Psychology In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Psychology is very important in today’s environment. Psychology is a part everyday life even if some people do not realize it. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses psychology in his book The Scarlet Letter. The Scarlet Letter can be described as a psychological novel through Dimmesdale’s actions, Dimmesdale’s speech, and Chillingworth’s actions.
First, Dimmesdale and Hester having Pearl is a result of their primal drive. They wanted to satisfy their ID,Idem,(The id is driven by the pleasure principle, which strives for immediate gratification of all desires, wants, and needs. If these needs are not satisfied immediately, the result is a state anxiety or tension.). Hawthorne hints at this when Hester is at the governor’s house and she says, ““Speak thou

This quote shows that Dimmesdale and Hester know each other well due to the fact that they “made” Pearl. She also wants him to show sympathy towards her because Pearl is his daughter and Hester is his lover. Consequently, Dimmesdale feels bad for what he did and this is controlled by the superego (the superego is the aspect of personality that holds all of our internalized moral standards and ideals that we acquire from both parents and society—our sense of right and wrong.) It develops around 5 years old Dimmesdale is now a man, relatively young, so this has developed well in his brain. This causes Dimmesdale to beat himself up mercilessly at night because the bigger the sin the bigger the punishment. Hawthorne narrates, “To such an unwonted remoteness, however, had his spirit now withdrawn into itself, that he stirred not in his chair, when old Roger Chillingworth, without any extraordinary precaution, came into the room. The physician advanced directly in front of his patient, laid his hand upon his

Chillingworth’s wanted revenge on Dimmesdale for taking his wife and having a child with her. This uses his ID, his Id demands that he gains immediate happiness and avoids pain. Chillingworth get pleasure in causing pain to Dimmesdale and it helps him avoid the pain of seeing his wife with a child that is not his. Hawthorne says, “To such an unwonted remoteness, however, had his spirit now withdrawn into itself, that he stirred not in his chair, when old Roger Chillingworth, without any extraordinary precaution, came into the room. The physician advanced directly in front of his patient, laid his hand upon his bosom, and thrust aside the vestment, that, hitherto, had always covered it even from the professional eye”(128). Next, he also makes remarks towards Dimmesdale to make him scared and fearful, and this makes things worse for Dimmesdale. He has a set(a “set” is temporary readiness to perceive or react to a stimulus in a particular way). His set is towards Roger and his set is to react to Roger by being scared of him. He gives a story about weeds growing out of a dead sinner’s body so now he knows he is a sinner. Chillingworth says, “Even in the grave-yard, here at hand,” answered the physician, continuing his employment. “They are new to me. I found them growing on a grave, which bore no tombstone, no other memorial of the dead man, save these ugly weeds that have taken upon themselves to keep him