Historical Accuracy Of Scarlet Letter

Chances are, the last time the words “America” and “great” were side by side, it was in reference to a certain political slogan. However, until 2016, those words were often paired together to distinguish the finest literary work of America by forming the title of the Great American Novel. Students and experts alike have debated this title for years, rarely agreeing on a singular literary masterpiece. This may be because the task of encompassing the American experience in one novel is impossible. Perhaps it is due to the ever-changing ideas and events that define the American people. Nevertheless, a handful of writers manage to overcome these difficulties, writing timeless and relatable novels that maintain historical accuracy. Nathaniel Hawthorne

The greatest component of historical accuracy throughout the novel is the foundation of real, American places and events that help portray an accurate societal atmosphere, even though it was written centuries later. Nathaniel Hawthorne had a unique ability to incorporate such components into The Scarlet Letter because of his family history, which he traced back to ancestors who were early Puritan officials. Using his research, Hawthorne crafted a novel founded in facts, as he “set the scene during one of the governorships of Richard Bellingham” and includes appearances by the governor’s sister, Anne Hibbins (Pennell). Because the novel’s message revolves around the “dismal severity of the Puritanic code of law,” it is essential that Hawthorne is able to accurately portray such an environment in order to depict how it shapes the society (Hawthorne 45). Referencing the true governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony - the location of the novel- establishes the novel’s authenticity; even though the events are loosely based on historical occurrences, many people and places are concrete. Hawthorne also stays true to past Puritans’ actions, as his portrayal of Hester’s punishment is far from exaggerated because “historical Puritans convicted of adultery were made to wear the letters AD” (Daly 263). Such evidence qualifies the novel

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hester struggles to live under the label with which her Puritan society punishes her. However, Hawthorne uses her actions to represent the American ideal of free thought as she refuses to accept this label and works her entire life to break free. At the novel’s beginning, the harsh Puritan leaders label her an adulterer and she is bound by law to wear an “A” on her clothing. However, Hester is set on pursuing her individualism and freedom from authority as she gives a new meaning to the eye-catching label. In defiance of the government's imposed image of an outcast, Hester devotes her life to helping others and thus eventually changes the “A’s” meaning to “able.” Instead of being submissive and accepting the control of Puritan leaders, Hester frees herself from the oppression of the Puritans through repentance, and feels liberty as the “burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit” (Hawthorne 167). Hawthorne uses the letter “A” throughout the novel to represent restrictions put on individuals, as the “A” could stand for “anything, even America, where we still struggle to reinscribe the labels that others [create]” (Daly 263). Thus, The Scarlet Letter’s protagonist fight for the freedom to act and think without the constraints of society’s labels is representative of the American ideal of liberty, upon which this country