Psychological Analysis
"I experienced a sensation...of burning heat; and as if the letter sere not of red cloth, but red-hot iron." These words in the introduction to The Scarlet Letter describe the letter as an object that contains power. The power left in the little red piece of cloth represents all the emotional toil that was associated with it - guilt, pain, betrayal, and vengeance. Throughout the novel the letter will stir all these emotions, creating an intense psychological drama. Nathaniel Hawthorne attempted to open a window to the human psyche during the novel to show that humans deal with emotional tumult in complex ways.
Probably one of the most prominent, if not the most, themes in the novel is guilt. Around every corner, a character is forced to deal with the plaguing guilt that eats away at their souls from the inside. …
