The Characteristics of Nature in The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne was a defining writer of the nineteenth century romantic period. Hawthorne used characteristics of nature to symbolize the characters in his book, their actions and their surroundings. A young Nathaniel Hawthorne favored also well known romantic writers such as Ann Radcliffe and Charles Brockden Brown. Hawthorne’s ability to use color to establish setting and scenery can also be found in the works of Radcliffe and Brown. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne used many different characteristics of nature to set tone,