A Characteristics Analysis of Scarlett Letter Defying on Major Characters - Book Report/Review Example

A Characteristics Analysis of “Scarlett Letter” Defying on Major Characters Introduction The novel, “The Scarlett Letter” presents a number of psychologically dichotomous characters such as Hester, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl, etc. These characters are fraught with psychological dichotomies based on the concepts of sin and alienation. Indeed because of these dichotomies the characters contrast themselves with each other. Hawthorne as a moralist defines the novel an investigative journey of human decency. While also as a determinist and skeptic thinker of human psychology some romanticism somehow presents the novel is a notable one of its own kind of interpersonal conflict by the nature of relationship and chemistry of different choices of intimated looks. Hawthorne, not apprehensive with the causes of committed sin, seems to overlook the outcomes of practicing so. For Hawthorne, sin has a conditional perspective by an individual’s strength of feelings in the way of life he has to go. By his view, an individual should only feel guiltiness when he acts against the creator, nature morally and subjected to the highly exercised social code or general standards of morality. Indeed all the three main characters –Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearls- in Hawthorne’s “Scarlet Letter” are characterized with the psychological schisms that are based on the perception of their sin. Contrast between Hester’s and Puritan View of Sin and Adultery Unlike Dimmesdale, Hester is an evil in the society’s eye. Though Hester has been abandoned by the society because of her adultery, she never perceives her adultery as an offense against God. She consciously avoids such feeling of being isolated from creator as she believes her disloyal act not a typical sin against the creator. Hester Prynne is treated by the society of the time as a great sinner, an outcast an object of ridicule and contempt. This attitude of society makes her feel that the scarlet letter “A” is burning on her bosom. In all her intercourse with society there is nothing to give her the feeling that she belongs to it. She awakens only horror and repugnance in the minds of the townsfolk whose words of scorn and hatred often fall upon her “like a rough blow upon an ulcerated wound” (Hawthorne, 2005, p. 45). When strangers look curiously at the scarlet letter, “they branded it afresh into Hester’s soul” while “an accustomed eye had like wish its own anguish to inflict.” (Hawthorne, 2005, p. 67) It is extremely painful for the readers to read about the way Hester Prynne is treated by this puritanical society and there is no doubt that Hawthorne’s own sympathies are on the side of Hester. The attitudes of even the leading citizens like Governor Bellingham and the Reverend Mr. john Wilson, towards Hester’s guilt show patriachy. Hester possesses the distinctive womanly virtues such as passionate devotions of a wife and a mother. After she gets her sentence she remains physically meek. But mentally she remains defiant. Due to the pressure of the puritan society, she gradually moves away from a woman’s natural sphere. She does not accept adultery as a sin but she does accept it to be a violation of social norms and customs. She comprehends that Pearl’s existence is the violation of a great law but she continues to be submissive to that law but defiant to the society. She is still at odds with society when she suggests flight with Dimmesdale. Even at the time of the minister’s public confession, she hopes that she and Dimmesdale will be united in the next world. After the death of Dimmesdale, she has to start a new life. But she must learn about the impropriety of her past thinking, Mathews (1957) says, “But she must recognize the unsoundness of her past thinking and make inner expiation” (p. 282). In her humble cottage she takes the proper place of women, with a natural compassion and love for those who need her. Dichotomy in Arthur Dimmesdale’s Character Though Dimmesdale occupies a reverend position in the Boston society, he realizes himself finally isolated from his society and also from the creator. Indeed this sense evolves from his belief that he has committed sin against the creator. Dimmesdale perceives himself as an evil while he is a reverend in the society’s eye. Dimmesdale creates a harmony between himself and the public only in the last moments of his life. Regarding the perception of sin, he is in contrast with Chillingworth. While Dimmesdale considers himself a sinner, Chillingworth is the real sinner because he is possessed by a passion for revenge. This passion perverts the talents and the gift with which nature has blessed him with. As Meenakshi Raman (2008) says, “He subjects Dimmesdale to a subtle kind of persecution and as a result of his diabolical activity his own physical appearance is gradually transformed into something fierce and ugly” (p. 18). Dimmesdale is a man in whom the soul or spirit predominates. Each commits an act of violation. But sin does produce a feeling of isolation from whatever is valuable in the eyes of the sinner. The sinner cut off from “the electric chain of human sympathy,” and consequently loses strength. Chillingworth does not undergo much mental suffering after becoming a sinner, because his nature becomes distorted and prevented by the sin of vengeance which he undertakes and which he continues to pursue. But the other two undergo a lot of suffering and penance and are ultimately redeemed, each in different ways. Dimmesdale is the sensitive and conscience-stricken minister who pays a high price for his sin in secret. Because of not having the courage to confess his guilt, he endured inexpressible mental agony, not to speak of the flagellation and scourging which he administered to himself in private as a penance for his sin. Chillingworth, whose identity as Hester’s husband was not known to Dimmesdale for a long time, worked upon the minister’s mind and added to his torment in sinister ways. His failure to fulfill Hester’s appeal to flee from Boston and to begin a new life also torments him internally. Dimmesdale’s experience of suffering is far larger than Hester’s isolation as Dimmesdale says no to permit his faithless adultery act publicly but also to disclose himself that he held this sin due own desire rather than the evil’s persuasion. Analysis of Dichotomy in Pearl’s Character Unlike both of these two characters, Pearl is not affected with the social definition of sin and punishment, and therefore he is not bothered much by his alienation. Yet in the society’s eye, he is the harvest of Hester’s sin and hated by the society. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne displays the characters in his novel through “three types of sin: the revealed sin of Hester, the concealed sin of Dimmesdale and the unpardonable sin of Chillingworth…with a fourth type –the inherited sin of pearl” (Garlitz, 1957, p. 681). Both the man and the woman, who are still fundamentally the old ‘Adam and Eve, swindle themselves into thinking that they can escape the consequences of their sin of adultery. The woman has to wear on the bosom of her dress the letter “A” which is the sign of her shame. The man, who is the occasion of Hester’s shame, lives a life full of agony because of his inability to confess his guilt and because of the remorse which gnaws upon his conscience. Meeting in the forest, they plot and escape from the world of law and religion. For a moment, the hope of liberation seems to transfigure not o only them but also dark forest where they have met. When Hester flings aside the scarlet letter “A” and loosens her hair, the forest glows to life because of nature’s sympathy with the lovers and its approval of their bliss. Yet Hawthorne cannot permit these lovers the happiness that they seek. He is not as harsh as his puritan ancestors, but he condemns Hester’s plan of escape. For all his disagreement with Puritanism and its persecuting zeal, he does not swerve completely to the side of romanticism which means unlimited freedom for the individual. The sinful priest purifies himself by public confession and becomes worthy of the only way that remains for him to salvation, namely death. Even Hester must finally “accept loneliness and self-restraint instead of the love and freedom she had dreamed” (Sheldon, 2008, p. 120). In this regard, Chase (1958) says, “Passion has opened up for her no new possibilities, only closed off older ones. Thus in The Scarlet Letter, passion justifies nothing, while its denial redeems all” (p. 502). Conclusion Hawthorne is not as concerned with the causes of sin as with the consequences of sin. According to him sin is relative not absolutes. Sin is something subjective. A man feels a sense of guilt only when he feels that’s he has sinned against God, natural law the moral code of society or one’s own moral standards. The sense of guilt is bound to bridge with it a sense of isolation from what one has sinned against. Thus Dimmesdale feels isolated from God because he believes that he has sinned against God. But Hester dose not have any feeling of isolation from God she dose not believe that her adulterous act was a sin against God. Furthermore the effects of sin, according to Hawthorne, may not always be disastrous. Sin may produce a feeling of isolation, but it may also produce understanding. It may cause suffering, but it may also give rise to compassion. It separates people, but it may also bind them together. Hester’s sin makes her a far more useful person in the community than she would ever have been if she had not committed adultery. The consequence of sin in the Scarlet Letter is mainly psychological in nature. A sense of guilt gives rise to a feeling of loneliness and Hawthorne show painful and better Hester’s loneliness is. This loneliness also leads in Hester’s case to defiance and rebellion. Hawthorne shows further that hidden sin is far more destructive for the individual than the sin which is openly acknowledge. Dimmesdale’s suffering is far greater than Hester’s. Dimmesdale refuses not only to admit his adulterous act before the public but also to admit to himself that his sin was due to his own lust rather than to the working of Satan. Works Cited Chase, R. (1958). The American Novel and Its Tradition. New York: Henderson, Garlitz, B. (1957). “Pearl: 1850- 1955”, PMLA, 72 (4), pp. 689-699 Hawthorne, N. (2005). The Scarlet Letter. Boston: Penguin. Mathews, W. J. (1957). “Hawthorne and the Chain of Being”, Modern Language Quarterly, 18(4):282-294; DOI:10.1215/00267929-18-4-282 Raman, M. (2008). Critical Perspectives In American Literature. Atlantic Publishers, Sheldon, S. (2008). Nathaniel Hawthornes the Scarlet Letter. Boston: Barrons. Read More