The Scarlet Letter
(Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Author’s Background
In 1804, in Salem, Massachusetts, Nathaniel Hawthorne was born. His ancestors came
from the early settlers of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; John Hathorne (Hawthorne added "w"
to his name when he started writing) was among his forefathers, one of the judges of the Salem
witch trials in 1692. During his life, Hawthorne was both fascinated and disturbed by his
relationship with John Hathorne. A widowed mother, Hawthorne attended Bowdoin College in
Maine, where he met two people who would have had a great influence on his life: Henry
Wadsworth Long-fellow, who would later become a popular author, and Franklin Pierce, who
would later become President of the United States. Hawthorne moved back to Salem after
attending Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, where he started his career as a writer. His first
novel, Fanshawe (1828), was self-published, but he attempted to destroy all copies shortly after
publication. He later wrote several short storybooks, including Twice-Told Tales (1837). He
tried his hand at communal life at the Brook Farm cooperative in 1841 but went away deeply
disappointed by the experience he fictionalized in his novel The Blithedale Romance (1852).
Hawthorne tried his hand at writing after college, making historical sketches and an
anonymous book, Fanshawe, which somewhat embarrassingly detailed his college days. During
this time, Hawthorne also held positions as an editor and as a customs surveyor. His growing
friendship with Ralph Waldo Emerson and Margaret Fuller's intellectual circle led him to leave
his customs post at Brook Farm, a society built to foster economic self-sufficiency and
transcendentalist ideals, for the utopian experiment. Transcendentalism was an early nineteenth-
century theological and philosophical movement that was committed to the idea that divinity,
particularly in the natural world, expresses itself everywhere. In place of formalized, organized
religion, it also promoted a private, direct interaction with the divine. In The Scarlet Letter, this
second transcendental concept is favored.
Hawthorne left Brook Farm after marrying fellow transcendentalist Sophia Peabody in
1842 and moved to the Old Manse, a place in Concord where Emerson had once lived. In 1846,
he published Mosses from the Old Manse, a series of essays and stories, many of which were
about early America. Mosses of the Old Manses brought Hawthorne to the interest of the literary
establishment because America was trying to develop cultural independence to accompany its
political independence, and Hawthorne's series of stories showed both a stylistic freshness and an
interest in American subjects. Among others, Herman Melville praised Hawthorne as the
"Shakespeare of America."
Hawthorne went back to work in 1845 as a customs surveyor, this time at a post in
Salem, as like as the narrator of The Scarlet Letter. He published The Scarlet Letter to optimistic,
if not widespread, acclaim in 1850 after he lost his work. The House of the Seven Gables (1851),
The Blithedale Romance (1852), and The Marble Faunce are his other major novels (1860).
Hawthorne was appointed a U.S. consul by Hawthorne's college friend Franklin Pierce in 1853,
for whom he had written a campaign biography and who had since become president. The writer
remained in Europe for the next six years. A few years after returning to America, he died in
1864.
Literary Period
The Scarlet Letter was also a historical novel, published in 1850 but set in the 1640s,
featuring settings of real life, characters, and real historical facts. In setting up his story in Boston
in the 17th century, Hawthorne discusses the puritanical foundation of our republic and uses the
rigid rules and oppressive values of the time to raise enduring questions about the essence of sin
and guilt. A few characters in the book are based on real historical figures, such as Governor
Bellingham, Mistress Higgins, and the narrator himself, whose life story closely fits Hawthorne's
own biography. Hester's punishment for adultery in the form of a scarlet letter A attached to her
dress echoes the true cause of a woman named Mary Batcheller in 1651, was punished to the
letter A in his flesh after being found guilty of an extra-marital affair. By the end of the 17th
century, women accused of adultery had to wear the letter “A” sewn in their clothing.
Hawthorne used his historical setting to suggest that many of the beliefs and customs of
his characters are the result of the times in which they live. He contrasts the Dour Puritanic
culture in Boston to the "sunny richness" of Old World Europe. The character of Miss Hibbins,
who in the book openly spoke of consorting with the Black Man or the Devil, is based on the
true-life figure of Mary Hibbbins. In setting his novel in the past, Hawthorne not only reflects on
the values of a particular time but compares them with both the past and the future.
Summary
This introduction provides a frame for The Scarlet Letter's storyline. As the "chief
executive officer" of the Salem Custom House, the nameless narrator takes a post. He believes
the establishment to be a discredit.
The narrator spent most of his time trying to enjoy himself because few ships are coming
to Salem. He finds some papers in the building's unoccupied second floor one rainy day. He
finds a manuscript that is wrapped with a scarlet, gold-embroidered piece of cloth in the form of
the letter "A" looking through the stack, the narrator examines the scarlet badge and briefly holds
it to his face, but he drops it because it seems to burn him. The manuscript is the work of
Jonathan Pue, a customs surveyor. A curiosity in local history led Pue to write an account of
events taking place in the mid-seventeenth century.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional account of the life of Hester Prynne. It may not be
factually accurate, but the author has argued that it is true to the story and general outline of the
original. The narrator insists that his Puritan parents would find it trivial and "degenerate"
The novel's first chapter sets the scene and introduces the first of several symbols that
will come to dominate the plot. In seventeenth-century Boston, a crowd of somber, dreary-
looking people gathered outside the door of a jail. The massive oak door of the building is
studded with iron spikes, and the prison seems to have been designed to house violent offenders.
The rose bush that grows next to the prison door is the only incongruity in the otherwise
drab scene. The narrator indicates that he is providing a reminder of Nature's goodness to the
condemned.
Hester Prynne, a young woman carrying a child, was carried to the scaffold to be publicly
criticized. Women in the crowd are making nasty remarks about Hester. She was particularly
criticized for the embroidered badge on her chest, the letter "A" stitched in gold and scarlet.
"The Beadle is calling out to Hester" is based on the award-winning play by Hester
Pinter. Hester is a "misshapen" scholar far older than herself. She sees with disbelief her present
destiny, and unintentionally squeezes the baby in her arms.
Hester unexpectedly sees her husband in the crowd that surrounds the scaffold, who sent
her to America but never fulfilled his vow to pursue her. She was struck by his wise countenance
and notes his slightly deformed shoulders as he is dressed in a strange combination of traditional
European clothing and Native American clothing. The learned man first sent Hester to America
and stayed behind to settle his affairs, but in Boston, he never joined Hester. Chillingworth
observes that the husband of Hester must have been naive to believe he could keep a young
happy wife.
The story is about a woman who refuses to disclose the name of the father of her child.
She's punished with imprisonment for three hours on the scaffold and a lifetime of bearing a
scarlet letter on her forehead. Hester says that her child is going to follow a divine father and
never know a worldly one. Reverend Wilson is delivering a racist sermon on sin. Hester is sent
back to jail at the end of the sermon.
For the first time, Hester and her husband came face to face when she was called to her
jail cell to provide medical attention. Chillingworth promised the jailer that he could make
Hester more "fair to authority," and now he's offering her a cup of medicine. Hester recognizes
his true identity—his gaze makes her shiver and instantly refuses to drink her potion. She
believes that Chillingworth will poison her, but he tells her that he prefers her to live so that he
can have his revenge. The stranger tells him that Hester refuses to reveal his fellow sinner.
Then the narrator introduces us to the founders of the city, who sit in the judgment of
Hester: Governor Bellingham, Reverend Wilson, and Reverend Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale, a
young minister renowned for his intellect, religious fervor, and theological knowledge has been
assigned to demand that Hester reveal the name of her child's parent. He advises her that she
should not hide the identity of a man out of pity or tenderness and that when she declines to do
so, he does not press her further. He chastises himself for believing in the private discussion that
follows that he was a misshapen bookworm, should keep a lovely wife like Hester happy. He
encourages her to confess her lover's identity, telling her that he can definitely find signs of
sympathy that lead him to the guilty party. When she refused to reveal her secret, he makes a
vow that she will not expose his true identity to anyone.
After a couple of months, Hester is released from jail. While she is free to leave Boston,
she chooses not to do so. She settles in an old house on a patch of infertile land on the outskirts
of town. Hester remains isolated from all, including town fathers, respectable women, beggars,
children, and even strangers. She acts as a walking symbol of a falling woman, a warning story
for all to see. Her passion for fashion infuses her embroidery, making her work suited to be worn
by the governor despite her shameful background. In fact, throughout her work, Hester
influences all significant events of life except marriage. It is considered inappropriate for chaste
brides to wear the creation of Hester Prynne's.
Hester's only consolation is her daughter, Pearl, who in this chapter is mentioned in great
detail. Pearl has inherited almost all of Hester's moodiness, zeal, and resistance. Hester loves her,
and her worried about her daughter.
The narrator said that Pearl was an imp of evil, a symbol, and a product of sin. Pearl
herself is conscious of her difference from others when Hester tries to teach her about God. Pearl
develops casts of characters in her mind to keep her company in this place.
Pearl is astounded by the scarlet letter, and also seems to be intentionally abusing her
mother by playing with her. Pearl throws the question back at her mother, arguing that Hester
should tell her about her history. Hester thinks if Pearl is not really a demon-child that many
locals believe she is.
Hester pays a visit to the residence of Governor Bellingham. She has two motives: she
can be taken from her to show a pair of ornate gloves that she made for the governor and to find
out whether there is any truth to Pearl's rumors. Some of the people of the town have begun to
suspect Pearl, apparently including the governor, of being kind of demon-child. The townspeople
are complaining that if Pearl is a demon-child, for Hester's sake, she should then be taken from
Hester. They claim, if Pearl is really a human child, she will be taken away from her mother for
her own sake and given to a "better parent than Hester Prynne. On their route to see the
governor, Hester and Pearl are threatened by a group of kids who are trying to play mud. Pearl
gets mad and scares the kids.
The Governor's Mansion is built in the style of the English aristocracy. It's complete with
family portraits and a suit of armor worn by the governor. Hester is surprised to see that the
scarlet letter is a representation of her mother. Bellingham, Wilson, Chillingworth, and
Dimmesdale have entered the room. They see Pearl and start mocking her by calling her a
demon-child and a pigeon. When the governor figures out that Hester is also there, they ask her
why she should be expected to keep her daughter. She makes sure those men that she'll be able to
teach Pearl a valuable lesson—a lesson she's learned from her humiliation. They are unsure, and
Wilson attempts to check the comprehension of the theology of the three-year-old. Wilson
resents Pearl's seeming displeasure with him, and Pearl's unwillingness to answer even the
simplest of questions does not mean well.
Hester begs Dimmesdale to speak for her and her daughter, and he spoke for them.
Bellingham and Wilson agree, influenced by his intellect, not to separate mother and child.
Chillingworth encourages the men to re-open their investigation of the identity of Hester's lover.
They reject the idea, telling him that God will expose the truth when He deems it necessary. The
narrator notes that Pearl does seem to have saved her mother from the temptations of Satan.
Chillingworth had concealed his past from all but Hester, whom he had vowed to remain
secret. He integrates himself into society in the position of a doctor. Often the town refers to the
doctor colloquially as a "leech," a common idiom for physicians.
Dimmesdale has been suffering from significant health concerns, much to the concern of
the group. He seems to be wasting away and constantly clutches his chest as though he was
bleeding from his heart. Chillingworth encourages the city leadership to demand that
Dimmesdale allow the doctor to live with him because Dimmesdale refuses to marry any of the
young women who have committed themselves to him. Chillingworth may have a chance to
diagnose and heal the younger man in this way. The two men take up rooms in a widow's house
next to the graveyard, which allows them to ponder sin and death. Tapestries portraying biblical
scenes of adultery and its punishment are hung in the minister's office, while Chillingworth's
room contains a laboratory that is advanced for its time.
Initially, the townspeople were thankful for the presence of Chillingworth and considered
his arrival a divine miracle intended to benefit Dimmesdale. As time has passed, however,
rumors have spread concerning the man's personal history. A lot of the townspeople are starting
to believe the Devil is Chillingworth.
The inwardly tortured minister soon becomes the biggest mystery of Chillingworth. The
doctor relentlessly and also mercilessly seeks to find the root of his patient's condition.
Dimmesdale has become cynical of all men and will not trust anybody.
One day, Dimmesdale asks his doctor about an odd plant growing on an unmarked grave.
Chillingworth implies that dark weeds are a symbol of the unconfessed sin of the buried
individual. They enter into an awkward conversation about confession, salvation, and the idea of
"burying" one's secrets. As they talking, they hear a scream from outside and see Pearl dancing
in the cemetery and trying to hook the scuffs on the A" on the chest of Hester. When Pearl sees
the two men, she drags her mother away, saying that the "Black Man" had already received the
minister.
Dimmesdale's attitude confirmed Chillingworth's assumptions. The doctor sneaks up to
Dimmesdale when he's sleeping and moves his shirt back. What the minister sees in the chest
causes the doctor to rejoice.
Chillingworth enjoys playing mind games with Dimmesdale, making his revenge as
miserable as possible. The Reverend craves to confess the truth of his sin to his priests, but he
cannot bring himself to do so. His agony encourages him to deliver some of his most strong
sermons on the subject of sin.
The Minister sees Hester pointing his finger at the clergy's own chest in one case. The
author acknowledges that he is dishonest, but his psychological turmoil causes him to attribute
considerable importance to his deceptions. Unable to unburden the shame that stems from his
sin, he starts to conclude that the whole world is false" and decides to keep a vigil on the scaffold
where Hester suffered for his sin
Dimmesdale was mounted at the scaffold. He cries aloud because of the pain in his
breast, and he fears that everyone in the city will wake up and come to look at him. The few
residents who heard the scream of the penitent took the voice of a witch. Dimmesdale starts to
fantasize about what would happen if anyone in town were to see their holy minister standing on
the scaffold.
Dimmesdale laughs aloud and responds with a laugh from Pearl, whose presence he had
not anticipated. Hester and Pearl were on Winthrop's deathbed, too since the professional
seamstress was told to make the governor's funeral suit. Dimmesdale invited them to join him on
the scaffold, and they do. The three hold hands, creating an "electric chair." By their presence,
the minister feels energized and warmed. Innocently, Pearl asks, are you going to be here
tomorrow at noon with my mother and me? He responds, The Great Day of Judgment, as she
encourages him at that time.
Meteor unexpectedly illuminates the dark sky, briefly lighting its surroundings. Pearl
looks at the same time to a figure standing in the distance and watching them. Dimmesdale asks
Hester who Chillingworth really is because the man sees in him what he calls "a nameless
horror" Hester, sworn to secrecy, is unable to disclose the identity of her husband. Dimmesdale
asks why she wants to ridicule him, and she responds that she is punishing him for refusing to
stand with her and her mother. Chillingworth approaches and coaxes Dimmesdale down and
suggesting that his path up to the scaffold must have been sleepwalked. As Dimmesdale wonders
how Chillingworth knew where to find him, Chillingworth says he was also on his way home
from Winthrop's deathbed.
Seven years have gone since Pearl's birth. In society, Hester has become more involved.
She's always still made an object of ridicule. More people begin to perceive the "A" on her chest
as meaning "Able" rather than "Adulterer" Hester seems to be no more a tender and passionate
woman, but a "bare and harsh outline" of her old self.
Hester asked Chillingworth to avoid the minister being tormented. One day she and Pearl
met him by the beach, collecting herbs for his medicines. He told her that he had heard "good
tidings" about her and that the town's fathers had recently considered allowing her to remove the
scarlet letter. Hester rebuffed him, telling him that the letter could not be deleted by human
authority.
Pearl wonders about the scarlet letter on her mother's chest from her mother. Pearl relates
the letter to Dimmesdale's constant habit of holding his hand over his heart. Hester believes that
the child is too young to know the meaning of the letter and chooses not to clarify the issue to
her. Pearl becomes stubborn, though, and for the next few days, she harangues her mother about
the letter and the ministry's habits.
Hester was waiting for the minister in the forest to tell him the truth about Chillingworth's
identity. Pearl joins her mother and romps along the way in the sunlight. Hester attempts to rush
Pearl off now to play in the woods, but Pearl wants to stay. "It is no Black Man! It is the
minister!" Pearl squeezes.
Hester tells Dimmesdale that Chillingworth was her husband. This news triggers a "dark
transfiguration" in the ministry. Hester burying her face to the chest of the minister where the
scarlet letter as she begs for his pardon. The lovers were planning to chase away on a ship to
Europe where they could live as a family with Pearl.
Both Dimmesdale and Hester are energized by their decision to move to Europe. Hester
has regained some of her original, charismatic beauty. Dimmesdale claims he can feel happy
again. Hesters throws the scarlet letter out of her chest. The daughter of the couple, Pearl, is
approaching warily.
Hester was calling on Pearl to join her and Dimmesdale. Pearl watches her parents with
skepticism from another side of the brook. Pearl kisses Hester in her mother's arms and,
apparently out of spite, kisses the scarlet letter as well. Hester has to pin the letter back on and
make a transformation back to her former, miserable self to get Pearl to cross the creek.
The Minister and Hester have agreed to go to Europe for anonymity and a better lifestyle.
Through her voluntary work, Hester becomes associated with the crew of a ship. The couple was
hoping to secure a passage on this ship.
Minister Dimmesdale was on the run from the church when he encountered an old
woman who was searching for spiritual support. He almost blurs out an "unanswerable argument
against the immortality of the human soul," but then something stops him. Mistress Hibbins
laughs at him and gives herself as an escort, saying that he may have made a deal with her
master.
Minister Dimmesdale was on the run from the church when he encountered an old
woman who was searching for spiritual support. He almost blurs out an "unanswerable argument
against the immortality of the human soul," but then something stops him. Mistress Hibbins
laughs at him and gives herself as an escort, saying that he may have made a deal with her
master.
As he enters his home, Dimmesdale told Chillingworth that he's no longer in need of
prescription medication. He has already begun preparing a sermon that he was scheduled to give
on Election Day in three days.
The novel's narrator describes another public meeting in the marketplace. The event is
reasonably sober, but the town's love of splendor gives an atmosphere of pageantry to the
gathering. Hester looks up to see Chillingworth standing and smirking at her across the
marketplace.
The minister, who looks happier and more enthusiastic than he has in some time, Pearl
barely recognizes. Mistress Hibbins, dressed very elaborately, comes to chat about Dimmesdale
with Hester. She says she knows those who represent the Black Man and declares that the "mark"
of the minister will soon be clear to all.
After the old woman left, Hester took her position at the foot of the scaffold to listen to
Dimmesdale's sermon. Pearl, who has been roaming around the marketplace, returns to send her
mother a message from the master of the ship.
The Sermon was about the relationship between God and the communities of humanity.
Dimmesdale has stated that God will choose the citizens of New England. After the sermon, the
minister goes to the scaffold and confesses that he is the one sinner of the world". The crowd is
in shock, and Chillingworth cries out, "Thou hast escaped me!” The minister and Hester then
exchange words. She asks him if they will spend their lives together and replies that God will
determine if they will receive any further consequences for breaking His holy rule. Before he
dies, the minister bids his farewell to Hester and Pearl.
The story's narrator describes the events that preceded Dimmesdale's death and the fates
of the other main characters. Some say they saw a scarlet letter on his chest, just like Hester's,
but others say they saw none at all. It is the view of the narrator that this latter group consists of
the friends of Dimmesdale, who are eager to protect his name.
The story of the scarlet letter is becoming a legend. Chillingworth mysteriously vanishes
and dies within a year of the death of the minister, leaving Pearl with a large inheritance. Hester
returns to her cabin and continues her charitable work. The story proved so convincing that the
town retains the scaffold and the cottage of Hester as a material monument to it. The A," which
she still carries, has lost any reputation she may have had when she dies.
Literary Element’s Analysis
The main character was Hester Prynne that wears the scarlet letter that gave the book its
title. The message, a fragment of an'A' cloth, indicates that Hester is an 'adulterer.' Pearl was
Hester's illegitimate daughter, a young girl with a moody, mischievous spirit and an ability to
understand things that others don't. Hester's husband in disguise was really Roger Chillingworth
also the antagonist. He's a lot older than she is, and he sent her to America when he settled his
business in Europe. He arrived late in Boston after he was captured by Native Americans and
learned that Hester and her illegitimate child were on the scaffold. Dimmesdale was a young man
who became popular as a theologian in England and then immigrated to America. He and Hester
became lovers at the moment of weakness. While he's not going to say it publicly, he was the
father of her kid.
The setting of Scarlet Letter was published in Boston in the 1600s, before the American
Independence. At the time, Boston was part of the Colony of the Massachusetts Bay, founded in
1620 after the first group of English settlers arrived in Plymouth. There were about 25,000
English settlers in the area by the 1640s. Hawthorne provides detailed explanations of the
physical world to explain the concept of nature versus civilization. The setting illustrates the
influence of tradition, government, and the rule of law. Nature and civilization's contrasting
environments display the central conflict that makes it hard for Hester and Dimmesdale to live a
happy life.
The exposition on the story was when Hester Prynne has been on adultery trial in the
17th-Century Puritan Boston. She's got a 3-month-old baby named Pearl, and she declined to
give the fathers' name. As a punishment for the remainder of her life, Hester must wear a scarlet
"A" on her breast.
The conflict of the story was when Roger Chillingworth, Hester's long-lost husband, has
successfully made it to Boston, and he was furious. He is committed to figuring out who Hester's
lover is so that he can get his vengeance properly. He vows secrecy to Hester. In the meantime,
Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale was suffering from an unexplained illness that seems to come
from an internal battle. Chillingworth presents as a doctor to support the sick minister.
The rising action of the story when Pearl was seven, Hester, Pearl, and Dimmesdale
reconcile, and they plan to run away to Europe together after the final sermon from Dimmesdale,
to be presented on Election Day. With each passing day, Dimmesdale steadily grows more ill
and puts his hand over his heart in suffering. Chillingworth discovers the connection and plan of
the family. Hester discovers out he's booked himself a ticket with them on the same ship.
The climax of the story was when Arthur Dimmesdale presents his sermon on Election
Day with zeal also new-found energy-many say it's the best sermon he's ever given. He finished
by calling Hester and Pearl to go the scaffold with him, where he implicitly admitted his role in
Hester's adultery and his remorse for not walking forward like Pearl's father seven years ago. He
tears his shirt open and exposes an "A" engraved on his skin, and then he dies.
The falling action of the story was when the citizens of the town did not believe what
they saw; some even dispute that Dimmesdale had the 'A' on his chest. In the year of
Dimmesdale, Chillingworth dies and gives his entire inheritance to Pearl, making her very rich.
Pearl and Hester are leaving New England for Europe shortly thereafter.
The resolution of the story was some years later, Hester Prynne comes back to Boston
and stays in a small cabin she and Pearl once shared. She always wears the scarlet "A" even
though she doesn't even have to, and the women in the city go to her for guidance and respect.
She died in Boston and was buried near Dimmesdale.
The Scarlet Letter was written from an omniscient third-person point of view in which
the narrator explains the feelings and thoughts of the main characters. The narrator discussed the
reader explicitly, drawing attention to the fact that we engage in the perception of a fictional
novel.
'Man vs. society', when that Hester was raised in the scaffold in front of the audience to
face her punishment for sin by wearing the stigma of the scarlet letter "A" as a meaning of
"adultery" and how she was treated as an outcast of the townspeople and mark as a symbol of
fallen women. Also, 'man vs. man' as Hester and Chillingworth had a conflict with each other
that Chillingworth wants to get vengeance on Hester and her secret lover.
The theme of the Scarlet letter is "her access to places where other women would not
walk," leading her to "boldly" about her society and herself more "speculate" than anyone else in
New England. Same with Dimmesdale, the "burden" of his sin brings him "deepest sympathy so
intimate with humanity's sinful brotherhood, so that his heart swells up in unison with theirs."
This sense of empathy derives from his eloquent and influential sermons. Every day, Hester and
Dimmesdale ponder their own immorality and try to reconcile it with their life experience.
The symbol in the story that used is the scarlet letter “A”, it was supposed to be a sign of
shame, but instead, it becomes a strong symbol of Hester's identity. The meaning of the letter
changes as time passes, from being a reminder of its affair to an indeterminate "Able" The
instability of the apparent meaning of the letter calls into question the use of symbols by society
for ideological reinforcement, the author says. More often than not, a symbol is a focal point for
critical study and discussion, he says.
Literary Approach
In the 1960s, feminism's social revolution finds its approach to literature. Women were
considered to be unintelligent before then. To reevaluate the representation of women, women
started analyzing old texts. In the '60s, women published new works to fit the "modern woman".
There was no such thing as a feminist in the modern sense in the time when The Scarlet
Letter took place. The character of Hester blends conventional conceptions of feminine conduct
with a viewpoint of free-thinking and rebelliousness. She is further defying her culture by
refusing to name the father of the infant. Hester shows a feminist agency over her own life by
claiming the one form of power available to her-the power to keep a secret, says the author.
The reaction of Hester to her punishment may seem like a model of feminine obedience,
but it contains an element of resistance and radicalism. She comes to see that many of the
standards and concepts that dictate how people behave really serve no other purpose than to
create social influence. Hester realizes that women are treated differently, and as a result, they
often live miserable lives. "The scarlet letter was her passport into regions which other women
dared not tread," says Hester.
Hester expresses feminist tendencies as she asks Dimmesdale to leave New England and
start a new life with her and Pearl. But her eventual return to her group proves, in the end, a more
fitting declaration of freedom and personal emancipation. In living the life she prefers, Hester
embodies powerful ideas about female agency and equality, says the writer. The novel ends with
the voluntary return of Hester to New England and continues to carry the scarlet message. This
hardly seems to be a feminist act of defiance, but by wearing a letter out of choice, not a
necessity; she simple continues her feminist self-determination.
Reflection
Let's be real, no one really liked the Scarlet Letter. Sure, it has its moments; sure, it has
ample and very deep themes and subjects. Yet even after reading all those chapters on the books
of sin, the Hester, and the Puritans, I can't say that the Scarlet Letter was a delight. I can't say
that sometimes it was bearable. Despite this, I still read all of it, back and forth and feel that now
I can offer a fair review of its merit.
First let's talk at what the Scarlet Letter represents and, I think, defines: its themes. The
novel has a great deal to do with the concept of sin as well as its interpretation in society. Hester,
Dimmesdale, and Pearl are all vessels for Hawthorne's idea of what sin is, how it affects an
individual, and how it punishes the holder. The atmosphere of the Scarlet Letter, the town of
Puritan, just amplifies the value of sin, making it a very easy topic to pick up. One may argue
that Hawthorne filled his novel with sin, as almost every scene, character, object of interest, or
setting makes reference to or retribution for, biblical sin. Another more subtle trend I discovered
in the novel was hypocrisy. Since Hawthorne is a man who lives outside of Puritan society, it is
easy to understand that the novel would not paint the zealous Puritans in a positive light. Rather,
Hawthorne goes to great lengths to emphasize the inherent hypocrisy of Puritan society.
I don't think the Scarlet Letter needs to be a significant piece of literature. Throughout the
book, I was not impressed by everything that Hawthorne presented to me. Apart from his style,
his use of subjects and themes leaves much to be desired. Hawthorne is as discreet as a machine
gun strapped to a T-Rex; he loosely dresses themes and subjects with translucent characters and
symbolism. Oh gee I wonder what the confession of Dimmesdale at the end of the novel is?
Yeah I know that! It represents Dimmesdale confessing before Heaven, implying that inevitably
every man will have to confess his sins! How am I supposed to know? It was quick, Hawthorne
basically tells me about the case!
However, I can't hate the Scarlet Letter too much. In a few places that have recently been
missing for me in terms of reading, it has benefited me. It helped me get back on the reading
wagon I'd been away from for much of the school year. I forgot how fun reading and translating
a book was, and now I've started reading other books. And as much as I hate to say it in books,
The Scarlet Letter made me look for subjects and themes. Although it was somewhat simple, it
really appealed to me to decode all the symbolism and ideas in the novel, and I look forward to
applying the same techniques I learned to various books I'll read in the future. The blogging
aspect of reading also gave me a greater understanding of how, although sarcastically, to express
my point of view to others.
