Line Lasting
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What does the last line of Hawthorne's 'Scarlet Letter' mean?
'On A field, sable, the letter A, gules'
This is the last line in The Scarlet Letter, an engraving on the headstone shared by Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmsdale. What is the meaning of this line (both surface meaning and larger symbolic meaning)?
It'd help if you could explain the meaning of the two words, 'Sable' and 'Gules'.
Both sable and gules are terms for colors in heraldry, for the colors black and red, respectively. So the literal meaning of the phrase is "on a black background, the letter 'A' in red".
Not having given it a lot of thought, my supposition is that the underlying meaning is that the stigma of the scarlet letter followed Hester Prynne through life and even beyond, to the grave.
lasting impressions - the starting line
