Literal Meaning:
The literal meaning of the scarlet "A" is simple; it stand for "adulterer". Hester was sent ahead of her husband to Boston. Her husband never showed up, and people assumed he had died. Then, Hester was with child. Scandalous! Since the novel takes place in a Puritan age Boston, religion and sin had large impact on one's social standing. Sin was not tolerated, and people were harshly punished for disobeying God's law by the church. As a punishment for her sin, Hester is forced to wear this "A" so that she and everyone will remember and her sin. It is meant to make her physically live with her sin and meant to socially isolate her from the "pure" and "sinless" people. Because, a mistake dictates a life devoid of social interaction without a stigma attached your chest.
An interesting thing Hester does is she decorates her "A" and makes it beautiful and adorns it with silver string. As I read the novel I couldn't help but ask myself why she does such a thing. Is she beautifying her ""A".
"It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore, and which was of a splendour in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony."
Is Hester proud of her sin? Is she beautifying her sin? No, I think that Hester was accepting sin as a natural part of her self and making the best out of an awful situation. Her painstaking decoration of her letter is almost like her taking a painstaking battle with sin.
Metaphorical Meaning
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| Subtle, yet funny |
“Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. . . ."
This quote is said by Pearl in chapter 16, and reinforces the negative connotation that the letter holds and that leeches onto Hester. It is a constant reminder that all is not well with Hester and that she is sinful and she will always take that sin with her. The sunlight, something that is light and good, runs from Hester as she draws near because she is sinful and because of the blazing letter on her chest.
The "A" also symbolizes Hester's guilt for her sin and it is always mentioned as physically burning her like in Chapter 14: "The scarlet letter burned on Hester's bosom". The letter is also synonymous with Pearl, the bastard child born out of Hester's wedlock. Pearl has a strange affinity toward the scarlet letter and is somewhat connected to it. She often questions why the scarlet letter is on her mother's breast and what it means.
Then, in chapter 13, a change in the town's view of Hester's letter comes about. After about 7 of Hester's punishment, the connotation associated with Hester and her scarlet letter shifts from negative to positive. Despite the 7 years of social isolation and judgment, Hester does kind acts around the town like visiting the sick, making articles of clothing for people, and was just kind to her tormentors. Also, "the blameless purity of her life during all these years" helped Hester come into the public's favor. Instead of being viewed as a harlot, Hester is now viewed as "a Sister of Mercy"."Such helpfulness was found in her-so much power to do and power to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet 'A' by its original signification. They said that it meant 'Able'; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength."
It's interesting that as Hester becomes more useful to everybody, the continue to view her in such regard despite their previous feelings toward her and her misdoings. It seems that because of Hester's self imposed aspect of punishment gave her a new image around Boston.
