Believed by many writers such as Ralph Waldo Emerson, society corrupts and conforms the individual, and it is the individual who breaks from consistency and conformity that is most free. Hester Prynne, a woman punished for adultery, is isolated by herself and her community, but breaks free from strict Puritan society. Roger Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, isolates himself which leads to the destruction of himself and the community. Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth experience different types of isolation, and while Hester chooses to transcend Puritan laws and live a purposeful life regardless of how it affects her, Chillingworth decides to become infatuated with the sin of Arthur Dimmesdale and live in revenge outside of Puritan society which ultimately leads to his demise.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Puritan society greatly affects the characters boundaries, limitations, and expectations because of their emphasis on God and the community. When John Winthrop said that the Puritans should be a “city upon a hill” (Winthrop), he set the societal precedent that any act within the community reflected the Puritans as a whole for the surrounding people and God to see (Winthrop). Likewise, any act out of line was a stain on the entire community in the eyes of others and God. Puritans laws aimed to control relationships, families, clothing, and other aspects of life. For example, if children did not conform to Puritan ideas and customs, the parents were seen as unfit, and the child was taken away (“The Puritan Family”). To emphasize that people should not be tied to earth by worldly belongings, Puritans wore modest, simple clothes in “sadd”, or somber, colors (“The Puritan Family”). Puritan people were expected to conform to ...
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Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Barnes & Noble, 2003. Print.
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John Winthrop aimed to created Christian utopian society when he founded the puritan community, he failed in this goal. Even with his failure, people still thought of the society as pure and just. What he engendered instead was a community whose theology denied human being’s free will, filled with paranoia, racism, sexism and hatred of sexuality and youth. These themes are clearly represented in the Scarlet Letter. The hatred of youth is shown early on in the novel, when Hester Prynne first enters from the prison, “This woman [Hester Prynne] has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and the statue-book.”(199). The aged ugly woman who makes this statement is used by Hawthorne to serve as representative for the puritans, while Hester represents youth and sexuality. The undeserving punishment of death for the crime of adultery only further demonstrates the extremities of this so-called perfect society. While perhaps seen as God’s will that a person who commits adultery must die, it is instead the government’s way of controlling the people by fear and terror so that t...
Edmund S. Morgan's The Puritan Family displays a multifaceted view of the various aspects of Puritan life. In this book, we, the audience, see into the Puritans' lives and are thereby forced to reflect upon our own. The Puritan beliefs and practices were complicated and rather "snobbish," as seen in The Puritan Family.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a study of the effects of sin on the hearts and minds of the main characters, Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. Sin strengthens Hester, humanizes Dimmesdale, and turns Chillingworth into a demon.
A sin during the mid 1600’s is quite different than a modern one. For example, in the 17th century people believed that defying a rule of God makes the culprit worthy of being publicly shamed or even killed. Now, sin does not have nearly the same impact for if a person disobeys God they can confess to their priest and be forgiven of their sins. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the concept of sin in a Puritanical community during the mid 1600’s in Boston, Massachusetts. Here, religion is a focal point in many citizens lives and religious freedom is one of the primary reasons the puritans came to America from England. The novel begins with Hester Prynne, a single mother just being released from prison, who is seen as an adulterer.
The Puritan society was extremely restricting. They had strict laws and rules, and harsh punishments for even the smallest of misdemeanors. They lived with only the bare necessities and discouraged uniqueness or boldness. As a Romantic writer, with beliefs the complete opposite of the Puritans, Nathaniel Hawthorne was very critical of the Puritan’s strict society. In the allegorical novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the characters of Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth order to convey the central moral of rejecting societal ideals and acting upon one 's own desires and emotions.
Hester Prynne had been tainted with sin once she had committed the crimme of adultry. Mistress Prynne has "raised a great scandal" in the town of Boston.(chapter 3) Hester left to the new world before her husband had. Her husband has not returneed in the past two years, and she had a daughter of three months. Meaning Hester has sinned by cheating on her husband and having anothers man's child. This goes against the Puritians ways of being holy which means Hester is not only a sinner but a criminal as well. Prynned had commited one of the seven deadly sins which is lust. She is put onto a platform so society may look down at her for commiting a sin. However Hester doesnt view herself as the worst sinner in the town of Boston but, views Chillingsworth as the worst sinner of all. In chapter 15 Hester states how Chillingsworth has "done me worse wrong than I have done him." Hester believes all of her memories with Chillingsworth have been her ugliest remembrances. She views him as a monster for marrying her and thinking that they could be happy since she was young and he was a old scholar. hester no longer see's her old husband but a deformed monster in his place. She disregards any happy memories she ever had with and believes he has deeply wronged her which makes him the biggest sinner of all for ruinnig Hesters life. Hester tries to seek justice by escaping to the o...
Letter, Hester Prynne mentions that never loves Roger Chillingworth, (Hawthorne 63). As a consequence, in Hester Prynne’s eyes, her marriage is a false relationship. But afterwards, when her husband hides the reality of their relati...
To this day, the word “puritan” connotes both rigidity and a generally narrow view on life. The dictionary definition of Puritan (the capital refers to the actual religious group) includes, "...demanding the simplification of doctrine and worship, and greater strictness in religious discipline” (Source A). Simplification of their religion would be an understatement of what the Puritans did. Basically, acts were separated into good or evil, approved by God or frowned upon. In this robotic fashion, with no gray area, cruel ignominy was shockingly popular, and used in unworthy situations. An example lies in Source B, a still from the movie adaptation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s magnum opus, The Scarlet Letter. (Although classified as a fictional work the novel is known for it’s factual representations of the Puritans’ behavior.) For committing adultery, Hester Prynne is assigned a lone standing position on the town scaffold, essentially to be put on display and judged while nervously clutching her new baby. To add ridicule, she is enclosed by guards carrying swords and other various weapons. It makes one wonder just how much destruction a woman and her baby are capable of.
The Godly beliefs and punishments followed by the Puritans stemmed from their English experience and complete involvement in religion. The Puritan society molded itself and created a government based upon the Bible and implemented it with force. Hester’s act of adultery was welcomed with rage and was qualified for serious punishment. Boston became more involved in Hester’s life after her crime was announced than it had ever been before—the religious based, justice system formally punished her and society collectively tortured her. Based upon the religious, governmental, and social design of the society, Hester’s entire existence revolved around her sin and the Puritan perception thereof; this association breaks way to society significantly becoming involved in her life.
Hester was not like the other puritans in the community she resided in. Hester did not herself a Puritan because she was simply not religious. She had no respect for their religion or moral code. Her lack of respect in the reason she disobeyed the community (Stewart 57). Her reasoning behind committing adultery was her passion and weakness (Draper 1603). Hester thought power and intellect were more important than believing and worshiping a higher being (Stewart 57). Because Hester’s Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, moved away and abandoned her, Hester’s womanly weakness of feeling love and passion immensely grew. This drive for love and passion is what pushed Hester to committing adultery (Draper 1603).
In every generation there are certain rules and etiquette that play a large role in dictating the appropriate behavior for the time. An individual may choose to live his or her life according to this code of conduct and do fairly well, or in contrast live a life full of trials and hardship as a result of their transgression. This is especially true for the early inhabitants of 17th century colonial America, a period rife with the religious zeal and harsh castigation carried out on behalf of the Puritans who settled the area. During this time, as is still the case today, offenders of this societal moral code were made examples of and forced to suffer so that they may serve as a warning to the rest of the population. This is the case in The Scarlet Letter where the protagonist Hester Prynne is ostracized from her conservative community after committing the then unforgivable sin of adultery. In his novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses both themes of guilt and redemption to create trials that test his character Hester Prynne and in the process transforms her from a pitiable sinner, to a symbol of strength.
In the novel The Scarlet Letter it is evident that the base of their social framework was that of the Church. The Church and beliefs of Protestantism became all encompassing within the town of Boston; meaning that the Church would be directly involved in the running of the community and its regime. The Enforcing of laws were established by scripture read from the Bible, as the Puritans considered the Bible as the "true law" of God that provided guidelines for church and government. Those who disagreed or committed crimes against the government, were not only criminals but also sinners, and they were sought to be punished severely. The Puritans stressed grace, devotion, prayer, and self-examination to achieve religious virtue while including a basic knowledge of unacceptable actions of the time; this was expected to secure order and peace within the Puritan community. The Puritan culture is one that recognizes Protestantism, a sect of Christianity. Though a fundamental of Christianity is forgiveness for one's sins, this seems to have been forgotten amongst the women of the community: "Morally, as well as materially, there was a coarser fiber in those wives and maidens of old English birth and breeding, than in their fair descendants." As read between the lines we can notice a concern in Hester's acceptance within the Puritan community. More so, Hester senses a lack of acceptance within the circle of woman in the community. The use of the term "coarser fiber" intertwines the relationship that she once had, and what it has become within the woman of the community. It has also come to my attention that when Hester compares the women of the community to their descendants, she clarifies that the women of the community have become deviant, and or immoral to their religious past.
Readers generally characterize the Puritan Townspeople in The Scarlet Letter by their attitudes in the beginning of the novel. When Hester first walks into the scene, most of the townspeople are very harsh and strict in their religions. They believe that adultery is one of the worst sins possible. One unyielding woman says, “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Is there not law for it? Truly, there is, both in the Scripture and in the statutebook. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no effect, thank themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray.'; Although a young woman and a righteous man try to intervene with the angry old women, their voices are never heard. Also, Hawthorne associates ugliness with wickedness; therefore, all of the stingy women are described as being very ugly. They regard her not as a fellow sinner but as a woman so evil that she must be ostracized from her “perfect'; community. They view the scarlet letter that she wears upon her breast as a symbol of her atrocious crime of adultery and nothing more. The women in the beginning of the novel are so quick to pass judgment on others, yet they fail to recognize the sin in themselves. Once they realize this obstacle, the townspeople will become more understanding of Hester’s situation.
In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, both Hester Prynne and Roger Chillingworth are both very strong willed, in more ways than one. Throughout the story, and especially the first few chapters, Hester’s loyalty to her lover shows as her most strongest feature and is as bold as the scarlet letter sitting upon her bosom. Although it sets her back way more than it did her any good (keeping in mind the magistrate said that her lover should stand on the scaffold with her), Hester stood her ground for the one she loves, or did love at one point in time. Going on to Roger Chillingworth, he was not one to give up easily. For one, after many many years of being away at sea, he still managed to make it back to see his wife. However, though, this is pretty much as far as the similarities go. Hester is more of a hot, in the moment kind of person. Roger is detached and cold, strong will and determination probably the only two characteristics making him human.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...