations

Ambiguity

Duality

• Dimmesdale's reaction to his guilt.

• In the beginning, the town shunned Hester for what she had done but once they got to know her, they began to like her and realize that she had just made a mistake.

• At first, no one in the town liked Pearl, considering she was conceived through sin, but in reality she was innocent.

• Chillingworth collects herbs from the graveyard and tells Dimmesdale that they come from the grave of a man with an unconfessed sin in his heart.
• When Dimmesdale reveals his chest at the end, some deny ever seeing a mark on his chest, while some admit.
• The red "A" seen in the sky is believed by Hester and Dimmesdale to stand for "adultery" while the townspeople think it stands for "angel".

Allegory

Pearl (from a clam) Pearl (Hester's Daughter)

• Pearl was born under a unique circumstance

• Peace and joining of her parents

• Isolated from the rest of the town

• Found under unique circumstances

• Represents peace and purity

• Remains hidden from the world

• Appearance: Pearl dresses in brilliant clothes, which was a sign of vanity for the Puritans. At the same time, the other Puritans come to Hester for their clothing needs
• Pearl is very connected with nature which was a "forbidden" area in Puritan society. There are lies and secrets and schemes in the woods but in the towns all this goes away. In a symbolic way, Pearl is the Garden of Eden.

Contrasts

• The forest is where there is secrecy, which is a direct contrast from the very public scaffold (truth).
• A pearl is white, which represents goodness and purity. Pearl is the spawn of a sinner and is often described as a devil child.

Duality Cont.

Motifs

• Knowledge and Secrecy

• Secrecy and bias disguise knowledge
• Knowledge and secrecy are often confused
• The only true knowledge is inner knowledge

• Civilization and Wilderness/Nature

• Contrast of Dimmesdale and Pearl
• Society seeks knowledge which wilderness hides
• Civilization reflects morality and wilderness reflect humanity

• Pearl shuns ideas and relationships with other people in the town and they consider her a child of the devil for doing so, even though they all shunned Hester.
• Hester: The "A" once meant adultery, but came to mean "Angel/Able".
• Although some think Pearl is a devil child, others think she is good.

Symbolism

Contradiction, Irony and Hypocrisy

• Dimmesdale's death

• Rose Bush

• Scarlet Letter "A"

• Pearl

• Is Dimmesdale a saint or sinner?
• Which is worse: adultery or a witch accusation?
• Is Hester's letter truly a punishment?
• What does the "A" stand for?
• Have the Puritans truly gotten away from the English culture?