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GOLD. Sima Taslakian AP English Mrs. Halajian . Ay! You!. Technically gold is an element on the Periodic Table, however it was also a form of currency during the time of The Scarlet Letter. Gold is directly connected to wealth, which in turn is associated with power.
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GOLD Sima Taslakian AP English Mrs. Halajian
Ay! You! • Technically gold is an element on the Periodic Table, however it was also a form of currency during the time of The Scarlet Letter. • Gold is directly connected to wealth, which in turn is associated with power. • In chemistry the symbol for gold is Au.
Wealthy Gold • Gold Represents: • The light of the sun. • It was once worn only by princes. • The destroyer all works of magic. • Excellence • Achievement • Wealth • Power
“On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter 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.” Chapter 2 • The gold seems out of place because this is supposed to be a punishment. • The gold thread causes the townspeople to hate Hester more because it shows “luxuriance of fancy.”
“I shall seek this man, as I have sought truth in books: as I have sought gold in alchemy. There is a sympathy that will make me conscious of him. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares.” Chapter 4 • Chillingworth seeks gold in his profession. • Finding the person who took “advantage” of Hester is his greatest treasure. • Money (gold) changes people. Chillingworth’s “gold” changes him.
“One day, as her mother stooped over the cradle, the infant's eyes had been caught by the glimmering of the gold embroidery about the letter; and putting up her little hand she grasped at it, smiling, not doubtfully, but with a decided gleam, that gave her face the look of a much older child.” Chapter 6 • Gold is intriguing even to an infant. • This shows how gold can captivate anyone.
"Ah," replied Roger Chillingworth, with that quietness, which, whether imposed or natural, marked all his deportment, "it is thus that a young clergyman is apt to speak. Youthful men, not having taken a deep root, give up their hold of life so easily! And saintly men, who walk with God on earth, would fain be away, to walk with him on the golden pavements of the New Jerusalem.” Chapter 9 • Here, gold is used in a grand manor. • This also shows how corrupt religion is that they connect gold and wealth with God. Jesus gave away worldly possessions.
“He now dug into the poor clergyman's heart, like a miner searching for gold; or, rather, like a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead man's bosom, but likely to find nothing save mortality and corruption. Alas, for his own soul, if these were what he sought!” Chapter 10 • In this case the gold is actually the secret that Dimmsdale is keeping. • Gold is used here to show how important the secret is. • One man’s shame is another’s treasure.
"Silly Pearl," said she, "what questions are these? There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about. What know I of the minister's heart? And as for the scarlet letter, I wear it for the sake of its gold thread."Chapter 15 By saying she wears the scarlet letter “for the sake of its gold thread” Hester shows how anything gold could be considered of value.
“All at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees.” Chapter 18 • After her “transformation” things around Hester seem to gain value. • There is a juxtaposition in “gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees.”
"A good man's prayers are golden recompense!" rejoined old Roger Chillingworth, as he took his leave. "Yea, they are the current gold coin of the New Jerusalem, with the King's own mint mark on them!"Chapter 20 • Gold is being used in terms of monetary value.
“Thus the night fled away, as if it were a winged steed, and he careering on it; morning came, and peeped, blushing, through the curtains; and at last sunrise threw a golden beam into the study, and laid it right across the minister's bedazzled eyes. There he was, with the pen still between his fingers, and a vast, immeasurable tract of written space behind him!” chapter 20 • The golden light here can represent the light of God.
“The latter was by far the most showy and gallant figure, so far as apparel went, anywhere to be seen among the multitude. He wore a profusion of ribbons on his garment, and gold lace on his hat, which was also encircled by a gold chain, and surmounted with a feather. “ chapter 21 The commander’s clothes are seen to be inappropriate, however he wears gold to display his wealth and power.
“Finding it as impossible to touch her as to catch a humming-bird in the air, he took from his hat the gold chain that was twisted about it, and threw it to the child. Pearl immediately twined it around her neck and waist with such happy skill, that, once seen there, it became a part of her, and it was difficult to imagine her without it.” chapter 22 Gold is constantly used as a form of payment.
“In the spiritual world, the old physician and the minister—mutual victims as they have been—may, unawares, have found their earthly stock of hatred and antipathy transmuted into golden love.” Chapter 24 • Hawthorne compares golden love to hatred and that both hate and love are the same thing in the end.
