Biblical Allusions in 'The Scarlet Letter' by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Essay from the year 2019 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Comparative Literature, University of Stuttgart, language: English, abstract: There are many examples and different perspectives of human conditions and experiences to be found in the Bible which give depth to a vast amount of Literature. Hawthorne's work 'The Scarlet Letter' is full of biblical symbols, reverences and up to whole storylines that seem to be very similar to one another. Especially because the 'Legal metaphor that runs all through the Bible, [...] sees a man [or in this case a woman] as under a trial and subject to judgement' is also the topic of Hawthorne´s book. The use of biblical allusions allowed him to connect deeper with his audience because they were intimately familiar with the bible at that time and add more meaning to his story. To take a look at how he used these allusions and what effect they might have had on the reader, this essay will break down the main connections of 'The Scarlet Letter' and the Bible in order of general events that are similar to the specific symbols used.