Puritan Society in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

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Puritan Society in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

In The Scarlet Letter, life is centered around a rigid Puritan society, where one is unable to express his or her innermost thoughts and feelings. Everyone needs the opportunity to express how they truly feel; otherwise the emotions stay bottled up until they become explosive. Puritan society however did not permit this kind of expression. People had to seek alternative means of relieving their personal anguish and distress. In the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne provides a refuge, in the form of a forest. The forest provides a shelter for the characters, especially Hester and Dimmesdale from the restrictions of daily Puritan life.

In the deep portions of the forest, Hester and Dimmesdale bring forth hidden thoughts and emotions. The forest is set away from the village where all forms of civilization vanish. It is a retreat where men as well as women can open up and be themselves. It is here that Dimmesdale can openly acknowledge Hester and his love for her. In the forest the two of them can openly engage in conversation without being preoccupied with the restrictions that the Puritan society has placed on them.

The forest represents freedom. There is no one in the forest to watch for misconduct, so people can do as they please. The wilderness calls to independent spirits such as Hester and Pearl.

When Hester comes across Dimmesdale in the forest, she openly talks to him. She talks of subjects that would never be mentioned in any place other than the forest. "What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other! Hast thou forgotten it"(179)? At first Dimmesdale is shocked by Hester's statement and he tries to quiet her ...

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...s talk of leaving Boston had given him hope for the future. He now had energy, something that he had not had in quite a long time.

Do I feel joy again? . . . Me thought the germ of it was dead in me! O Hester, thou are my better angel! I seem to have flung myself- sick, sin-stained, and sorrow blackened-down upon these forest leaves, and to have risen up all made anew, and with new powers to glorify Him that hath been merciful! This is already the better life! Why did we not find it sooner (185).

The Puritan society can be unsympathetic to one's inner feelings. Hawthorne created the forest to give the characters a place to escape. It was a place where they could express their true thoughts and feelings, and not be worried about how society would look upon them. There are no restraints in the natural world. People are free to do and act as they please.

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