Identity In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Identity is classified as the conception, qualities, beliefs, and expressions that make the individuality of a human being. In Massachusetts during the seventeenth century, Hester Prynne is a Puritan woman who is charged with adultery in a hypocritical and judgmental town. After spending her entire pregnancy imprisoned in the local jail, Hester emerges from the prison door with a three month old baby in her hands, and stands on the scaffold to be judged. Therefore, because of her crime of adultery, she must wear a bright crimson ‘A’ on her chest and learn from her sins. Hester refuses to reveal the father of the child, and is shunned from the small society. In the novel“The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester`s identity

is compared to the physical scarlet letter on her bosom through guilt, embarrassment, and confidence.

Hester`s guilt forces her to wear the letter “A” after the scaffold.

At any point Hester could have removed the letter from her chest, even after the townspeople forgave her for her sins. She continues to wear it because it has become a part of her identity, and in her own mind, wearing it has become her chastity. Hester said, “It lies not in the pleasure of the magistrates to take off this badge.Were I worthy to be quit of it, it would fall away of its own nature, or be transformed into something that should speak a different purport” (Hawthorne, 153). The reader can clearly see that even with the choice of leaving or taking off the scarlet letter, she choses to leave it on out of guilt and the letter's symbolism. Hester`s religion as well as her own viewpoints, makes her believe she is guilty because of certain moralities broken out of adultery. Furthermore, the Puritan society that Hester lives in fuels the fire of her guilt, when she is considered an outcast and shunned from others in the

village.

The townspeople of Boston make Hester embarrassed when she wears the letter A. With her reputation ruined, Hester has the constant reminder of what she did when she is holding her child Pearl, and when walking around town with the bright letter flaming on her bosom. For example, when Hester was on the scaffold, and the women in the crowd were gossiping about her. The shouts and ignorant screams of her being such a sinner make her cheeks turn painfully red in shame. One woman sneered, “...but did ever a woman, before this brazen hussy, contrive such a way of showing it!” (Hawthorne, 51). The quote shows that the gossip and the “Mean Girl” like attitude towards Hester makes the situation worse, and the townspeople make her feel inferior because she had an affair. Hester now realizes that she will never fit in, nor be respected the same way after the incident, and is embarrassed that this ever happened.

Hester`s confidence makes her a stronger individual.

Even with the hateful comments and the negative attitude towards her daughter and herself, Hester believes that she can raise Pearl right, and to be a good mother even with the scarlet letter on her bosom. Hester`s confidence in herself, not giving up, and to keep pushing forward when times are tough keep her from drowning in despair, self-pity, guilt, and depression. For example, Hester defends her rights of motherhood to keep Pearl, and to have the confidence to speak such a way to the ministers and Governor Bellingham. Hester says, “God gave her into my keeping, repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. I will not give her up! —And here, by sudden impulse, she turned to the young clergyman, Mr. Dimmesdale, at whom, up to this moment, she had seemed hardly so much as once to direct her eyes” (Hawthorne, 103). The quote explains how even with the scarlet letter on her chest, Hester has her own identity and will defend Pearl for anything. Hester`s true identity and the way society views her are entirely different, because she is described as a sinful hussy who does not know how to raise a child, when in reality, Hester would give her own life for

Pearl.

Through confidence, embarrassment, and guilt, Hester`s identity is compared to the physical scarlet letter on her bosom. Hester is forced into wearing her “A” because of her own guilt, the townspeople say cruel things to embarrass her, and she is confident enough to protect and keep her child. The views of the Puritan society pales to nothing compared to Hester's actual identity and personality. The difference between the two depend on the opinion of a set of personal morals to a set belief.