The Scarlet Letter
(Nathaniel Hawthorne)
Nathaniel Hawthorne manages to imbue The Scarlet Letter with an unrelentingly ironic undertone of corruption and sin. In Hawthorn?s 17th Century Boston, all respected people are sinners and the hope of Christian salvation seems a will-o?-the-wisp that only the most despairing characters seem likely to catch. Masculine authority is depicted as being rotten at the most elemental level and Puritan justice reveals itself as little more than public scapegoating of crimes that remain buried within the veneer of an oppressive society. Hester Prynne becomes the victim of this society when she falls pregnant during her husband's absence. She is marked with a scarlet letter "A" and is mocked by the entirety of her society. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, is the town reverend but he leaves her in the lurch on the return of her husband. Dimmesdale however, seems almost holy when contrasted to Hester?s husband and the influential town apothecary, the neigh infernal Roger Chillingworth. As a reader it is possible to feel pity for Chillingworth?s initial sorrow and anger at Hester?s betrayal but this fades into the background when we see the doctor take pains to torture the young minister over a period of years, and to hold back when he could absolve Hester at any time. The idea of a rank undertow in Puritan society, dragging along the action of The Scarlet Letter, is an interesting one for readers because we are given one consideration of the story from the perspective of Hester Prynne, and a completely different one when we examine the hypocrisy evident in her surrounds. Hester believes in the righteousness of Boston?s religious foundations and it is only through our own inquiries into the lives of those who run that society that we suspect its corruption. Hester?s ability to survive, thrive through her own hard work, and raise a young daughter named Pearl makes up a classic tale of perseverance and personal salvation as she and her hidden lover, the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, slowly over the passage of many years overcome their personal demons and begin to reconcile their past sin.
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