Forest as a Shelter

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, life was centered around a rigid Puritan society in which one was unable to reveal his or her innermost thoughts and secrets. Every human being needs the opportunity to express how he or she truly feels; otherwise the emotions are bottled up until they become unpredictable. Unfortunately, Puritan society did not permit this kind of expression, thus characters had to seek alternate means to relieve their personal anguishes and desires. Where the characters relieve their personal anguishes and desires in the forest. The forest was a type of shelter for members of society in need of refuge from daily Puritan life. The forest was precisely the escape route from strict mandates of law and religion, to retreat where men, as well as women, can open up and be themselves. In the forest was where Reverend Dimmesdale openly acknowledges Hester Prynne and his undying love for her. The forest was also where Hester could do the same for Dimmesd...