Symbolism in American Romantic Fiction

American Romantic fiction is a trend in literature that is very much concerned with psychological subtlety, a sense of the mysteriousness of human motives, of the dark, hidden forces operating in the world and all this can be found in the works of such Romantic fiction writers as Poe, Hawthorne and Melville. Their works however, do not relate itself directly to the social scene but rather show a closer relationship with the romance. That is why they strongly rely on the symbolist technique and much of the symbolism can certainly be seen in such works as "The Scarlet Letter", " Billy Budd", "The Raven", and "The Fall of the House of Usher".
To begin with, a wide variety of symbols is used in "The Scarlet Letter" written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. …