The Scarlet Letter: Symbols

Symbols are shown in red text whenever they appear in the Plot Summary and Summary and Analysis sections of this LitChart.


Red and Black

Red symbolizes the glow of Hester’s passion. Black represents the devil and sin. Chillingworth, for instance, refers to their shared fate as a “black flower.” The inscription on the tombstone Hester and Dimmesdale share says “On a field, sable, the letter A, gules,” which means “On a black background, the scarlet letter burns.”

The Scarlet Letter

The Puritans mean for the scarlet letter to be a symbol of Hester’s shame. But the narrator describes the letter as a “mystic symbol” that means many things. The letter does represent Hester Prynne’s adultery, but as she grows and changes in the novel, the letter’s symbolism evolves as well. For example, it comes to mean “able” when she becomes a successful seamstress, and Dimmesdale refers to Hester twice as “angel,” giving the letter yet another meaning. In the end, the letter comes to symbolize Hester’s triumph over the very forces that meant to punish her.

Pearl

Pearl is a living symbol, the physical embodiment of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin. In Chapter 19, the narrator even calls Pearl a “living hieroglyphic.” Yet Pearl, from her name to her comfort with nature, is also the most pure character in the novel. While the Puritans see her as a demon, the reader comes to see her as a kind of nature-sprite, cast out by a society that cannot accept her “sinful” origins.