Hawthorne's Descriptive Settings

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter makes wonderful use of setting as a method of relaying mood and significance of a particular scene to the reader. There are two particular examples of this that contrast each other beautifully and fully convey the meaning that Hawthorne has put into the story.
The first setting is the town of Boston. Describing a building in the town Hawthorne writes

“Before this ugly edifice, and between it and the wheel-track of the street, was grass-plot, much overgrown with burdock, pigweed, apple-peru, and such unsightly vegetation, which evidently found something congenial in the soil that had so early borne the black flower of civilized society…”

The setting of Boston is portrayed as bleak, drab, and somewhat menacing in its structure and form. There seem to be no redeeming qualities about the town. This bleakness helps to create a contrast with another setting in the book.
The other setting that needs to be examined is that of the forest. Throughout the book there has been a huge stigma placed on the forest. The only people who go into the forest are those who are friends of the devil. This is especially embodied in the character of Mistress Hibbins who is suspected of being a witch. Speaking to Hester Prynne, the main character of the book, Mistress Hibbins calls “Wilt thou go with us tonight? There will be merry company in the forest; and I well-nigh promise the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one.” The stigma surrounding the forest and the desolate way Hawthorne has described the setting of Boston make the reality of the forest setting all the more joyful.
“

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 grey trunks of the solemn trees. The objects that had made a shadow hitherto, embodied the brightness now. The course of the little brook might be traced by its merry gleam afar into the wood’s heart of mystery, which had become a mystery of joy.”

The forest signifies the point in the story that hope finally emerges for two very significant characters. That its setting is described so drastically different than that of the Puritan Boston aids the reader in realizing the significance of the scene and the joy that the characters feel in the moment.
Nathaniel Hawthorne used descriptive settings to enhance the mood and import of particular scenes throughout his book The Scarlet Letter.