FOURFOLD METHODAllegory in The Scarlet Letter

Allegory

Representation of abstract ideas through characters or events

Usually express a deeper, often spiritual, moral, or political meaning

We’re going to look at four levels of allegory in TSL by using the character of Hester (perfected by Dante in The Divine Comedy)

Literal/historical

Things that are actually happening Hester commits adultery and is

shunned by the community while forced to wear the scarlet A on her chest.

Political

The level on which human beings relate to others in the community

Hester defies the law of the Puritan community in having an affair with the minister. What is more at stake? The stability of Puritan law or Hester’s conscience?

Moral or Psychological

How the self relates to the realm of ethics

Hester must wear the A to purge the sin from her soul. The experience transcends a simple purging of the soul and moves into the scope of feminism.

Spiritual

Universal level on which a person relates to the cosmos

Hester represents the free spirit bound to rebel against the repression of absolute authority.

Summary of Fourfold Method Literal/historical

Things that are actually happening Political

The level on which human beings relate to others in the community

Moral or Psychological How the self relates to the realm of ethics

Spiritual Universal level on which a person relates to

the cosmos