The Scarlet Letter Analysis Nathaniel Hawthorn is known for his rather precise writing style. A majority of the settings, objects, descriptions, and people are chosen to give double meanings to his work. He especially uses the people in his stories to represent things like innocence, evil, hope, faith, etc... In his book, The Scarlet Letter, the four main characters (Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Pearl) all represent multiple things. One thing they each represent is different schools of thought. Some examples of schools of thought are transcendentalism, realism, romanticism, the Enlightenment, etc… In The Scarlet Letter, Hester represents proto-feminism. Proto-feminism was basically feminism before feminism was popular. Hestor represents an independent woman that wouldn’t let society and its rules drag her down. After Hester gets out of prison, she beings making embroidery as a way of earning an income, so that she could support herself and her daughter. Dimmesdale represents dark romanticism school of thought. Dark romanticism often includes elements of depression, melancholy, and suffering. “The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne exemplifies Dark Romanticism in its themes of imposed judgement and punishment for those who commit sin, resulting in alienation and self-destruction” (America Literature). This is exactly what happened to Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter. Dimmesdale committed adultery, and his own guilty led him to alienating himself from the rest of society as well as neglecting his own health leading to his death. Chillingworth represents the Puritanism school of thought. Nathaniel Hawthorn has described Puritanism as cruel and full of intolerance. This describes Chillingworth fairly well. When Chillingworth sees the letter A on Dimmesdale’s chest, he is filled with glee. He knows he has something he can cruelly hold over Dimmesdale. He can take Dimmesdale’s repentance and use it against him to turn the town against him. Pearl represents the transcendentalist school of thought. Transcendentalism states that people are born inherently good, and that people’s potential is limitless. Transcendentalists were also encouraged to find answers in nature rather than in society. In The Scarlet Letter, the town’s people believe her to be bad and that Hester may be teaching her bad beliefs. However, while mischievous, she is over all a kind little girl. Just like transcendentalists, she also finds solace in nature when the other children are forbidden from playing with here. She is really the opposite of Chillingworth. She is seen as bad but is in fact kind. Chillingworth is seen as kind when he is actually bad. Pearl even tries to protect her mother from Chillingworth, whom she precisives as bad. “Come away, mother! Come away, or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He hath got hold of the minister already. Come away, mother, or he will catch you” (The Scarlet Letter). Overall, Nathaniel Hawthorn seems to be saying that some schools of thought are cruel and wrong, while others like transcendentalism are gentle and right. Works Cited “Dark Romanticism - Study Guide.” Dark Romanticism Study Guide, https://americanliterature.com/dark-romanticism-study-guide. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. “The Scarlet Letter.” The Project Gutenberg, https://www.gutenberg.org/files/25344/25344-h/25344-h.htm#Page_287.
