Who Is Mistress Hibbins In The Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the character Mistress Hibbins can be easily dismissed as comic relief due to her strange behavior and cryptic language, as well as role as a witch. Yet, as amusing as she may be, Mistress Hibbins is also an important figure in the lives of both Hester and Dimmesdale. Through her connections with reality, Mistress Hibbins allows the other characters to see a different side of themselves and their world.
Despite being one of the more unrealistic characters in the book through her position as a witch, Mistress Hibbins may have the most connections to reality. The first comes from the fact that she is based off of Ann Hibbins, a woman who— much like her counterpart in The Scarlet Letter— was tried

as for crimes as “the third execution for witchcraft in Boston” (Poole, Winsor 1). She was the twice widowed sister of Governor Bellingham, who also appears in the book, and was known to have “had mingled in the best society of Boston”(Poole, Winsor 1). The causes of her trial are unclear due to lack of documentation, but according to sixteenth century historian Thomas Hutchinson: “The natural crabbedness of [her] temper, which made her turbulent and quarrelsome, brought her under church censure, and at length rendered her so odious to her neighbors as to cause some of them to accuse her of witchcraft” (Hutchinson 91). The other string that tethers Mistress Hibbins to reality her relation to Anne Turner, who Hawthorne calls Mistress Hibbins’ “especial friend” (Hawthorne 193). Anne Turner’s story is very similar to Ann Hibbins; both were women of high repute who were sentenced to death. The difference with Anne Turner’s story is that the reason for her trial is well documented: she assisted in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury by providing the connections needed to obtains poisons. She was also accused of having “practiced Witchcraft with magicians and conjurors” (Jones, Stallybrass 63). Her connection to Mistress Hibbins comes in the form of a yellow starch that she “invented… or at least introduced into England” (Jones, Stallybrass 63), which was used to dye ruffs worn popularly in the early fifteenth century. According to some accounts, “Mrs. Turner had worn it at her trial, while the hangman had worn it at her execution”(Jones, Stallybrass 64) Soonafter these events, the yellow ruff was no longer popular, which makes it very strange that “now some thirty years agone” (Hawthorne 112), Mistress Hibbins still wears it.
Mistress Hibbins is never on her own through the book, she is always encountered by another character, whether it be Hester or Dimmesdale.

These encounters are always cryptic in their language, leaving the other characters to question whether or not they actually met with the witch. Dimmesdale asks if his meeting with Mistress Hibbins "were a real incident” (Hawthorne 194), while after Hester encounters the witch, Hawthorne wonders if the “interview betwixt Mistress Hibbins and Hester Prynne to be authentic, and not a parable” (Hawthorne 103). The latter of these questionings especially draws a strange comparison to Hawthorne’s allegorical short story Young Goodman Brown. In the allegory, the character Goodman Brown encounters the venerable people from his town as witches, which changes his view of the world around him. Hawthorne once again questions the verity of his storytelling by asking “had Goodman Brown fallen asleep in the forest, and only dreamed a wild dream of a witch-meeting?" (Hawthorne 71). While Goodman Brown’s witch encounter is implied to be fictional, Mistress Hibbins’ many connections with reality makes an apparition-type existence unlikely. It is more plausible that wondering whether or not Mistress Hibbins is real allows her to occupy a position similar to the witches in Young Goodman Brown; she forces the characters to see a different side of both their world and

themselves.
While Mistress Hibbins is connected to Anne Turner and Ann Hibbins, Hester is compared to a different woman of the same name: Anne Hutchinson. While in her time, Anne Hutchinson was shunned for her religious beliefs, — much like Hester is for her actions — Hawthorne glorifies her by calling her “sainted” (Hawthorne 46). If Anne Hutchinson is exalted for being an independent woman, then why aren’t Anne Turner and Ann Hibbins? Perhaps it is only a matter of virtues; Anne Turner and Ann Hibbins were both sentenced to death for their vile actions, while Anne Hutchinson was a devout Puritan. Even though Hester and Mistress Hibbins occupy different sides of women unfit for Puritan society,—one a sinner and one a witch— they are both unwelcome. Although she is disliked already, Hester has the ability to fall lower than she already is in the eyes of society; that’s what Mistress Hibbins shows her. The witch says to Hester that she “promised the Black Man” (Hawthorne 103) that Hester would join her in the forest to worship him, but Hester declines the invitation due to her maternal duties. She realises that her “child saved her from Satan’s snare” (Hawthorne 103), which reminds her of how close she is to a life of darkness; a life like the one of Mistress Hibbins.
Dimmesdale’s meeting with Mistress Hibbins serves as a warning as well, showing him that he cannot hide himself behind a pious facade any longer.

After walking through the town dodging evil,— much like Goodman Brown does at the end of Young Goodman Brown— Mistress Hibbins approaches him and beings conversation despite there being “little given to converse” (Hawthorne 193). After he tells her what his intention for being in the woods she, and tells him in the forest they “shall have other talk together” (Hawthorne 193). While this meeting was quite harmless, it causes Dimmesdale to think that he is a bad person for showing “his sympathy and fellowship with wicked mortals” (Hawthorne 194); not only that, but he also is afraid that since Mistress Hibbins is a noted witch, she also knows that he met with Hester. This encounter is what convinces Dimmesdale not to run away with Hester, but to reveal his sin to the town. Just the slight notion that Mistress Hibbins knows his secret sends Dimmesdale into a spin; he is reminded that lies can’t hide the truth

forever.
While it is unclear whether Mistress Hibbins has “guessed the lover's' secret” (Wentersdorf 133) or is only full of “nonsensical babbling” (Wentersdorf 134), her role in The Scarlet Letter is very important. Her connections with reality make her position in the book one of importance. Although she is never featured prominently, her actions affect the decisions of the characters that she interacts with, which drives the books towards its conclusion.