of her unplanned and unorthodox coupling of her two parents. Phrases such as "vivid tints" and "bright complexion" serve to create a very clear verbal picture that gives the reader a distinct impression of what Pearl looks like and how she is presented in this novel. 

The interesting aspect of nature in this important chapter is the way in which sunlight is shown to shun Hester Prynne, as opposed to Pearl, her daughter. Note how this curious phenomenon is described in the text:

The sportive sunlight--feebly sportive, at best, in the predominant pensiveness of teh day and scene--withdrew itself as they came nigh, and left the spots where it had danced the drearier because they had hoped to find them bright.

The role of nature is incredibly important and symbolic in this case. It is ironic that Hester comes to the forest with the intention of revealing truth to Dimmesdale about the identity of Chillingworth. However, the way in which the sunlight appears to be avoiding Hester indicates that this is not the case. If we equate the meaning of sunlight with truth, then this strange behaviour on the part of the sunlight seems to point towards the way in which Hester herself is ignoring or intentionally avoiding the "truth" that she overtly wants to convey to Dimmesdale. If you read on, the next few chapters clearly show that this is the case.

Imagery is when an author uses words to paint a mental "image" in the mind of the reader. It is defined fully as...

...the forming of mental images, figures, or likenesses of things. It is also the use of language to represent actions, persons, objects, and ideas descriptively.

In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, an example of imagery can be found in Chapter Ten, "The Leech and His Patient," as Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl move through the grave yard. Pearl comes to the attention of Roger Chillingworth and Mr. Dimmesdale:

So she drew her mother away, skipping, dancing, and frisking fantastically, among hillocks of the dead people, like a creature that had nothing in common with a bygone and buried generation, nor owned herself akin to it.

This is a much more "colorful" way to describe a young child running through the cemetery, unconcernedly, with no thought to the graves she is passing over...even unaware that she is a mortal being as are those buried beneath her feet.

Hawthorne pits the natural world against the civilized world in The Scarlet Letter. The natural world symbolizes the freedom that has been driven out of Puritan society. But this is not simply a good/evil dichotomy. The chaos and anarchy of nature can also represent a threat. Moral goodness lies somewhere between Puritan society and unbridled nature. Nature imagery in the novel reflects this ambiguity.

Early on, Hester is likened in a positive way to nature, depicted as a healthy growing plant that the repression of a prison, a symbol of civilization, can't obliterate. She is implicitly like the wild roses blooming outside the prison door:

A wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty.

Hester, like the rose, has a fragrance and fragile beauty to offer the world. This symbolizes the part of her soul that can't be crushed by social forces. The rosebush is also explicitly tied to another good woman who rebelled against oppression, Anne Hutchinson.

Later, however, Hester's association with nature becomes problematic:

She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness. ... Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods. ... The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.

Here we see that nature has both strengthened Hester but also threatens to lead her too far outside the moral imperatives of civilization. Indians are associated with both nature and the devil in Hawthorne's work, so Hester wandering as freely as an Indian is a signal of danger.

Pearl is even more strongly associated with nature than Hester. She is depicted as a wild creature, reflecting her out-of-wedlock birth. Flowers and plants suit her better than the jewels associated with civilization. Hester states,

Those simple flowers adorn her! Had she gathered pearls, and diamonds and rubies, they could not have become her better.

Hester grows through suffering but mostly through occupying a space on the fringes of society, on the border between civilization and nature. By drawing from and balancing both spheres of life, she becomes a person of great strength and moral worth.

In The Scarlet Letter, the weeds that grow from the grave – sprouting from the heart of the sinner – are visible manifestations of his sin. For Dimmesdale, who notices these weeds, they represent his worst fear and, strangely, his greatest longing – exposure. He comes to believe that his sin will also sprout from his heart somehow, that his sin will reveal itself to the town without his knowledge, as the weeds grow from the sinner’s grave without his permission. He makes his fears manifest when he carves the A upon his own breast, and flagellates himself in the night, marking his body with the evidence of his sin. Likewise, the poisonous plants that grow uncultivated in the wilderness can be viewed as the product of sin, which will gradually poison the sinner and even cause his death if it is not rooted out. Dimmesdale’s failing health is evidence of the gradual death his unrevealed sin is bringing about.

The forest has two symbolic values in the novel. For the townspeople, it is the dark, wild place where the devil dances and where witches’ covens congregate under the light of the moon. The wild natives are at home in the forest, but no civilized Christian would ever feel safe there, or make the forest his home.

For Dimmsedale and Hester, the forest is a place to hide from the prying eyes of the townspeople and from Chillingworth. They can relax in the dimness of the woods, knowing that their tormentors won’t follow them. It is also a place of release for them and for their daughter, Pearl. They can be together as a family, speak openly with each other and the sun even shines through the canopy of the trees and onto them like a blessing. Hester can take off her A and let her hair down, and Pearl – the imp of evil, the symbol of their sin -- can frolic and play, almost like a normal child.

Dimmesdale is almost envious of the fact that Hester’s sin was publicly revealed on the scaffold. Though it is a humiliating punishment, it also unburdens the sinner by exposing the sin. He pleads with Hester, in his sermon, to reveal the name of her partner in sin, but she won’t. He is too weak to reveal his guilt; she is too strong to do so. So Dimmesdale visits the scaffold in the night, hidden by the darkness, although the reader sees his longing for the release that exposure would bring. He finally gets his opportunity at the end of the book when he, Hester and Pearl gather on the scaffold as he dies.

So though he is drawn to the forest where sin can be hidden, he longs for the scaffold where sin can be revealed. He fears the unbidden growth of weeds signaling his sin, yet the toxins that build up from that lack of release finally kill him.

Playing a critical role in The Scarlet Letter, Nature acts in contrast to Puritan society, creating symbols and imagery, demonstrating Pathetic Fallacy, while also reflecting changes in characters.

• Contrast to Puritan Society

From the onset of the narrative about Hester Prynne, the contrast of the beauty of nature set against the harshness of Puritanical law is apparent with the juxtaposition of the weatherbeaten prison door with the rusted latch against the lovely wild rosebush that is held out as an invitation to "some sweet moral blossom" for the ensuing tale.

After Hester is made to wear the scarlet A upon her bosom, (Puritan law), her beauty seems to fade, and in Chapter 16 when Hester enters the forest with Pearl, the child remarks that the sunshine runs from her mother, who is in the darkness of her sin, while the innocent child "catches" a stream of light.

The great black forest--stern as it showed itself to those who brought the guilt and troubles of the world into its bosom--became the playmate of the lonely infant, as well as it knew how.

• Symbolism

--In Chapter 16, the forest's chilly gloom represents the mood of Hester's soul that has been in a "moral wilderness in which she had so long been wandering." 

--The bubbling brook is representative of Pearl "inasmuch as the current of her life gushed from a well-spring as mysterious, and had flowed through scenes shadowed as heavily with gloom."

--Reunited after seven years, the minister and Hester recall their "consecrated love affair" in this forest.  Thus, the forest gives her renewed life, and as she casts off her bonnet, Hester's hair is revitalized and shines again with rich, dark color. She also throws her scarlet A into the brook. Further, the brook acts as a mirror, reflecting Pearl's pointing to Hester's letter, insisting that she return it to her bosom, again becoming a "melancholy brook."

--The apparent symbolism of the forest's acceptance of Pearl acts with its sunshine and reflective brook act as reminders that Pearl has been born of a natural union in contrast to a sanctioned Puritan union.

--The rosebush by the prison door represents the indomitable spirit of mankind.

• Imagery

--In the first chapter, nature presents imagery connotative of the harshness of Puritan justice:

Before this ugly edifice [the prison],... was a grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pig-weed, apple-pern, and such unsightly vegetation that had so early torne the black flower of civilized society, a prison.

Yet, there is also

--A wild rose-bush…covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner

--The black plants which Chillingworth gathers symbolize the darkness of his soul.

• Pathetic Fallacy (The attribution of human qualities to nature)

In Chapter 18, Hawthorne writes of the

"...sympathy of Nature--that wild, heathen Nature of the forest, never subjugated by human law, no illumined by higher truth--with the bliss of these two spirits!  Love,...must always create a sunshine,...Had the forest still kept its gloom, it would have been bright in Hester's eyes, and bright in Arthur Dimmesdale's!

• Reflective of Change

By the prison, the grass is wretched, the herbs that Chillingworth pulls are black, suggesting the evil of retribution; however, the brook runs delightedly and the sun shines. In the forest Hester is more like herself before she has been scorned by the community, and the minister is able to be himself and relax. Nature floods the scene with sunshine, indicating its approval.

In this novel, Nature is juxtaposed with Puritan civilization in order to point out the terrible flaws in the latter. In the very first chapter, the narrator draws our attention to the "black flower of civilized society," a prison. Then also highlights the rose bush, covered in gorgeous flowers, that seems a sign to each prisoner as he enters the prison that "the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him."  Unlike the "civilized" Puritans, Nature appears to offer a prisoner its sympathy, while the sympathy that such a prisoner would receive from her fellows is "Meagre, indeed, and cold [...]."  The fact that a prison is chosen to represent Puritan civilization compared to the beautiful rose bush chosen to represent Nature also shows Hawthorne's judgment of this group of people.

Further, as if to symbolize the way in which Hester is somehow set apart from her Puritan peers, she lives in "comparative remoteness," in a cottage near the sea and the wooded hills.  Rather than live in town, the place of rules and judgment, she lives in a more natural setting.  Moreover, when she meets with Dimmesdale in the forest later in the novel, it must be in a natural setting because "both the minister and she would need the whole wide world to breathe in while they talked together [...]."  There's a sense of being stifled, of being forced to be something they are not, when they are in town.

Hester's scarlet letter is a symbol of her society's laws and judgment, as well as a sign that Hester herself feels bound by them.  Pearl, however, simply "cannot be made amenable to [such] rules."  She is constantly compared to a bird or a flower, or a sprite -- natural creatures that aren't bound by the laws of civilization but by the laws of nature.  Thus, when Pearl is very young, she throws flowers at her mother's scarlet "A" and dances wildly whenever she strikes it.  When she ages, Pearl fashions her own green "A" on her breast, made of grass, as though to signify that she is bound to and by Nature alone.  She points out that Nature does not seem to love her mother, as her mother is bound by Puritanical rules rather than natural ones.  She holds herself to unnatural standards, and so the sun will not shine on her (until she removes the letter and cap in the forest with Dimmesdale). 

These examples and many more help to show that the Puritans, their beliefs, their judgmental natures, and their way of life, are unnatural.  They ask people to go against their own natures for the sake of fitting in, and they punish people incredibly harshly when they fail to fit.  It is a strong indictment of the Puritan character.

First, remember that imagery is descriptive language that appeals to one of the five senses (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell). The Scarlet Letter is full of visual imagery, particularly in the areas of color, light and dark, and nature.

I encourage you to use the light and dark imagery to explore the honesty versus secrecy theme that is so prevalent in this novel. One of the best scenes to find examples comes in Chapters 16-19, when Hester and Pearl take a walk in the forrest and find Dimmesdale there. Notice as you re-read these chapters the use of shadow and sunlight imagery. Often, Pearl is seen only in sunlight ("Pearl had stood still in the sunshine" p.169), while the clouds tend to put shadows only on Hester.  

In this scene, Pearl asks Hester about "The Black Man." This term could be a representation of the devil, or simply the personification of evil. Note that it is only in the secrecy (shadows) of the forrest that Hester feels safe to discuss that she has actually met the Black Man once in her life.

Later in the scene, Dimmesdale walks by, and he and Hester are able, for the first time since the first scaffold scene, to regard one another without the judgmental eyes of the townspeople. Hester has the courage to momentarily remove her scarlet letter and when she does, it is as if the shadows and gloom of the forrest momentarily lift, and sunshine fills the space as well as her heart.

Essentially, these four chapters use sunlight and shadow as images which parallel honesty and secrecy, which is a deeper level of a good versus evil theme. This is also a point of transformation for Hester, one in which she allows herself to be honest out loud for the first time in the story. I think you will find several examples within this forrest scene to make several points on this theme.

First, my advice would be to take advantage of the many resources right here on Enotes. Attached is a link to Sources for Further Study for the novel The Scarlet Letter, where you will find great articles that can expose you to more information about the novel.

This said, let's go to your question:

There is, indeed, a constant contrast between light and darkness in The Scarlet Letter. The saga of light versus darkness is exemplified in many ways throughout the novel:

• the battle between Chillingworth and Hester over Dimmesdale's spirituality (damnation versus salvation)—Look for the article "Dimmesdale's Fall" by Edward Davidson (1963). It is an old article, but it shines a good light on many topics such as this one.
• Dimmesdale's movement from a saintly light into dark misery
• the darkness of the forest where Hester and Dimmesdale meet in secret
• the need for Dimmesdale and Hester to find their light and end their darkness

Let's focus on Dimmesdale and his own light and darkness inner battles.

In chapter XI, titled "The Interior of as Heart," there is a very descriptive excerpt toward the end of the chapter that brings up the debate of light versus darkness from the point of view of Dimmesdale's misery.

He kept vigils, likewise, night after night, sometimes in utter darkness; sometimes with a glimmering lamp; and sometimes, [...] by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it.

We could argue that Dimmesdale's state of mind is constantly switching on and off, much like the lights he chooses to use for his "constant introspection." Essentially, the darkness would be torture while the light would be clarity. However, we can see that his misery continues.

In the darkness, Dimmesdale could see visions in the mirror, which punished his psyche even more. However, like the text states,

He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured, but could not purify, himself.

These last words are exemplify the light and darkness in Dimmesdale's soul. He tortured himself with darkness trying to get to the light somehow, but that is not how it works. He would have had to admit his actions, lose the love of the people, and lose his good name. He won't do that, so his pain continues.

Like stated previously, there are other instances of darkness and light that take place in the novel.

In chapter XVII "The Pastor and his Parishioner," there is an example of darkness and light in the forest. The darkness of the forest provides anonymity for Hester and Dimmesdale. They can only carry out their relationship in the darkness and in hiding.

Hester very much wishes that things would be different. She obviously enjoys spending time with Dimmesdale and, what is more, she continuously offers solutions for him that he cannot even fathom.

Here we have a huge irony: the darkness protecting them, when both Hester and Dimmesdale, in their hearts, would like for it all to come to the light.

No golden light had ever been so precious as the gloom of this dark forest. Here, seen only by his eyes, the scarlet letter need not burn into the bosom of the fallen woman! Here, seen only by her eyes, Arthur Dimmesdale, false to God and man, might be, for one moment, true!

Therefore, light and darkness are continuously brought up throughout the novel to illustrate the conflicts of the characters and their lives.

In the novel, light is often associated with goodness and nature while darkness is associated with sinfulness, guilt, and the unnatural. Consider the pine trees which are "aged, black and solemn" that "figure as Puritan elders" in Pearl's imagination. Their darkness seems to symbolize the lack of goodness and purity in the Puritan character (at least in the novel): we might reflect on those hard-hearted "self-constituted judges" who discuss Hester's punishment at the beginning of the story. One wishes the letter "A" could be branded upon Hester's skin, and another thinks Hester's punishment ought to be death. These women are unnatural and lack mercy and compassion; their statements say more about their own hearts than Hester's. They have dark hearts indeed. Consider, also, the way Chillingworth is always referred to as the "Black Man"—another name for the devil, sure, but one that uses darkness to symbolize the guilt and growing unnaturalness in his character.

Consider, on the other hand, the description of Hester as she stands upon the scaffold. The narrator says,

Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped.

She is described as shining and as though she wears a "halo"; further, her scarlet letter is actually described as being "illuminated upon her bosom," as though it, too, is lit up. Hester may have sinned, according to the laws of her community, but she was only acting upon her natural impulse of love for another; her action has done nothing to diminish her goodness. Thus, we see how light is connected to goodness and what is natural, versus darkness's connection to guilt and unnaturalness.

There are many symbols in this novel. The most obvious one is the scarlet letter A that Hester must wear on her dress. The prison door is a symbol, Pearl, Hester's daughter is a symbol, the red mark on Dimmesdale's chest is a symbol, the meteor, the woods, etc. Once you know what the theme of the story is, and you can read about that here on enotes, you can pretty much figure out what the symbols stand for.

I'll get you started. The scarlet letter A on Hester's chest is supposed to brand her as an "Adulteress" for having a child out of wedlock when not married (at least everyone thinks she is not married - and she is NOT married to the father of the child, in any case). So the scarlet letter stands for sin. However, its symbolism changes as the story progresses. When Hester is out of jail, she becomes an important part of the community and has many skills. So some of the townsfolk say she is very "able" and perhaps now the A stands for that.

It can also be said that the A eventually comes to stand for Hester's individualism. She is pretty brave, don't you think, staying in a place where everyone shuns her for her sin? She is set apart from the Puritan society, but Hawthorne is criticizing the Puritan society, not Hester. So, maybe the "A" stands for "Apart" and being apart from hypocrites is always a good thing.

Try to look at the story and see where the symbols I have outlined appear, and you should be able to figure out what they mean. Good luck!

The scaffold represents the restrictive lives of the Puritans, as Hester has to endure the "world's ignominious stare" on the scaffold at the beginning of the novel. At the end, it is rather Reverend Dimmesdale who opens himself up to public scorn on the scaffold when he reveals that he is Pearl's father. Ironically, however, the townspeople do not see those who stand on the scaffold as they really are--they are quick to condemn Hester but refuse to condemn their beloved minister even when he confesses his sin.

On the other hand, the natural world is a place where Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale can be truly free. It is free of social constraints, where Hester removes her letter for a brief time. As a romantic and as someone who understood the transcendental movement, Hawthorne endows nature with a kind of moral authority that supersedes the narrow views of the Puritans.

As a Romantic author, Hawthorne ascribed to the idea that nature is a positive entity that stands in contrast with the corruption of society.

Hawthorne introduces nature to the plot of his famous novel in the very first chapter, when he describes the wild rose bush that grows beside the prison door. The rose bush is both beautiful and purely natural, yet it is positioned next to the hideous, oppressive symbol of society’s penchant for punishment. When the narrator says that he might pluck one of its gorgeous blooms and offer it to the reader, he explicitly demonstrates his favorable view of nature.

Later in the novel, the Puritans of Boston oppose themselves to the forces of nature. The forest outside the village is associated with witches’ sabbaths and shaded secrets. Pearl, Hester Prynne’s daughter, is often referred to as an impish elf-child, whose seeming commune with nature disturbs the townspeople. Bostonians, and by extension society, are suspicious and afraid of nature’s uncertainty. Their mistrust of nature signifies Hawthorne’s opposition to society.

When Hester and Pearl convene with Dimmesdale in the forest toward the end of the novel, Hester experiences a moment of blissful freedom that she does not experience before or after. While society condemns the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale, nature seems to approve—the sunlight bathing Hester’s returned natural beauty with a glow after she takes off the titular letter and throws it on the ground during this forest meeting.

Each of these ways that nature is addressed throughout the text should help you to formulate a succinct theme statement expressing Hawthorne’s message about nature.