The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlett Letter is a story about the aftermath of an adulterous affair in puritanical 17^th century Boston. It was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1850. It had a large audience, being one of the first mass-printed books in the United States and enjoying widespread success. 

Hester Prynne is the main character of the book. Convicted for adultery, she is forced to wear the eponymous scarlet letter – an ‘A’ for adulteress – as punishment. Throughout the book, she is presented as a strong character despite being in some ways a victim of her rigid society. When we first meet her, she is being led out to a public place in shame, to be viewed by the inhabitants of Boston. With her, she has the child born from her affair. From the very beginning of the story, Hester subverts expectations, walking out calmly and confidently despite the supposed sin of her crime. Throughout the book, the perceptions of her by Bostonians change dramatically, to the point where the ‘A’ that is always present on her clothing would be described by the townsfolk as meaning ‘able’ rather than adulteress. However, despite this outwards transformation, Hester remains mostly stable in her own assessment of her actions. At the end of the book, despite having spent time in Europe with her daughter after the deaths of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, Hester returns to Boston and takes up the house where she lived after being convicted for adultery and the scarlet letter, showing that she still feels responsible for her actions and that she must repent for them.

Arthur Dimmesdale is a highly regarded priest in the town, universally respected and seen by the townsfolk as the epitome of piety and purity. He is also the man with whom Hester Prynne had an affair. Throughout the book, we see his outward appearance juxtaposed to internal shame. Dimmesdale feels deeply guilty for his part in the affair and at times attempts to confess to the townspeople that he is a sinner. However, in this case, his heavenly reputation works against him. The reaction of the townspeople is essentially ‘if he, our good priest, believes himself a sinner, then what fiends we must be’. This just leads to further internal turmoil for Dimmesdale, helped by psychological torture by the vengeful Roger Chillingworth. At the end of the book, Dimmesdale dies while trying to confess his affair with Hester.

Roger Chillingworth is Hester Prynne’s husband, absent and presumed dead at the time her affair with Dimmesdale happened. He is described as ugly and deformed. Upon arriving in Boston and discovering that Hester is being punished for adultery, he estranges himself from her, making her promise not to tell anyone that they are married. He then takes up a post as a doctor and once discovering that Dimmesdale was the other adulterer, psychologically tortures him for the next seven or so years. Throughout the book, we see Chillingworth’s thirst for revenge consume him more and more. After Dimmesdale’s death, he is left purposeless – exacting revenge upon the priest had become his sole quest in life. He dies soon after, leaving all of his wealth to Hester’s daughter Pearl.

The book is written from a third person omniscient perspective, but often focuses on the thoughts of an individual character. A lot of the book takes place within the minds of characters as they assess their action’s consequences or think about guilt, morality and so on.

The book is set in Boston, Massachusetts, in the 1600s. Time is as important as place when it comes to this setting. In 1600s New England, the Puritans were a major religious group. They had fled religious persecution in Britain and set up new societies in North America adhering to their values. Puritan society was very rigid and pious, which is reflected in the attitudes of the townsfolk in the book. However, it is worth noting that two of the main characters can be assumed to be not Puritan – Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth. This is interesting as it contrasts their own values, potentially influenced by religion, to slightly different ones of the dominant group where they live.

One of the major ideas repeated throughout the book is that how people perceive things can vary wildly, and that one perspective is not always correct. The book also explores the idea of sin having a physical manifestation via its characters: the most prominent of this is the scarlet letter that Hester Prynne wears, but Hester is also reminded of her adultery by her daughter Pearl, the product of the relationship between her and Dimmesdale. Chillingworth is described throughout the book as ugly, and as almost demonic by the end. Dimmesdale is ailed by a chest pain, which may or may not be complemented by a marking of an ‘A’ (whether it is actually an A or not is left ambiguous, but whatever it is, it’s certainly visible). Major themes of The Scarlet Letter are guilt, morality, and the place of religion in determining these things.

When the young woman – the mother of this child – stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse the clasp the infant closely to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she may conceal a certain token, which was wrought or fastened into her dress. In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile and glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold text, appeared the letter A. 

The above excerpt is a good introduction to the contradictions within the character of Hester Prynne, which make her a believable character and one that is compelling to read about. In explaining Hester's decision not to use "one token of her shame ... to hide another", Hawthorne shows us that to some extent, she is accepting of the punishment that has been placed upon her and must somewhat believe that what she has done is wrong. This shows us that Hester is resigned to the public nature of her punishment. However, we are also shown how she works within this to be punished on her own terms by her "haughty smile and a glance that would not be abashed", showing that although Hester believes she has reason for shame, she will not shy away from this or act in a more expected and submissive way. Furthermore, the letter A she must wear is "surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold text", a subversive act considering the dour dress standards of the Puritan community. All of these things work together to paint Hester Prynne as a woman aware of the community's moral standards and regretful of not conforming of them, but preferring to repent for not doing so in the way that she sees fit, rather than as society dictates. This links to the questions present throughout the novel: how much of a hand should religion have in dictating morality and punishment? And should guilt be something suffered privately and in the way that one sees appropriate, rather than as society sees appropriate?

Overall, The Scarlett Letter is a compelling study of morality, guilt and religion. Its main characters are complex and interesting and although the density of text and heavy subject matter does not make the book light reading, it is certainly fascinating to analyse.