Literary notes about scarlet (AI summary)
In literature the color scarlet is often much more than a simple hue—it acts as a vivid signifier of both emotional intensity and ceremonial grandeur. Writers describe scarlet uniforms and cloaks as marks of military and aristocratic pride ([1], [2], [3]), while its presence in nature—from brilliant blossoms to eye-catching berries—imbues natural scenes with an almost hypnotic allure ([4], [5], [6]). Scarlet also frequently denotes powerful internal states, with characters’ faces or actions turning scarlet to express embarrassment, passion, or heightened emotion ([7], [8], [9]). Perhaps nowhere is this dual function more memorable than in works like The Scarlet Letter, where the color both decorates and condemns ([10]).
- The general is depicted in the scarlet uniform of the British Army.
— from Guide to Historic Plymouth: Localities and Objects of Interest by A. S. (Alfred Stevens) Burbank - “THE ADMIRAL WAS SPLENDIDLY ROBED IN A BRILLIANT SCARLET CLOAK OVER HIS RICH AND GLITTERING ARMOR, AND HELD THE ROYAL STANDARD IN HIS OWN HAND.”
— from Diego Pinzon and the Fearful Voyage He Took Into the Unknown Ocean A.D. 1492 by John Russell Coryell - This was a nickname for the regular troops, who were dressed in scarlet uniforms.
— from The Military Journals of Two Private Soldiers, 1758-1775With Numerous Illustrative Notes by Abraham Tomlinson - When the bean-vines began to flower on the poles, there was one particular variety which bore a vivid scarlet blossom.
— from An Advanced English Grammar with Exercises by Frank Edgar Farley and George Lyman Kittredge - Strings of scarlet peppers, bunches of dried herbs, gourds of varied quaint shapes, hung swaying from the rafters.
— from The Raid of The Guerilla, and Other Stories by Mary Noailles Murfree - And we could hardly step without treading the little bright scarlet berries under foot."
— from Ruth by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell - Nettie's face was scarlet.
— from Gigolo by Edna Ferber - interrupted Joy, her face growing suddenly scarlet.
— from The Lady of North Star by Ottwell Binns - Having read it in silence once—twice—three times, she crumpled it in her hand and dashed out of the room scarlet with shame and anger.
— from Dorothy's House Party by Evelyn Raymond - The scarlet letter.
— from U.S. Copyright Renewals, 1969 July - December by Library of Congress. Copyright Office
