Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne, (born July 4, 1804, Salem, Massachusetts, U.S.—died May 19, 1864,
Plymouth, New Hampshire) was an American novelist and short-story writer who was a master
of the allegorical and symbolic tale. He is regarded as one of the greatest fiction writers in
American literature. He was a skillful craftsman with an architectonic sense of form, as
displayed in the tightly woven structure of his works, and a master of prose style, which he
used to reveal his characters’ psychological and moral depths. He is best known for The Scarlet
Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851).

The Background of The Scarlet Letter

Descended from Puritans, he was imbued with deep moral earnestness. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s
family had lived in Salem, Massachusetts, since the 1600s. One ancestor was a magistrate who,
in staunchly defending Puritanism, sentenced a Quaker woman to public whipping. Another
was a judge in the Salem witch trials.
Hawthorne also married into a family of strong women; his wife, Sophia, was a highly educated
painter and illustrator, and his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Peabody, was a well-known feminist.
Hawthorne wrote 'The Scarlet Letter' following his mother's death. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses
his novel, The Scarlet Letter to critique the Puritan faith.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was a writer but struggled to make a living from his writing. To make
ends meet, he resorted to working as a customs officer in Boston, living briefly at the utopian
commune Brook Farm, and serving as U.S. consul in Liverpool, Lancashire.

Genre
 Romance
The novel’s original title was The Scarlet Letter: A Romance. The term romance as Hawthorne
uses it refers to a work of fiction that does not adhere strictly to reality: a romance as taking
place “somewhere between the real world and fairy-land, where the Actual and the Imaginary
may meet, and each imbues itself with the nature of the other.” The Scarlet Letter mixes the
actual in the form of a historically accurate setting, believable characters, and realistic dialogue
with elements of the imaginary, such as the giant “A” that lights up the night sky and the
strange mark burned into Dimmesdale's chest. These otherworldly effects heighten the sense of
drama in the story and convey the feeling that while the exact story is probably not true, it
conveys a deeper emotional truth that surpasses the specifics of the tale.

 Historical Novel
The Scarlet Letter is also a historical novel, in that it was written in 1850 but set in the 1640s and
contains real-life settings, characters, and actual historical events. In setting his story in 17th
century Boston, Hawthorne explores the Puritanical foundation of the USA and uses the
period’s strict laws and repressive beliefs to ask enduring questions about the nature of sin and
guilt. Several characters from the book are based on actual historical figures such as Governor
Bellingham, Mistress Higgins, and the character of the narrator himself, whose life story closely
follows Hawthorne’s biography. Hester’s punishment for adultery in the form of a scarlet letter
A affixed to her dress echoes the true instance of a woman named Mary Batcheller, who in 1651
was sentenced to have the letter A branded into her flesh after she was found guilty of an
extramarital affair. (In The Scarlet Letter, one of the townswomen suggests Hester’s punishment
is too lenient, and she should have had “the brand of a hot iron” on her forehead.) By the end of
the 17th century, women convicted of adultery had to wear the letter A sewn into their clothes.
He compares the dour Puritanical community in Boston both to the “sunny richness” of Old
World Europe, where Hester was born, and to the generations to follow, which, he writes “wore
the blackest shade of Puritanism, and so darkened the national visage with it” – a reference to
the Salem witch trials that would take place fifty years later. The character of Miss Hibbins, who
freely boasts of consorting with the Black Man, or devil, in the book, is based on the real-life
figure Mary Hibbins, who was executed for witchcraft in 1652. The fact that the townspeople
tolerate Miss Hibbins, and gradually soften their stance towards Hester, implies that their
Puritanism is more forgiving and humanitarian than the version that will be practiced by the
next generation. In setting his novel in the past, Hawthorne comments not only on the morals of
a specific period but contrasts them to both the past and the future.

Plot
The Scarlet Letter is set in Puritan Massachusetts Bay Colony during the years 1642 to 1649, the
novel tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an affair with Minister
Arthur Dimmesdale and then struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity
(meanwhile, Hester’s husband Chillingworth comes back in disguise as a doctor and is slowly
taking his revenge on the Minister).

Setting
The Scarlet Letter is set in Boston in the 1600s, before American Independence. At the time,
Boston was part of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, which had been established after the first
group of English settlers arrived in Plymouth in 1620.

Narration and the narrator

1. What is the role of the depiction of “The Custom-House”?

The long introductory chapter explains why and how the novel was written by acknowledging
that a real-life discovery was the seed of the tale. The narrator discovers a cloth embroidered
with a scarlet “A” along with a manuscript written by an earlier employee of the Custom-
House. The narrator also describes a lot about his place of work, his job, his society, and himself,
all of which contrast with the story he writes after he loses his job. This introductory chapter
establishes the narrator’s voice, style, and tone, and roots his “romance” in what appears to be
autobiographical fact.

2. What does the introduction reveal about the story told in The Scarlet Letter?
The parallel analysis of this short introduction shows that the narrator identifies himself with
Hester. They are both little understood for their ways and feel a bit alienated.

3. Why does the narrator of The Scarlet Letter lose his job in the Custom House?
He is incompetent. He spends too much time writing when he should be working. The other
inspectors dislike him personally.

Symbols
1. What does Hester's letter "A" eventually come to represent to the townspeople?
The letter, a patch of fabric in the shape of an "A," signifies that Hester is an "adulterer." As a
young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to
America to live but never followed her.
2. Why is Pearl incapable of sharing her mother's joy over the scarlet letter's removal?
Pearl is symbolizing that no matter if Hester takes off this letter, she still is an adulterer and
cannot get rid of that past of hers.
3. What does the scarlet letter symbolize at the end?
It becomes a symbol of innocence, penance, and angelic character of Hester
4. What was on Dimmesdale's chest?
Those who witnessed the minister's death cannot agree upon what exactly it was that they saw.
Most say they saw on his chest a scarlet letter exactly like Hester's. To their minds, it resulted
from Chillingworth's poisonous magic, from the minister's self-torture, or his inner remorse.
5. What colours are dominant in the story?
Red and Black. Red symbolizes the glow of Hester's passion. Black represents the devil and sin.
6. Pearl - Why is Pearl called a demon child?
Pearl is a living symbol, the physical embodiment of Hester and Dimmesdale's sin. She
represents not only “sin” but also the vital spirit and passion that engendered that sin. Thus,
Pearl’s existence gives her mother reason to live, bolstering her spirits when she is tempted to
give up. It is only after Dimmesdale is revealed to be Pearl’s father that Pearl can become fully
“human.” Until then, she functions in a symbolic capacity as the reminder of a mystery.
7. What does the scaffold symbolize?
It is both the symbol of sin and shame, as well as the site of ultimate redemption.
8. What does the last sentence of The Scarlet Letter mean?
A motto carved on the headstone they share ensures that their punishment follows them even
into death: "on a field, sable, the letter A, gules." This motto is a verbal representation of the
scarlet letter ("sable" means black and "gules" means reddish). ... Even after death, the legend of
their love continues.

Motifs

 Evocative names
 Chillingworth is cold and inhuman and thus brings a “chill” to Hester’s and
Dimmesdale’s lives.
 “Prynne” rhymes with “sin,” while “Dimmesdale” suggests “dimness”—weakness,
indeterminacy, lack of insight, and lack of will, all of which characterize the young
minister
 The name “Pearl” evokes a biblical allegorical device—the “pearl of great price” that is
salvation.
 Civilization Versus The Wilderness
In The Scarlet Letter, the town and the surrounding forest represent opposing behavioral
systems. The town represents civilization, a rule-bound space where everything one does is on
display and where transgressions are quickly punished. The forest, on the other hand, is a space
of natural rather than human authority. In the forest, society’s rules do not apply, and alternate
identities can be assumed. While this allows for misbehavior— Mistress Hibbins’s midnight
rides, for example—it also permits greater honesty and an escape from the repression of Boston.
When Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the woods, for a few moments, they become happy
young lovers once again. Hester’s cottage, which, significantly, is located on the outskirts of
town and at the edge of the forest, embodies both orders. It is her place of exile, which ties it to
the authoritarian town, but because it lies apart from the settlement, it is a place where she can
create for herself a life of relative peace.

Metaphors & Similes

The Custom-House, Introductory to The Scarlet Letter

Nevertheless, vixenly as she looks, many people are seeking, at this very moment, to shelter themselves
under the wing of the federal eagle . . .
In this metaphor, the narrator describes a statue of an American eagle displayed over the
entrance to the Custom House, comparing the eagle’s fierce look with that of a vixen, which is
defined either as a “female fox” or as a “shrewish or bad-tempered woman.”

Chapter 5
The very law that condemned her—a giant of stern features, but with vigor to support, as well as to
annihilate, in his iron arm—had held her up, through the terrible ordeal of her ignominy.
In this metaphor, the strict, unforgiving Puritan laws that kept Hester in prison are symbolic of
a strong giant that protected her from the repercussions of the townspeople; now that Hester
was released, the giant was no longer there to protect her and she had to fend for herself.

Chapter 7
“No, my little Pearl!” said her mother. “Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee!”
The sunshine is a metaphor for Pearl’s happiness; Hester tells Pearl she has no happiness to
share, so Pearl will have to find ways to make her own.

Chapter 16
‘But, mother, tell me now! Is there such a Black Man? And didst thou ever meet him? And is this his
mark?’
‘Wilt thou let me be at peace if I once tell thee?’ asked her mother.
‘Yes, if thou tellest me all,’ answered Pearl.
‘Once in my life I met the Black Man!’ said her mother. ‘This scarlet letter is his mark!’

The Black Man is a metaphor Nathaniel Hawthorne uses for sin, wrongdoing, and corruption.
Pearl has overheard some of the adult women talking about “the Black Man” and Hester admits
that she has met him; she is referring to her sin of adultery with the minister.
Some Allusions
 - The name “Uncle Sam” is an allusion to the U.S. government. Some historians believe
that the term is based on Samuel Wilson, a New York meatpacker who supplied rations
for soldiers during the War of 1812.
- The term “Loco-foco” is an allusion to a faction of the U.S. Democratic Party, also known
as the Equal Rights Party, that stood up against New York City’s Tammany Hall
organization and monopolies.
- [O]r whether, as there is fair authority for believing, it had sprung up under the footsteps of the
sainted Ann Hutchinson, as she entered the prison door [.]
- This is an allusion to Anne Hutchinson (1591–1643), a highly educated religious
reformer in the Massachusetts Bay Colony who was imprisoned and eventually
banished from her colony for challenging the Puritan establishment.
- An allusion to Anne Turner (1576–1615), who was found guilty for her role in the
poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury; her sentence required that she be hanged in the
starched collar that she helped make popular.

When and how did you find out that Dimmesdale is Pearl’s father?

Resolution

1. What happened to Chillingworth after Dimmesdale's death?

Roger Chillingworth, becomes weak and drained after Dimmesdale's death. Now deprived of
someone to vent his hatred on, Chillingworth dies shortly after Dimmesdale.
2. Why does Chillingworth leave his fortune to Pearl?
He feels guilty after fulfilling his wish and to REDEEM himself of his sin of sinning the
principles of a doctor and dies leaving his property to Pearl.
3. What is Pearl's fate?
Pearl's fate is most interesting. The reader is never given a confirmed version of her life but is
left to believe she lived a long and happy one, married and the mother of children. Hawthorne
ironically notes that her rise in wealth certainly elevated her and Hester in the eyes of the
colony that once spurned them.
4. Why does Hester put the scarlet letter back on?
Hester puts the scarlet letter back on because it is an important part of her identity, and it allows
her to be defiant and help other women, yet it was Hawthorne's design for her to come back
because she is best able to embody these ideals by sacrificing her freedom from the scarlet letter.

Themes

 Isolation
Why does Pearl say I have no Heavenly Father?
When the narrator describes Pearl as an “outcast,” he understates: Pearl is an “imp of evil,
emblem, and product of sin, she had no right among christened infants.” Pearl herself is aware
of her difference from others, and when Hester tries to teach her about God, Pearl says, “I have
no Heavenly Father!”

 Sin, Knowledge, And The Human Condition

The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both
cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering.
But it also results in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the scarlet letter
functions as “her passport into regions where other women dared not tread,” leading her to
“speculate” about her society and herself more “boldly” than anyone else in New England. As
for Dimmesdale, the “burden” of his sin gives him “sympathies so intimate with the sinful
brotherhood of mankind
Puritan society insists on seeing earthly experience as merely an obstacle on the path to heaven,
while Hester and Dimmesdale’s experience shows that a state of sinfulness can lead to personal
growth, sympathy, and understanding of others.

 The Nature Of Evil

Did Chillingworth’s selfishness in marrying Hester force her to the “evil” she committed in
Dimmesdale’s arms? Is Hester and Dimmesdale’s deed responsible for Chillingworth’s
transformation into a malevolent being?
The book argues that true evil arises from the close relationship between hate and love: both
emotions depend upon “a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one
individual dependent . . . upon another.”

 Identity And Society

Why does not she leave the town? Why does she choose humiliation?
To her, running away or removing the letter would be an acknowledgment of society’s power
over her: she would be admitting that the letter is a mark of shame and something from which
she desires to escape. Instead, Hester stays, refiguring the scarlet letter as a symbol of her own
experiences and character. Her past sin is a part of who she is; to pretend that it never happened
would mean denying a part of herself. Thus, Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into
her life.

 Female Independence
How does Hester violate social expectations?
1) following her heart and choosing to have sex with a man she is not married to
2) she has to earn a living so that she and her daughter can survive
3) she also has to raise a headstrong child as a single parent.
4) she violently objects to Governor Bellingham trying to take Pearl away.

!!! However, the narrator also makes the point that because Hester has been living outside of
social conventions, she seems to have lost touch with key ethical principles: “she had wandered,
without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness.” Do you agree?

The descriptions of Pearl also suggest that female independence is antithetical to happiness.
The narrator says no one knew if Pearl’s “wild, rich nature had been softened and subdued, and
made capable of a woman’s gentle happiness,” implying that only by forfeiting her independent
spirit could Pearl be truly content.

 Guilt
How is guilt present in the sinners’ life? How is it physically/mentally/psychologically
manifested?
- E.g., Dimmesdale is tormented both by guilt at his sinful act of fathering an illegitimate
child, and then by the guilt of failing to take responsibility for his actions and having to
hide his secret. The minister’s guilt is also exaggerated by a sense of hypocrisy because
he is considered by many to be exceptionally holy and righteous. His sense of guilt is
what makes him so vulnerable to being manipulated by Chillingsworth and what leads
him to physical decay.

Morals, subject matter

What message does the novel convey?
Secret sin leads to guilt and pain. It stresses how one’s wrong decision can have a life-long effect
on one’s life.
Unless we reconcile to our sins, fears and unless we forgive ourselves and dare to be ourselves,
we cannot find peace and happiness.

How The Scarlet Letter relates to today?

Another example of ways in which The Scarlet Letter plays out in modern-day times is through
public shaming on social media. Today, public opinion, whether about a company, a movie
review, or a public figure, is openly debated, and often misinformation is quickly spread. The
Scarlet Letter portrays a woman who refused to conform when it came to the issue of her
sexuality. She was shamed and attacked for being sexual outside the norms of the culture she
lived in.

Sources and recommended literature:

Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "Nathaniel Hawthorne". Encyclopedia Britannica, 30
Jun. 2021, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Nathaniel-Hawthorne. Accessed 9
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Cañadas, Ivan. “A New Source for the Title and Themes of ‘The Scarlet Letter.’” Nathaniel
Hawthorne Review, vol. 32, no. 1, Penn State University Press, 2006, pp. 43–51,
http://www.jstor.org/stable/44695434.
Isaoglu, Hande. “A Freudian Psychoanalytic Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet
Letter.” The Journal of Academic Social Science Studies. Vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 499-511, 2015.
DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.9761/JASSS2713
Gao, Haihong. “An Analysis of Symbolic Images in The Scarlet Letter.” Theory and Practice in
Language Studies, Vol. 8, No. 12, pp. 1725-1731, December 2018. DOI:
http://dx.doi.org/10.17507/tpls.0812.20
Herbert, T. Walter. “Nathaniel Hawthorne, Una Hawthorne, and The Scarlet Letter: Interactive
Selfhoods and the Cultural Construction of Gender.” PMLA, vol. 103, no. 3, Modern
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aktGDEZTYYk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uen92KjCSsg