Puritans In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

In 1626, the Puritans received a charter for the Massachusetts Bay Company, which later became known as the Massachusetts colony. The Puritan people sought freedom from religious persecution in England. They desired to reform the Church of England because they believed it had been corrupted by Catholic ideals. Puritan ideology in the reformation of the Church of England was criticised by many, including author Nathaniel Hawthorne. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the Puritans are portrayed as a theocratic people filled with fear and misconduct, hypocritical of their own beliefs and practices.

In the Puritan theocracy, the laws of God were of the same importance as secular laws; Hawthorne expresses that Puritans publicly denounced

sinfulness to abide by the law, but failed to acknowledge sin if it was inconvenient or difficult. This is true for the Puritan government officials, namely, Governor Bellingham. The governor is described as a wealthy old man who desires riches and luxuries. He employs Hester to embroider a pair of gloves for him to wear on a fancy occasion. Hester was avoided by most Puritans for her sinfulness, since the Puritans believed that sinfulness brought God’s wrath and punishment. The highly respected and revered governor interacts with a person who should have been put to death for her sin. Governor Bellingham lets his wealth interfere with the principles of his Puritan society. Not only does he hire a sinner to sew ornate designs on his clothing, but he also ridicules Pearl hypocritically. When Pearl and Hester reach Governor Bellingham’s mansion, he says,
“I profess, I have never seen the like, since my days of vanity, in old King James’ time, when I was wont to esteem it a high favor to be admitted to a court mask! There used to be a swarm of these small apparitions, in holiday-time; and we called them children of the Lord of Misrule,” (Hawthorne 101).
The governor has no qualms calling Pearl an imp or devil-child because she comes from a sinful man and woman. Moreover, Governor Bellingham and his colleagues proceed to ask Pearl if she knows her catechism by asking who created her. When she gives an incorrect response, the governor says, “Here is a child of three years old, and she cannot tell who made her! Without question, she is equally in the dark as to her soul, its present depravity, and future destiny!” (104). He says directly to Pearl that her soul is doomed to hell only because she does not know God. Contradictingly, Governor Bellingham knows God, but does not abide by His laws or teachings by criticizing others and indirectly advocating sinfulness.
Puritans knew that sin was wrong, but continued to do it without the community knowing.

The most prominent example Hawthorne gives of this in The Scarlet Letter is the role Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale plays in the novel. When the reader is first introduced to Dimmesdale, he is described as venerable and holy by the Puritans: “ ‘People say,’ said another, ‘that the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, [Hester’s] … godly pastor, takes it very grievously to heart that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation,’ “ (47). He is publicly appalled by the adultery committed by the people of the town, and tells the congregation that he is filled with sorrow and grief. Little does the congregation know that Dimmesdale in reality feels guilt for the adultery because he has committed it and keeps secret from the community. He supports Hester’s silence on the scaffold in order for his sin to remain unexposed. As time progresses throughout the novel, the Reverend continues to preach against sin and its consequences without owning up to the greatest sin he has committed with Hester. Dimmesdale knows that he should have been punished in the same way Hester had been, and endures guilt. Consequently, his guilt drives him to beat himself and subject himself to torture in private. Dimmesdale is always clutching his chest and holding his hands over his heart as a result of his wounds to constantly remind him of his sin. The minister Dimmesdale is the most hypocritical figure in The Scarlet

Letter because he sinned, did not confess his sin, and instructed his people to not sin.
Hawthorne also criticizes Hester Prynne for thinking that she herself is a martyr, though she has committed adultery and is not completely remorseful for doing so.

As punishment for her adultery, she wears the scarlet “A” on her clothes in addition to standing on the scaffold. Her penalty was almost nothing compared to the death penalty she would received had Reverend Dimmesdale not been one of the leaders of the town. Hester chooses to stay in the town to raise her daughter Pearl and to do charity work so that she can suffer for the sake of her soul. She is reprimanded by other Puritans for not disciplining Pearl, and threats are made to take her daughter away from her. Hester says that she will raise Pearl well: “This badge hath taught me—it daily teaches me—lessons whereof my child may be the wiser and better, albeit they can profit nothing to myself,” (102-103). She is convinced that she is completely repentant for her sin and will make sure that Pearl also will not sin consequently enduring the same consequences as she did. Later in the novel, “At times, a fearful doubt strove to possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide. The scarlet letter had not done its office,” (154). Hester considers murdering Pearl, subsequently committing suicide. Hawthorne shows that Hester has not learned from her sin and does not regret it. As a result, she cannot direct Pearl away from sin

since she cannot herself.