Skip to main content

What figurative language is present in chapter 21 of The Scarlet Letter?

In this chapter, the narrator refers to Hester as "the people's victim and life-long bond-slave."  This is a metaphor that describes the way Hester feels and has felt for quite a long time; she very much feels victimized by their treatment of her.  Further, Hester's many years spent lonely and victimized lead the narrator to compare those painful years to a "draught of [...] wormwood and aloes," another metaphor to describe the bitterness of Hester's punishment and life since her sin was found out.


Pearl's bright and colorful garments are also compared via metaphor to a "butterfly's wing" or a "bright flower," further strengthening her association with nature.  While Hester's brow is compared to "marble" (another metaphor), Pearl is matched, via simile, with a "bird."  


Pearl also uses personification to describe the "old trees" in the forest, trees which she says "can hear," as well as the sky, which she says can see.  The Puritans, however, are characterized as living a life "tint[ed] [with] sad gray, brown, or black," and the "mood and manners of the age" are described as being of "gray or sable tinge."  These colors are all symbols of austerity, muted emotion, and a certain darkness of character.  


Finally, the space around Hester is described as a "magic circle" into which no one will step, another metaphor: there is no magic, only the ill feelings of the other townspeople.  

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.