The Scarlet Letter is a novel about life in a Puritan society by Nathaniel Hawthorne, an American novelist, and was published in 1850. The Scarlet Letter, like Hawthorne’s other works, focuses heavily on the role religion plays regarding the morality of a society, as well as acknowledging human fallibility and the difficulty of making key decisions in times of crisis.
The Scarlet Letter begins with a preface to the second condition which states that after it was initially published, the “respectable community” was seized by a fit of “unprecedented excitement.” The extent of the excitement was so great that “It could hardly have been more violent,” even if the author had “burned down the Custom-House, and quenched its last smoking ember in the blood of a certain venerable parsonage.” Fortunately for the author, the excitement was positive in nature, as people liked its “frank and genuine good-humor,” as well as how accurate it was when it came to humanizing the characters. It is then noted that the novel which follows wasn’t censored or altered in any way to appease the public: the author republished “his introductory sketch without the change of a word.”
The Scarlet Letter begins with the narration of an unnamed narrator who held the position of surveyor of a customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts, centuries ago. As he works in the customhouse, he discovers many objects which he deems to be worthless. One day, in his leisure time, while he was “Poking and burrowing into the heaped-up rubbish in the corner; unfolding one and another document, and reading the names of vessels that had long ago foundered at sea or rotted at the wharves,” the narrator made a precious discovery, for he had found a piece of “fine red cloth, much worn and faded,” embroidered with gold, though “greatly frayed and defaced; so that none, or very little, of the glitter was left.” The narrator took some time to appreciate the old but still interesting cloth, as even though it was in bad condition, it had been woven with “wonderful skill,” and furthermore, there was the “capital letter A” on the surface. When it came to the letter, “each limb proved to be precisely three inches and a quarter in length,” which leads the narrator to deduce that it was supposed to be worn, though he admits to his ignorance regarding for what occasion it should be donned. Regardless, his fascination for the scarlet letter only grew, as “My eyes fastened themselves upon the old scarlet letter, and would not be turned aside.”
The narrator then impulsively put the scarlet letter on his chest, and he swore that when he did he “experienced a sensation not altogether physical, yet almost so, of burning heat; and as if the letter were not of red cloth, but red-hot iron.” Later, he discovered that within the scarlet letter was a twisted “small roll of dingy paper,” which included a cursory description of a woman whose name was Hester Prynne, “who appeared to have been a rather noteworthy personage in the view of our ancestors,” seeing that “She had flourished during the period between the early days of Massachusetts and the close of the seventeenth century.” The paper discusses Prynne as being a virtuous woman who helped others and gave them advice. The narrator then states that he used the documents associated with the scarlet letter to write The Scarlet Letter, as “the main facts of that story are authorized and authenticated by the document of Mr. Surveyor Pue,” and that he still has the original papers. Before the story is told, he tells the audience that he will be willing to show them the original documents if they so desire to insure the relative accuracy of the story.
The Scarlet Letter then moves on to a jail which housed Hester Prynne. It is noted that there was a rose-bush which grew near the jail, and it was rumoured that “it had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Ann Hutchinson,” who got into trouble with the authorities when she argued that women could interpret the Bible, not just men. It is described that the rose bush could “symbolize some sweet moral blossom” within the bosom of the accused when they sincerely repented of their misdeed, or represent the relief seen in “the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow.”
Hester Prynne was brought forth from the prison while holding her child, and it becomes immediately apparent that the crime she committed was adultery. As she is led into the marketplace, a group of women discuss what should be done with her. Hawthorne makes it clear that their deluded sense of righteousness is hypocritical and base, as he noted that “the ugliest” of the women was also “the most pitiless of these self-constituted judges,” who said that Hyester “ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and the statute-book.’” Hester Prynne was noted to be relatively confident, as while she was holding her child, she had a “burning blush” and a “haughty smile,” as well as “a glance that would not be abashed.” She was also wearing the scarlet letter as a form of public humiliation, but it was clear that it had failed in its purpose, considering that she probably wove it herself, and the letter “was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore.” Hester was also described as beautiful, and ironically, those who expected to see her destroyed from her stay at the prison were shocked, as “never had Hester Prynne appeared more ladylike, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison.”
Hester was then mounted on the scaffold, and was made to answer to the theocratic authorities who would decide her fate. Before they judged her sentence, a strange man in the crowd began asking questions about Hester, and it turns out that he was her legal husband, who adopted the false name of Roger Chillingworth. Despite being her legal husband, he wasn’t the father of the child, as when he first met Hester, he was much older than her and was a scholar (who was also deformed since birth), and sent her overseas to America. When he proceeded to meet her after a brief lull, he had the misfortune of being kidnapped by indians, or as he referred to them, “‘the heathen-folk.’” After being released by the Indians, he proceeded to the area, only to find Hester being shamed. Upon seeing her child, his features became demonic, signifying to the audience that he was intent on vengeance: “his look became keen and penetrative. A writing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and making one little pause, with all its wreathed intervolutions in open sight. His face darkened with some powerful emotion, which, nevertheless, he so instantaneously controlled by an effort of his will, that, save at a single moment, its expression might have passed for calmness. After a brief space, the convulsion grew almost imperceptible, and finally subsided into the depths of his nature.” Hester then sees and recognizes Chillingworth.
The person Chillingworth was talking to then remarked on the specifics of Hester’s sentence: while the normal penalty for having a child out of wedlock was execution, the “merciful” judges judged that Hester’s fall from grace was expected, as she was young and beautiful, not to mention that her legal husband was supposedly resting at the bottom of the sea (his boat was thought to have sank while crossing the ocean, elegantly explaining his disappearance). Therefore, they have decided for her to be shamed for “‘only a space of three hours on the platform of the pillory, and then and thereafter, for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom.’” Chillingworth, upon hearing of the sentence, is somewhat delighted, bowing courteously to the stranger, as well as hinting even further that he wants revenge: “‘It irks me, nevertheless, that the partner of her iniquity should not, at least, stand on the scaffold by her side. But he will be known! - he will be known! - he will be known!’”
The clergymen then proceeded to question Hester about the identity of the father of her child. When she refused to answer, they implored the head of the church she went to, Reverend Dimmesdale, a “young clergyman” “who had come from one of the great English universities,” to speak some sense into her. Dimmesdale then asked for Prynne to reveal the identity of the father of the child, telling her that confessing to one’s wrongdoing is an integral part of forgiveness and improvement, seeing how it would be better for her fellow sinner to “‘step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame’” than to “‘hide a guilty heart through life.’” It was noted by all who attended that Dimmesdale was a fantastic orator, as his voice was “tremulously sweet, rich, deep, and broken,” which caused the message to “vibrate within all hearts, and brought the listeners into one accord of sympathy.” His oration was so fluent that even Hester’s baby enjoyed it, seeing how it “directed its hitherto vacant gaze towards Mr. Dimmesdale, and held up its little arms, with a half-pleased, half-plaintive murmur.” Despite Dimmesdale’s oration, Hester still refused to give up the identity of the child’s father, causing some to be angry, but Dimmesdale praised her, remarking that her heart was generous and full of strength.
After her assigned time at the pillory, Hester was led back to her prison cell. After telling the guard of the jail that he was a doctor who had come to make sure the prisoner and her child would not be malnourished, Chillingworth revealed himself to her. Hester knows who Chillingworth is, and Chillingworth gives her a drought, telling her that “‘I know not Lethe nor Nepenthe,’” “‘but I have learned many new secrets in the wilderness, and here is one of them, - a recipe that an Indian taught me, in requital of some lessons of my own, that were old as Paracelsus.’” Hester was worried that the draught which Chillingworth claimed would help her was poisoned to kill her, but that wasn’t the case. Chillingworth then told her that he didn’t poison her because he wants her to live in shame rather than to escape her torment in death. He then remarks accurately with self-hatred that he blamed himself for her fall from grace, as even though he was a knowledgeable and scholarly man, he was also physically deformed and old, which made the likelihood of him and Hester being together close to nil. When Hester told him that she didn’t pretend to love him, he acknowledged that, saying that he only courted her because “‘up to that epoch of my life, I had lived in vain. The world had been so cheerless! My heart was a habituation large enough for many guests, but lonely and chill, and without a household fire … I drew thee into my heart, into its innermost chamber, and sought to warm thee by the warmth which thy presence made there!’” Chillingworth then tries to ask Hester to give him the identity of her fellow adulterer, but she refuses. Chillingworth isn’t the least bothered, as he remarks that even though she wouldn’t reveal his name, he was an intelligent man, and would ascertain his identity one way or the other. He then offers Hester one request: not to betray his identity to anyone, and she agrees, however reluctantly.
Years later, it was remarked that Hester still lived in the village, and made no attempts to escape. She lived in a “small thatched cottage” “On the outskirts of the town, within the verge of the peninsula, but not in close vicinity to any other habitation.” Although Hester was lonely, she knew living far from other people was worth it since she was a frequent object of ridicule and contempt, not to mention she and her child, Pearl (named because she costs as much as a real one) wanted for nothing save company, as Hester’s skill with the needle provided her with their basic living expenses. The Scarlet Letter, though, haunted her, akin to that “which branded the brow of Cain,” as whenever she attempted to fit in society, she had to wear it, and it was just as effective as an actual barrier, considering that “Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished, and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature by other organs and senses than the rest of humankind.” Hester also performed works of charity, as she helped the destitute, which made her purer than most of the so-called “righteous” members of society who acquired their titles by simply not doing certain actions (or did do them, but weren’t caught by the law).
Later, it was debated by the magistrates as to whether or not Pearl should be separated from Hester. One of the factors which influenced this being a topic of discussion at all was primitive superstition - Pearl, despite being a good-looking child, was also very aggressive, loud, and bipolar, causing some to speculate that it might have been a child of the devil (or a demon, an incubi). Some of the magistrates debated separating Pearl from Hester to “benefit” Pearl by providing her with respectable influences and to punish Hester for her previous adultery. It was written by Hawthorne that Hester was conflicted, as even though she loved Pearl in a way, she herself believed that it might have been the child of some kind of demon - “‘O Father in Heaven … what is this being which I have brought into the world!’” Pearl, being the baby she was, “would turn her vivid and beautiful little face upon her mother, smile with sprite-like intelligence, and resume her play.’” Hester and Pearl went to the house of the Governor Bellingham to meet with the clergymen to decide Pearl’s fate, and it becomes clear that some of the clergymen honestly wanted to help Pearl, believing her present life to be depraved, showing what barbarities decent human beings can do in certain circumstances. Fortunately for Hester, Dimmesdale defended Hester and Pearl, saying that “‘This child of its father’s guilt and its mother’s shame hath come from the hand of God, to work in many ways upon her heart, who pleads so earnestly, and with such bitterness of spirit, the right to keep her,’” especially since the child had made her more responsible ever since it was entrusted to her care. The clergymen, moved by Dimmesdale’s usual diction and rhetoric, allowed Hester custody of the child.
Chillingworth succeed in concealing his true identity to everyone, and he was assigned to look after the “spiritual guide the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale.” Dimmesdale, despite having no reason to be unhealthy, seemed to waste away, and his health began to fail. Some mentioned that “the paleness of the young minister’s cheek was accounted for by his too earnest devotion to study, his scrupulous fulfilment of parochial duty, and, more than all, by the fasts and vigils of which he made a frequent practice, in order to keep the grossness of this earthly state from clogging and obscuring his spiritual lamp.” Interestingly, Dimmesdale was so revered by the general public that some said that “if Mr. Dimmesdale were really going to die, it was cause enough, that the world was not worthy to be any longer trodden by his feet.” Over time, Dimmesdale wasted away even further, and though his voice was still beautiful, “rich and sweet,” it “had a certain melancholy prophecy of decay in it,” and whenever Dimmesdale put his hand over his chest, there was “first a flush and then a paleness, indicative of pain.”
Most viewed it as fortunate that Chillingworth could attend to Dimmesdale, but it quickly becomes clear that Chillingworth suspects Dimmesdale of being the potential father of Hester’s child; Dimmesdale had no physical reason for his rapid deterioration, but Chillingworth knew that a mental ailment could cause physical symptoms. Regardless, over a period of time “a kind of intimacy … grew up between these two cultivated minds, which had as wide a field as the whole sphere of human thought and study, to meet upon; they discussed every topic of ethics and religion, of public affairs and private character … yet no secret, such as the physician fancied must exist there, ever stole out of the minister’s consciousness into his companion’s ear.” Later, as Dimmesdale and Chillingworth were in Dimmesdale’s lodgings, they began talking about the graveyard which was nearby, and its relation to the finality of death. After seeing some strange plants growing near a tomb, Chillingworth said that “‘since all the powers of nature call so earnestly for the confession of sin,’” it was possible that these ‘“black weeds have sprung up out of a buried heart’” as the physical manifestation of a crime which was never discovered. Dimmesdale, upon hearing it, said that “‘the hearts holding such miserable secrets as you speak of will yield them up, at that last day, not with reluctance, but with a joy unutterable.’”
Tensions increase as Chillingworth asks Dimmesdale why those poor souls shouldn’t reveal them now, sooner than later, seeing that all secrets would be divulged in time. Dimmesdale responds that some keep their secrets longer than others because confessing a mistake doesn’t reverse it - time can’t run backwards: “‘no good can be achieved by them; no evil of the past be redeemed by better service,’” causing people who have terrible secrets to be looked on as noble by the public, much to their agony: “‘they go about among their fellow-creatures, looking pure as new-fallen snow while their hearts are all speckled with iniquity of which they cannot rid themselves.’” After discussing extensively about the theme of morality and other subjects, Chillingworth then asks Dimmesdale whether he was physically or mentally ill, and that he could tell him his secret, seeing that he wanted to help him. Terrified, Dimmesdale “rushed out of the room” with “a frantic gesture.” Chillingworth became well-pleased with himself, remarking that “‘the hot passion of his heart’” makes it clear that he has “‘done a wild thing erenow,’” which is the reason for his torment.
As Dimmesdale slept, Chillingworth lifted up his shirt and saw an “A” carved on his chest (though this wasn’t explicitly mentioned), showing that Dimmesdale was indeed the father of Pearl, and that he had been so tortured by guilt that he wanted to suffer like Hester did, albeit in a more physical manner. When Chillingworth saw that his hunch was proven accurate, his face was alike to that of “how Satan comports himself, when a precious human soul is lost to heaven, and won into his kingdom.”
Some time after, it becomes clear that Dimmesdale, aside from carving the “A” on his chest, also flogged himself, and stood often at night at the scaffold where Hester was punished. Eventually, Hester with her child Pearl found themselves outside at night, where they saw Dimmesdale. They ascended the platform and stood with him, and in that moment of time the sky appeared to brandish a large “A” through a meteor, and Dimmesdale sees it as a divine reprimand. It also happened that that night Governor Winthrop died, and some people interpreted the “A” as meaning “angel,” as they thought that Winthrop ascended to heaven.
Later, Hester eventually came to realize that Chillingworth was causing suffering to Dimmesdale and had found out their secret. They met accidentally in a dark forest (Dimmesdale was gathering herbs) and she begs him to leave him be, as he is already in enough pain. Chillingworth retorts by saying that he had spent a lot of his time and energy on keeping the priest alive, and that he was doing him a favor. He then admits that he enjoys keeping him alive for his own pleasure, and that he felt disgust towards himself, as nine years ago he “was in the autumn of my days, nor was it the early autumn” and up until then “‘all my life had been made up of earnest, studious, thoughtful, quiet years, bestowed faithfully for the increase of mine own knowledge, and faithfully, too, though this latter object was but casual to the other,-faithfully for the advancement of human welfare.’” He also stated sadly that “‘No life had been more peaceful and innocent than mine; few lives so rich with benefits conferred,’” but now he was a fiend thanks to Hester and Dimmesdale, who had broken his trust and opinion of the human animal. Hester then begged again for Chillingworth to leave Dimmesdale alone, offering herself as a replacement. Chillingworth refuses the offer, considering how the scarlet letter was her punishment. Hester attempts one last time to get Chillingworth to forget vengeance, as she implores him to become human and kind again and to purge “‘the hatred that has transformed a wise and just man to a fiend,’” and to “‘Forgive, and leave his further retribution to the Power that claims it!’” She also says that if he forgives them and moves on with his life, he will have the moral high ground. Chillingworth, “with gloomy sternness,” tells her that the cause is a lost one and that the affair must play out to its miserable end.
Eventually, Dimmesdale and Hester met in the woods, and there they talk about their fate. Hester lets her hair loose and throws away the scarlet letter, and tells Dimmesdale that they could both leave for Boston, and he agrees. When Hester calls for Pearl to come back to her, it becomes apparent that Pearl doesn’t recognize Hester without the scarlet letter, showing that it had become an integral portion of her identity.
One day before their departure, a sermon was given. Before the sermon, Hester sees Chillingworth smiling wickedly, as he had found out about their plan and was leaving to Boston with them to cause suffering to Dimmesdale. Regardless, Dimmesdale “exhibited such energy as was seen in the gait and air with which he kept his pace in the procession. There was no feebleness of step, as at other times; his frame was not bent; nor did his strength seemed not of the body.” Dimmesdale’s fantastic speech, however, still had the same intonation which suggested pain, as “even when the minister’s voice grew high and commanding,-when it gushed irrepressibly upward,-when it assumed its utmost breadth and power, so overfilling the church as to burst its way through the solid walls … still, if the auditor listened intently, and for the purpose, he could detect the same cry of pain.” Hawthorne then writes that this “cry of pain” could be interpreted as “The complaint of a human heart, sorrow-laden, perchance guilty, telling its secret, whether of guilt or sorrow, to the great heart of mankind; beseeching its sympathy or forgiveness … It was this profound and continual undertone that gave the clergyman his most appropriate power.”
After giving his tremendously powerful speech, Dimmesdale called for Hester and Pearl to come to him, and it was noted that “It was a ghastly look with which he regarded them; but there was something at once tender and strangely triumphant in it.” The public, predictably, was shocked, but especially Chillingworth, as he attempted to prevent Dimmesdale from going up to the scaffold to be with his lover and child, as once Dimmesdale exposed his secret to all, he would no longer be his victim. Overall, “The crowd was in a tumult. The men of rank and dignity, who stood more immediately around the clergyman, were so taken by surprise, and so perplexed as to the purport of what they saw,-unable to receive the explanation which most readily presented itself, or to imagine any other,-that they remained silent and inactive spectators of the judgement which Providence seemed about to work.” Dimmesdale then shouted to the people, yelling that he wasn’t as perfect as they thought him to be. Then, “With a convulsive motion,” Dimmesdale “tore away the ministerial band from before his breast,” revealing the “A” he had carved onto his chest. After his declaration, he sank on the surface of the scaffold and died with a “flush of triumph in his face.” Chillingworth, enraged, screamed that Dimmesdale had escaped his influence.
After the events of that day, Hester and Prynne went to Boston as they had planned. Chillingworth, with nothing to sustain himself, wasted away rapidly and died. As for Dimmesdale, many recognized the “A” on his chest, and while some saw it as a form of penance which the minister had inflicted on himself for fornicating with Hester, others thought that Chillingworth was a sorcerer who had done that to him. Many still saw Dimmesdale as being a perfect and holy man, as he had made no explicit mention of a potential relationship between himself and Hester during his speech, and might have died the way he did “to express to the world how utterly nugatory is the choicest of man’s own righteousness. After exhausting life in his efforts for mankind’s spiritual good, he had made the manner of his death a parable, in order to impress on his admirers the mighty and mournful lesson, that, in the view of Infinite Purity, we are sinners all alike.” Years later, Pearl married a nobleman in Boston, seeing that when Hester returned to her college in Boston, “there were articles of comfort and luxury such as Hester never cared to use, but which only wealth could have purchased, and affection have imagined for her.” After Hester died, she was buried next to Dimmesdale, and they both shared a tombstone with nothing inscribed upon it except the letter “A.”
Personal thoughts:
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a powerful, emotional read due to the humanity of the characters and their various struggles. Out of all the characters, I found Chillingworth, not Dimmesdale, to be the most tragic, considering that he had the most to lose, notwithstanding the fact that all his knowledge and intelligence couldn’t protect him from his lust for vengeance and retribution, which was his undoing after his victim escaped his grasp. Despite the suffering which Hester and Dimmesdale underwent, it should still be remembered that they were still responsible for what happened to them, though this doesn’t mean they aren’t deserving of sympathy - they were both humans, after all. The Scarlet Letter is an invigorating read for anyone interested in human fallibility, the relationships societies and individuals have with religion, and the power of individual choice amidst extreme circumstances.
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