The Scarlet Letter (1850)
The Scarlet Letter, in brief…
Did you find it tough to read?
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Romantic diction- far away, distant,
historical, elusive
Boring?
This story is not about action but about
reflection. The most important action
already happened before the novel
begins. What do we make of that
action? That one BIG mistake?
Time and Place of the Story
Boston
1642-1649 (i.e., the 17th Century)
Chapters 1-3 Market-Place. A June morning, 1642.
Chapter 4 Prison. Afternoon of the same day.
Chapters 7-8 Home of Governor Bellingham. Late
summer, 1645.
Chapter 12 Market-Place. Saturday night, early May,
1649 (Governor Winthrop’s death).
Chapters 14-15 Sea coast. Several days later.
Chapters 16-19 Forest. Several days later.
Chapters 21-23 Market-Place. Three days later.
Structure
Chapters 1-3: Hester’s ignominy is established
Chapters 4-8: Hester and Pearl struggle in the
community
Chapters 9-11: Chillingworth and Dimmesdale
Chapters 12-15: Hester’s evolution and her
responsibility for the downfall of both men
Chapters 16-20: The Forest-Talk and Decision to
be free!
Chapters 21-23: Back to the marketplace;
Dimmesdale’s victory over Chillingworth.
Chapter 24: Conclusion
New England Puritan’s
intolerance
Hostile to witchcraft
- Ann Hibbins hanged as a witch in 1656.
- witchcraft trial in Salem in 1692
Hostile to other Protestant sectarians
like the Quakers
- Ann Hutchinson (1591-1643) was banished
from Massachusetts in 1638 for unlawful
preaching/having Bible study in her home.
Quakers vs. Puritans
Quakers – believe in the individual’s
inner light.
Puritans - no individual can hear the
voice of God speaking directly to
his/her soul.
Settlement at Boston
Established in 1630
Main colony of Massachusetts
Early center of American Puritanism
Theocratic-minded statesmen and
ministers
The Newsletter (1704) - the 1st
newspaper
Harvard University founded at nearby
Cambridge in 1636
Commercial center
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)’s
family
Salem, Massachusetts – New England
Puritans
Hathornes
- William: prosecutor of Quakers
- John (William’s son): prosecutor of
witches
- grandfather: revolutionary war hero
- father: sea captain
Mother - Elizabeth Manning Hathorne
Hawthorne’s enemies
Intolerance
Hypocrisy that hides the common sin
Greed that refuses to share joy
Incapacity for human sympathy
Upon finishing The
Scarlet Letter in 1850,
Nathaniel Hawthorne
read the manuscript to
his wife, Sophia.
“It broke her heart,”
Hawthorne wrote,
“and sent her to bed
with a grievous
headache, which I
look upon as a
triumphant success.”
The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is
peopled with
characters who are
meant to be the
embodiments of moral
traits, rather than
realistic, living figures.
It was initially
supposed to be a short
story but Hawthorne
was encouraged to
lengthen it by his
publisher
Hester Prynne’s crime / sin
Adultery
People involved: Prynne, Dimmesdale,
Chillingworth, Pearl, and townspeople
Hester Prynne’s Reaction
Openly acknowledges her sin
Publicly accepts her punishment
- wearing the scarlet letter A which is
elaborately embroidered by herself
- humbly accepting all people’s derision
and belittlement without feeling
wronged; instead, keeping helping the
poor and the diseased
Effect of Hester Prynne’s Reaction
Wins respect from the community and
changing the meaning of the letter “A”
on her bosom
Becomes at peace with herself and with
other people
Grows stronger in mind
Sees more clearly and thinks more
critically about the people about her
and the sins hidden in these people
Things and people associated
with Hester Prynne
A blossoming wild rose-bush (p. 48);
the sainted Ann Hutchinson (p. 48, 165)/ Prophetess (p.165)
The scarlet letter “A” elaborately embroidered on the
bosom of her gown
Black hair and eyes
A spell taking her out of ordinary human beings and
inclosing her in a sphere by herself (p. 54)
The image of Divine Maternity (Virgin Mary) (p. 56):
perfect elegance, natural dignity of the feminine gentility
(p. 53), serene beauty (p.55)
Needle / embroidery / art
Arthur Dimmesdale’s Reaction &
Its Effects
Reaction: Hiding his sin
Effects:
- suffers from increasing torment of
conscience (his own hypocrisy)
- grows weaker both physically and
psychologically (dims, fades away…)
- dies from the mental torture
Things and people associated
with Arthur Dimmesdale
Eloquence & fervor / speech of an angel
Nervous sensibility: tremulous mouth,
melancholy brown eyes, apprehensive,
startled and half-frightened look, emaciated
form, gloom and terror, pain
White: white brow, pale cheek
Shadowy by-path
the meteoric sign of the letter “A”
Hand over his heart
Chillingworth’s Reaction and Its
Effects
• Reaction:
- Revengeful
- Hideously torments a human heart
Effects:
- changes into a cold-hearted (“chilled”) devillike man
- loses humanity and motive to live after the
object of his revenge dies.
Things and people associated
with Roger Chillingworth
Dim eyes (p.58)
Deformity: Misshapen shoulders (p.58…)
Snake / horror / terror (p.61, 76)
Blackness / darkness / dusk
Sombre, lonely, chill (p.74…)
Glare of red light / fire / flame
herb
Devil (p.170) / Black Man in the forest (p.77)
Hawthorne’s Tone: Ambivalence?
Ambiguity
- Scarlet letter “A”
- Pearl
- Forest
Narrator’s ambivalent attitude…
- Is adultery wrong or pardonable?
- Is Hester being praised or condemned?
Hawthorne’s Tone: Sarcasm?
Themes of the Novel
1. New England Puritan moral life
2. a love story
3. necessity of being true / criticism of
hypocrisy
4. a critique of New England Puritans’
intolerance
5. effect of sin on people
6. conflict between society and individual
Symbols in the novel
Wild rose bush
The Scarlet Letter
Sunshine
The forest
The meteor
The babbling brook
Narrative method
Telling vs. showing
Narrative mode: omniscient narration
with frequent author intrusions
The scarlet letter in the sky?
A scarlet letter on Dimmesdale’s
bosom?
What was true and what wasn’t? (Pearl
in the woods with the
wolf…Dimmesdale’s final words…)