In this blog post, we’ll examine how the conflicts between Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, as well as the symbolism of the scarlet “A,” in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ shed light on the pathologies of 17th-century Puritan society.
About the Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, to a Puritan family as the son of a ship captain. The Puritan traditions of New England, along with his family background, followed him throughout his life. In particular, the fact that his great-grandfather, John Hawthorne, served as a judge during the Salem witch trials cast a dark shadow over his mind from an early age.
In 1816, Hawthorne moved with his family to the remote mountain village of Raymond, Maine, where he spent three years living in solitude. After returning to Salem in 1819, he enrolled at the prestigious Bowdoin College at the age of seventeen, but showed little interest in his studies; from that time on, he began to nurture his dream of becoming a writer. During his college years, he associated with the poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Horatio Bridge, and Franklin Pierce—who would later become president—and, with Pierce’s help, briefly served as the U.S. consul in Liverpool, England.
Hawthorne wrote not only novels but also numerous short stories and children’s tales. His representative novels include ‘The Scarlet Letter’, ‘The House of the Seven Gables’ (1851), and ‘The Blide Dale Romance’ (1852), while his short story collections include ‘Tales Heard Twice’ (1837), ‘The Moss of the Old Rectory’ (1846), and ‘Tales of Tanglewood’ (1853).
Overview of Works
Introduction to Works
‘The Scarlet Letter’ is a novel by Hawthorne published in 1850. Set in mid-17th-century Boston in the Puritan colony, the novel deals with personal and social conflicts surrounding a case of adultery. Set against the backdrop of a strict and oppressive Puritan society, the novel is regarded as a masterpiece of 19th-century American literature for its profound thematic depth and meticulous structure, which delicately depict the external punishment and internal torment of the sinner.
This work portrays social oppression and the resulting psychological oppression, offering an in-depth exploration of how human anxiety manifests itself physically and mentally. Furthermore, by exploring the pathological phenomenon of a society that isolates sinners and requires scapegoats, the novel ultimately depicts how an individual’s virtue and nobility shatter oppressive control. In this regard, ‘The Scarlet Letter’ is a work that vividly illustrates the emergence of individualism and the process of independence from American Puritan society and the Church of England.
Plot
One day, as the young woman Hester Prynne emerges from prison wearing a prisoner’s gown and cradling a newborn baby, a crowd surrounds her with looks of contempt. Hester had moved from Amsterdam to Boston as a married woman, but her husband had sent her ahead, saying he would settle his affairs, and she had heard nothing from him for the past two years. During that time, Hester gave birth to another man’s child and was punished for adultery.
Her punishment consisted of standing on the pillory in front of the crowd for three hours and being forced to live the rest of her life with a scarlet “A”—symbolizing adultery—branded on her chest. Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth—believed to be Hester’s husband—arrives in Boston after great hardship and witnesses Hester being punished on the pillory. He resolves to uncover the identity of Pearl’s father and gradually becomes consumed by malice.
The man Chillingworth identified as Pearl’s father after his investigation was none other than Reverend Dimmesdale, a young minister who enjoyed great prestige and respect in Boston. Dimmesdale was a deeply devout and pure-hearted man, but his lack of courage prevented him from confessing his sin; tormented by deep guilt, he eventually fell ill. Chillingworth subjected Dimmesdale to psychological pressure, driving him into agony.
Tormented by guilt, Dimmesdale suffers such mental anguish that he sometimes climbs onto the scaffold in the middle of the night and screams hysterically that he is a sinner. Hester begs Chillingworth to stop tormenting Dimmesdale, but he refuses. Later, Hester and Dimmesdale reaffirm their relationship and promise to leave for Europe together to live freely.
Hester secretly asks the ship’s captain for help and makes plans to board the ship setting sail three days later. However, on the day of the new governor’s inauguration three days later, Hester is devastated upon hearing a rumor that Chillingworth told the captain she would be leaving with them. Meanwhile, Dimmesdale’s illness worsens, and he takes Hester and Pearl to the scaffold, where he publicly confesses his sin and dies on the spot.
Character Introduction
Hester Prynne—A very beautiful and elegant woman who, while married, had an affair with Dimmesdale and gave birth to their daughter, Pearl. She is sentenced to wear the scarlet “A”—a symbol of adultery—on her chest for the rest of her life. Despite the contempt and ridicule of the townspeople, she earns a living through sewing and helps those in need, overcoming humiliation and suffering to live with dignity. Although she once intended to leave with Dimmesdale, she ultimately spends the rest of her life wearing the scarlet letter.
Reverend Dimmesdale—A pure, noble, and deeply devout young minister. He is highly respected and held in high esteem for his dedication to prayer and study. However, lacking the courage to reveal his own wrongdoing, he bottles up his inner anguish and gradually falls ill. Ultimately, he confesses his sin at the scaffold and dies.
Roger Chillingworth—Hester’s ex-husband. Highly educated and seemingly of good character, he gradually becomes more and more vile after learning that his wife had borne another man’s child and resolving to find the father. After becoming close to Dimmesdale as a physician, he discovers the minister’s sin and torments him with devilish persistence. He finally succumbs after Dimmesdale confesses his sin and dies.
Pearl—the daughter born to Hester and Dimmesdale—lives alone with her mother, without friends or neighbors, due to her mother’s punishment. She is beautiful and exudes a mysterious aura, reminiscent of a witch or a fairy. Her personality is unpredictable: she can be melancholic, haughty, or cruel, yet at other times she is wild, energetic, and full of mischief. She is constantly curious about the scarlet letter on her mother’s chest, plunging her mother into guilt and anguish.
Work Commentary
Introduction
Although the United States politically broke away from Britain through the War of Independence in 1783, it tended to remain culturally dependent on Britain for a long time. Consequently, writers and intellectuals called for, “Since we conquered Britain by force, let us now conquer it with the pen,” and by the mid-19th century, American literature began a full-scale effort to break away from British literature.
This trend led to a literary revival centered primarily in New England, and one of the writers at the heart of that movement was Nathaniel Hawthorne. Through works such as ‘The Scarlet Letter’, Hawthorne helped lay the foundation for American literature and, as a result, contributed to elevating American literature to the ranks of world literature.
The Puritans and ‘The Scarlet Letter’
Although Hawthorne published ‘The Scarlet Letter’ in the mid-19th century, the story’s setting dates back some 200 years to events in the mid-17th century. At that time, it had been about 20 years since the English Puritans had arrived in the New World aboard the Mayflower and established their colonies; in a social atmosphere gripped by religious fervor, all thoughts and actions were governed by faith. Just as the English word “Puritan” is derived from “purify,” meaning “to cleanse,” the Puritans began as a movement to purify the Church of England and migrated to the Netherlands and the New World to escape persecution. This background is key to understanding the moral and social conflicts in the novel.
The Puritans’ Ideals and Social Image
The Puritans harbored the grand dream of building a “New Canaan” or a “New Jerusalem” in the New World. They sought to ruthlessly eliminate anything that stood in the way of realizing that dream; viewed from this perspective, ‘The Scarlet Letter’ demonstrates—not only when it was published in the early to mid-19th century but even to today’s readers—just how rigid one’s thoughts and judgments can become.
Even today, the term “Puritanical” is so widely used that it commonly conveys meanings such as “ascetic,” “strictly moral,” or “pedantic.”
The Scarlet Letter “A”: A Symbol of Shame
Hester Prynne, the protagonist of ‘The Scarlet Letter’, arrives in Boston from the Netherlands before her husband. When her husband fails to arrive for over two years, she enters into a secret relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, a young minister at her church, and gives birth to an illegitimate child, Pearl. In doing so, the two have violated the commandment “Thou shalt not commit adultery” from the Ten Commandments.
According to the strict laws of Puritan society at the time, Hester could have atoned for her sin only through execution. However, considering the possibility that her husband had perished in a shipwreck during his voyage and the fact that Hester was still young, the leaders spared her from the death penalty. Instead, after serving time in prison, she was sentenced to a lifetime of shame: wearing the scarlet letter “A” on her chest.
The letter ‘A’ stands for ‘adultery.’ In Puritan society at that time, alphabetical markers were used as punishments; for example, drunkards were made to wear a “D” (the first letter of “drunkard”), and those who committed incest were made to wear an “I” (the first letter of “incest”). Although the title of this work is commonly translated in Korea as ‘The Scarlet Letter’, strictly speaking, “letter” is the correct term.
The novel begins with Hester stepping out of the prison gate, cradling her three-month-old infant, Pearl. If the author had been a popular pulp writer, he would have focused on the process by which Hester and Dimmesdale became involved—who seduced whom first, how many times they met, and where they engaged in their romantic encounters. In other words, a pulp writer would likely have made the events leading up to the incident the central plot.
However, Hawthorne does not delve into the events that occurred before they were imprisoned. His interest lies not in the process of committing the sin, but in how Hester and Dimmesdale behave as a result of that sin. In other words, Hawthorne focuses on the consequences and the resulting changes in human behavior rather than on motives or the process itself.
Hawthorne’s Perspective: Prioritizing Consequences Over Motives
Hawthorne showed a particular interest in human sin and its consequences. James Russell Lowell, a 19th-century American poet and critic, once remarked, “Had Hawthorne been born into this world without poetic imagination, he would have written a treatise on the origin of evil.” Indeed, Hawthorne devoted greater attention to the issues of evil and sin than many of his contemporaries.
For Hawthorne, sin is not absolute but relative. Humans can commit sin by acting in ways that violate divine law, the laws of nature, social norms, customs, or personal moral standards and conscience; however, whether such actions constitute sin may vary depending on the judge.
For example, Dimmesdale suffers from extreme guilt over his adultery and endures unspeakable torment. Hester, on the other hand, views Roger Chillingworth’s actions as an affront to the dignity of the human heart and believes that their own actions possess a certain sacredness in and of themselves. Therefore, to her, the scarlet letter “A” is less a symbol of shame and more like an exquisite ornament adorning her simple Puritan attire.
Hawthorne also overturns the traditional Christian interpretation of the consequences of sin. For Hester, sin is not a path leading to death but rather an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of and compassion for humanity. After experiencing sin, she becomes a more useful member of society, showing compassion for those who suffer similarly and devoting herself to the sick and the helpless.
Over time, those around her come to interpret the “A” on her bosom not as “adultery,” but as “able,” “admirable,” or even “angel.” Dimmesdale, too, driven by guilt, preaches about human frailty more persuasively than anyone else, deeply moving his congregation.
Criticism of Puritan Society and Symbols of Nature
In ‘The Scarlet Letter’, Hawthorne openly criticizes Puritan society for suppressing human nature and freedom. Although the Puritans left the Old World to escape oppression, they created another form of oppression and constraint in the New World. Under the pretext of building a “City on a Hill,” they restricted individual freedom and justified social oppression.
The narrator of the novel refers to the mid-17th century as the “Iron Age,” stating that during this era, the iron-like force of religion trampled on individual freedom. In the opening scene, the author depicts a prison alongside a single wild rose. The prison, built of massive oak and nails, symbolizes artificial civilization and oppression, while the wild rose symbolizes the natural world and human nature.
Hawthorne urges readers to break free from the values of civilization and follow a more natural and spontaneous human nature. This perspective aligns with the ideas of his contemporary, the Transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson, who also valued individual nature—unfettered by artificial oppression—above all else.
