It is funny to note that note once does Hawthorne himself describe the scarlet letter himself as something we would perceive as wrong, he only reveals to us how the Puritans could see the scarlet letter as something wrong. Hawthorne not only reveals the scarlet letter as the word Adulteress, he stresses more meanings to the letter further on. For example, he relates the letter ‘A’ to Hester being an Artist, an Angel and also to Arthur. Not only do we have the scarlet letter as a symbol, but Pearl herself is also a symbol, the meteor that appears over the three as they stand together for the first time and the stigma on Dimmesdale’s chest are all great symbols repeated throughout the novel.
The novel opens with a very gloomy and somber mood at a prison door revealing to us already that a crime has been committed. Yet Hawthorne instinctively mentions that there is a wild, colourful rose bush growing just outside the door. This relieves the gloom and is perhaps suggesting that there may be a world more beautiful beyond the confined life of the Puritan community. Already even this early in the novel Hawthorne has outlined his thematic boundaries for his novel. They are law and nature, and repression and freedom.
As we look again in light of the statement we are asked to examine the effects that the sin committed has on the three main characters in this tale. In the light of Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale’s sin, Hawthorne re-tells the story of one such rebellion against society and law. But in a way, both the characters are as guilty of sin as each other, not only has Hester committed adultery, Dimmesdale has broken the laws of the Puritans and his job as reverent. Both characters failed to fight back their temptation of passion and in failing to do so, violated the rigid Puritan civil and religious code. Sadly it was only Hester who had the courage to confess. As the tale opens we see Hester Prynne put on show in the market place as part of her punishment for her act of adultery. She is asked repeatedly to reveal the identity of her child’s father but she steadfastly refuses. The fact that Hester refuses to disclose her partner in crime reveals to us that she is a trustworthy and strong woman. Not only does she stand-alone on her punishment stand, but also she is also willing to do it alone.
If we look closely at Hester Prynne we are compelled with a realistic character who commits wrong but more importantly has the out most courage and willpower to confess to her sin and accept the punishment of being an outcast for the rest of her life. She was a woman who was made believe that her husband was dead when he failed to return to Boston to meet his wife. For her act in adultery she was imprisoned for her sin and was decreed that she wore a scarlet letter ‘A’ on the dress of her bodice for eternity:
“The remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame…thus she will be a living sermon against sin.”
We can see that from the way in which Hester accepted to wear this symbol of sin and shame and the attitude she took upon it, that she was a true, strong person. She took this symbol which was forced upon her out of an evil punishment and turned it into something better, as we learn later in the tale when she is free to take it off but keeps it on in respect and honour for her daughter Pearl. We cannot skip past the fact that Hawthorne’s presentation of Hester throughout leaves us in awe of her power and courage to view dire things as something superior. Not only does she take on the scarlet letter as her own identity and the identity of her daughter Pearl but when forced to take up residence in a small cottage away from civilization she takes this as an opportunity to tailor her needlework skills and takes up a craft in needlework in making clothing for the magistrates and wealthy villagers. Hawthorne presents Hester as a woman with passionate and sensual nature. Her unique taste and independence and appearance and her only choice of a job through needlework places her beyond the acceptable bounds of the Puritan life. Not only do we see Hester marked with the letter ‘A’ forever, but we see Hawthorne making the letter ‘A’ having other means. For example, we see that the scarlet letter also is symbolic of Able and later in the novel of the word Angel. It is revealed later in the novel that the towns’ people began to accept Hester and began to admire her for her good nature and strength describing the further meanings of the scarlet letter throughout the book.
Some critics, such as Mark Van Doren, view Hester as the only one who has fault in this act:
“Irreparably wronged her husband…and also shattered Dimmesdale’s peace.”
I can no doubhtedly disagree with what Van Doren has said here. It is not right to just set the blame on Hester, as it was a poor woman who was lead to believe that her real husband was dead after he had failed to return to her as promised and also the fact that it was as much Dimmesdale sin as well as Hester’s. Therefore it is unfair to blame Hester and says that she has shattered Dimmesdale’s peace because in a way he has also shattered hers, she was the one forced to live a life of isolation and loneliness.
The full effect of Hester’s sin of adultery has not ruined this woman’s mind. At the least it has changed her way of life, as she was forced to be ostracized by the Puritan society, but this has only lead her to become a more strong and heroic woman in her time. Hawthorne repeatedly presents her as a sympathetic character that we agree to sympathize with, but we later grow to look at her in awe and view her as a true feminist, maybe even the greatest in her time and somewhat also of today’s society. We can admire Hester’s willpower to accept her punishment of her sin and learn to face the harsh Puritan world like a real, heroic figure.
As we mentioned earlier, it was as much Dimmesdale’s crime as well as Hester’s, only the coward Dimmesdale refused to accept his initial sin of passion and choose to repent alone. Because of his position in the Puritan community he could not reveal himself to them, as he valued his job more than his confession. This can be viewed, by many, as a hypocritical act considering Dimmesdale’s occupation as a Reverent. Instead, Dimmesdale seeks to punish himself alone. He self inflicts a scarlet letter ‘A’ on his chest, and has nightly vigils where he spends hours at length praying for his forgiveness from God. As Hawthorne reveals this we see that Dimmesdale is quite a hypocritical figure as he cannot accept his initial sin of passion and can only seek retribution in private. Although he does tell Hester that if she wants she can reveal his identity:
“If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow sinner.”
Here we do realize that he is speaking against his self and giving Hester the chance to reveal his identity, but on a full note, this is not enough for us to feel sorry for Dimmesdale as he still does not hold enough courage to reveal his own identity to the Puritan’s himself, but makes Hester make a choice between her love and commitment to Dimmesdale or abide by the Puritan laws. The only time we see this character try in anyway to admit to his sinful act is when he stands alone on the exact same scaffold where Hester was punished those many years ago. Even at that, it is at night that he decides to do this, hence realizing that no one will see him. It was only by coincidence that Hester and Pearl join him and as a unearthly light shoots across the mid night sky it makes the letter ‘A’ and lights up the scaffold just as Chillingworth is passing by.
“And there stood the minister, with his hand over his heart; and Hester Prynne, with the embroidered letter glimmering on her bosom; and little Pearl, herself a symbol, and the connecting link between those two.”
As they stand together for the first time, it is not long before the persistent little Pearl asks her father:
“Wilt thou stand here with mother and me, tomorrow noon-tide?”
Dimmesdale being the coward that he is refuses to do so replying:
“At the great judgment day!”
We can perceive through Hawthorne’s descriptions of Dimmesdale that sin has affected him in a completely different way than it has affected Hester. It may be because of his refusal to admit the truth that he has the torment of his secret constantly burning up inside of him. Eventually that guilt will build up beyond his own power. He is a man torn between his position in society and his guilt for his sin and this is enough in its own to reveal the suffering this man endured. He describes himself as a:
“Fellow sinner and fellow suffered”
His way of punishing himself was not to admit his crime to the Puritan society but to cut himself with his own scarlet letter and with it he accepts the pain and slow journey towards death because of his guilt.
The third main character that we are asked to examine in light of how sin affects these characters is Chillingworth. Although Chillingworth did not commit any sin in the early stages of the book, it is not long after the truth about Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin of adultery is revealed to him on his delayed arrival that Hawthorne then presents Chillingworth as a devilish character. The effects of Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin plays on his mind so much that he sees no other choice but to commit sin himself but seeking revenge on the man responsible for committing adultery with his wife.
As we seen, because of Dimmesdale’s choice to self inflict himself with a wound as his way of punishing himself; his wound leads to infection, which weakens Dimmesdale health traumatically. As Chillingworth is a physician he is assigned into helping to cure Dimmesdale. On knowing that this is the man who committed adultery with his wife, it is here we see Chillingworth take on his act of sin throughout the book. He purposely heightens and intensifies Dimmesdale’s suffering ‘to keep the torture always at red heart” and his way of making Dimmesdale suffer for what he has done.
“I will read it in his heart.”
As Chillingworth was sent to help Dimmesdale recover he is sure there is some other reason for his failing health and secretly in the night pulls back his shirt and the secret of the minister’s heart is revealed. Chillingworth then acknowledges Dimmesdale as his enemy from here on in and commits his sin within the novel.
“To burrow into the clergyman’s intimacy, and plot against his soul.”
Hawthorne further describes Chillingworth as the leech, which is the title of chapter 9, is characteristically ambiguous of Hawthorne as Chillingworth was a physician his career, and in those days physicians were called leeches. However, Hawthorne cleverly uses this word to describe him as it also serves as describing his role of an emotional parasite. He is now a man who lives of other people’s suffering, as we learn from his treatment of Dimmesdale.
Chillingworth begins to become obsessed with Dimmesdale over the years and it is so much as to say that he is a man playing a deadly game with his enemy, so deadly a game that he himself does not suspect. His revenge on Dimmesdale is his sole reason for existing at this stage and as the title of chapter 9 tells us, the leech is a parasite that dies along with its host.
This further explains the shortness in both their deaths later in the novel. Once Dimmesdale dies, Chillingworth dies within a short year of him.
As we seen by examining the three main characters in the novel, we see that each dealed with sin in their own unique way. Hester didn’t let her sin play on her mind as much as the other two characters as she confronted the Puritan society and accepted her punishment. In doing so she became stronger and a unique feminist even to this day. Dimmesdale on the other hand let the sin he had committed play on his mind the most, he failed to commit to his adultery and punished himself in his own secret world. The results were his slow, torturous lead to death. Lastly Chillingworth, determined to discover who his wife’s partner in crime was, made sure that he punished Dimmesdale. He played a very deadly and vicious game with Dimmesdale, torturing him for years on end and intensifying his suffering so much that Hawthorne relates to him as being evil and then progresses it to Satan:
“But what distinguished the physicians ecstasy from Satan’s was the trait of wonder in it.”
It is of most a story left up to the imagination, as Mark Van Doren states:
“There was no real solution for this story, given Hester’s strength, Dimmesdale’s weakness and Chillingworth’s perversion, than the one he found.”
Overall we know that it was both Hester and Dimmesdale that Hawthorne sympathized with the most. In the end Dimmesdale did publicly accepted his sin, Pearl and the fallen woman, Hester Prynne.
“A spell had been broken.”