Hawthorne’s Heroine v/s
Joffe’s Cinematic Representation
By
Boukali Dimitra
A dissertation submitted to the Department of
American Literature and Culture, School of English,
Faculty of Philosophy of Aristotle University of
Thessaloniki, in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the degree of Master.
DECEMBER 2009
Hester under Scrutiny:
Hawthorne’s Heroine v/s
Joffe’s Cinematic Representation
By Boukali Dimitra Has been approved APPROVED
Smaragda Yemenedzi-Malathouni Savvas Patsalidis
Michalis Kokkonis
Supervisory Committee
ACCEPTED
Youli Theodosiadou
Department Chairperson
Contents
Acknowledgements………...i Abstract………...…….ii Introduction………...1 – 8 Puritanism………...…………9 – 11 Hester Prynne:
The Symbol of Evilness …………..………...….11 – 17 The “Poor Woman”………...…....17 – 20 The “Banished Woman”………...……….…...20 – 23 Inner and External Beauty………...23 – 38 Feminine Instinct and Intelligence………...38 – 42 The “Earthly Saint” - Motherhood……….42 – 53 Hester on Screen:
Introductory Comments………...53 – 56
The “Poor Woman”………..…….64 – 71 The “Banished Woman”……….……….71 – 76 Inner and External Beauty……….76 – 88 Feminine Instinct and Intelligence………..88 – 91 The “Earthly Saint” - Motherhood………...….91 – 96 Conclusion……….…..98 – 104 Appendix: Pictures………105 – 115 Bibliography…...116 – 121
Acknowledgements
Firstly, I would like to thank all of my teachers that have made the postgraduate program of the Department of American Literature and Culture worthwhile, namely Professor Youli Theodosiadou, Professor Smatie Yemenetzi- Malathouni, Professor Tatiani Rapatzikou, Professor Domna Pastourmatzi and Professor Savas Patsalidis. I have learned so much from them, both at academic and personal level.
I would also like to thank Professor Michael Kokkonis and Professor Savas Patsalidis for accepting to contribute to the evaluation of this project.
Moreover, I would specifically like to express my gratitude towards Professor Smatie Yemenetzi-Malathouni, without whom this project would be unattainable. Her invaluable guidance, advice and feedback have been a true inspiration. I would also like to thank her for believing in me and my capacities throughout my postgraduate years, including the process of conducting this paper. I have learned to believe in myself, a fact to which her contribution has been enormous.
Finally, I would like to thank my family, including Dr Demetrios Xenides, and friends for their incessant encouragement and patience.
This paper is dedicated to my parents and my sister, who have always stood by me, supporting my decisions and efforts and reminding me that they are always by my side.
A
Abstract
This project is a comparison between Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter and its film adaptation by Roland Joffe, focusing on the character of Hester Prynne. One of its aims is to show how Hawthorne indirectly expresses, via his heroine, Hester Prynne, his disapproval of the Puritan ways in 1600 Massachusetts, Boston, although he actually lived in the Puritan society in question. This project will lay bare that the writer holds a positive attitude towards Prynne, who has committed adultery, and it will demonstrate his implied compassion and sympathy for her and the ordeals she is submitted to by the Puritan people, due to her sin. Another aim of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences of Hester’s presentation between the film adaptation and the novel, delving into miscellaneous, but specific, aspects of the heroine in question; it will be shown that although the director of the film respects Hawthorne’s narrative and viewpoint about Puritans and Hester, creating himself sympathy for her, as well, he adjusts the story to his own era, adapting it to the twentieth century mentality, adding rather daring scenes and presenting the heroine to correspond to the feminine role-model of the time.
Introduction
In this paper I attempt a comparison between Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and its 1995 film adaptation by Roland Joffe, highlighting similarities and differences between particular issues. To be more specific, I will delve into the way the character of the protagonist, Hester Prynne, is represented in both works.
There might be some references to other characters as well, but only to serve the purpose of Prynne’s better presentation. The heroine will be approached from several different perspectives, as I will explore specific themes concerning her character.
After saying a few words about Puritanism, its laws and mentality, which are considered essential for a better understanding of the community the heroine lives in, I will explore how Hester is inextricably connected with evilness by the Puritan society in Boston. Then, I will elaborate on the way the writer and the director present Prynne’s ordeal, creating sympathy towards her, which comes in opposition to the Puritan community’s cruel attitude. After that, I will describe how Prynne is represented to be secluded and isolated from the rest of the community and I will go on shedding light on the way her femininity and womanhood are portrayed.
Moreover, I will discuss how Hester’s intelligence and strong intuition are implied in both works. Finally, Prynne’s connection with religion, along with her maternal side, will be looked into.
What I will be arguing is that in both works, Prynne is presented to be inextricably connected with evil by the Puritan society she lives in, responding to patriarchal stereotypes that want women to be linked with wickedness, evilness and impiety. However, I argue that both the author and the director insist on emphasizing the benign nature of the heroine. Joffe seems to follow Hawthorne’s depiction, which comes in contrast to the views and attitude of the Puritan mentality, while both the
director and the writer manage to awaken feelings of compassion and admiration towards the heroine. More specifically, I argue that Hawthorne holds a positive attitude towards his female protagonist, Hester Prynne, revealing, as hesitantly as he may, his sympathy for her that is opposed to the way the Puritan society treats her in the novel, implying his criticism against the Puritan mentality, as well. In fact, I detect the writer’s own admiration and sympathy towards the heroine, while he presents her to have male traits, alluding to a subversion of gender roles, as she is depicted to possess the strength, the courage, the boldness and the dynamism of a man.
Furthermore, I argue that Hester Prynne is presented to be much more dynamic, educated and strong woman in the film than in the novel, alluding to the later rise of women’s revolution and emancipation and to the effect the book may have had on Joffe’s interpretation of the heroine. Additionally, I detect an intense subversion of gender roles in the film, which is not emphasized in the book, as the character of Prynne is presented to have male characteristics in her behavior, a fact that makes her act like a man in the film, too. I maintain that the director of the film does what Hawthorne did not dare do, because of the era he lived in, presenting a much more daring and liberated, unconventional version of the story.
During the nineteenth century, an outstanding flowering in literature took place both in England and in America. To be more specific, the year 1850 was the center of a span of six or seven years, standing out as one of the eminent ages in the history of the novel and fictional achievement in America (Brodhead 1). According to Brodhead, this wonderful, and even fearful, welling up of creative energy signaled a revolution in America, whose most important figure was the so-called “obscurest man of letters” of the continent, namely Nathaniel Hawthorne (2).
After having written short stories for several years, Hawthorne decided at least writing a novel around the period in question. He resolved in producing, as he, himself stated, a “large and serious work that should evolve some deep lesson, and should possess physical substance enough to stand alone” (Brodhead 2). This hopeful resolution of Hawthorne’s turned out not only to stand as “the bright dawn” of his creative life as a novelist, but it also inaugurated the two years of the greatest literary prosperity in America, which were initiated by the release of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 (Brodhead 3).
At this point, a few words ought to be said about a particularly important writer of the time, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, given his enormous success and numerous achievements in the domain of American fiction that have made him one of the most significant representatives of American literature. From his early childhood, Hawthorne displayed a distinctive playful and imaginative personality, which was characterized during his mature years by independence of mind, thought and action, and an unshakeable reliance on his own convictions (Turner 23). The writer’s distinctive quality of mind and his intellectual and artistic integrity, along with his demand for perfection are definitely notable. As Ellery Channing puts it, Hawthorne’s
“wide comprehension and awful insight” are indisputable (Turner 163). Hence, the author displays his “remarkable mind,” sharpness and “power of observation” in his outstanding and moving work (Mayo 263). His romance is of great “tragic interest and tragic power,” while it appears to be “deep in thought” and “condensed in style”
(Whipple 240). The writer interweaves miscellaneous themes, such as “the universality of sin,” the impact of concealed sin, the unavoidable consequences of all actions and choices, the origins and effects of seclusion, witchcraft and additional manifestations of evil (Turner 202). Hawthorne’s narrative boils down to being a story
about “passion and authority,” as Nina Baym states (Colacurcio 319). However, the novel’s major subject matter is no other than “the relation of the sexes and the organization of society” during an era when Puritan patriarchy prevails (Mayo 269).
The combination of the abovementioned major themes, along with Hawthorne’s own genius that is evident in his brilliant story, which is narrated in the “most masterly manner” with a naturalness and continuous flow of expression, giving magic power in the narrative’s style, makes The Scarlet Letter truly delightful to read (Levine 278). In fact, I embrace Abbott’s view that one cannot willingly lay his novel down until one has finished it (248).
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s own conviction that he would never make a
“distinguished figure” in the world seems to have been proven wrong by his own brilliance (Turner 46). “Our honest author,” as Anne W. Abbott calls him, finished writing his controversial novel in February 1849 (Ryskamp 302). The Scarlet Letter was eventually published on March 16, 1850, making a huge success in sales, since its first edition sold more than two thousand copies in ten days, while its second one sold about three thousand copies (Turner 193).
The story of the novel is set in 1600’s Boston, Massachusetts, and more specifically in the years 1642-1649. It has been described as a “psychological romance” and “a tale of remorse” (Duyckinck 237). Bearing in mind that the novel is set in a period when the strict patriarchal and puritan mentality dominated, it is understandable why The Scarlet Letter is considered to be a “thrilling story,” since in nineteenth century when Hawthorne wrote it, Puritanism had already become a tradition (Levine 289). It is also worth noting that Hawthorne was in a particular state of mind when he was writing the book; to be more specific, his mother had died in July 1849, a fact that cost him a lot (Turner 188). Furthermore, he had been dismissed
from the surveyorship of customs at Salem in June 1849, after being disputed for his skills as an office-holder, another incident that had a tremendous impact on his psychological and financial state (Turner 188). Turner observes that “The Scarlet Letter lacks sunshine,” due to the writer’s decapitation from the Custom-House (177).
Hawthorne himself stated that the novel in question would not have existed, unless his colleagues had “set [their] mischief – making faculties at work” (Turner 199-200).
Consequently, after his removal, Hawthorne was actually given the time and the opportunity to put on paper what he had in mind for a long time, that is his discontent about Puritan mentality. The concept of a woman sentenced to wear an emblem of guilt had been on his mind before 1837 (Turner 192). This woman eventually became the medium through which the writer expressed his frustration about Puritan laws and rigidity. After the two aforementioned events, he wrote immensely on a daily basis, a fact that almost frightened his wife, Sophia Peabody (Turner 189). After having spent a lot of time reading anything “he could lay his hands on,” the author made himself scrupulously acquainted with the ancient history of Salem and used the most plausible history of Boston accessible to him at the time (Ryskamp 291-2). He was profoundly influenced by his own “beheading” from the Custom-House, which resulted in the dominance of autobiographical information in his introduction entitled “The Custom- House.” In fact, Turner claims that Hawthorne planned for an autobiographical introduction, with information about his experiences and his surroundings, which would serve as a background for his work (192). Fields had also encouraged Hawthorne to write a single romance, rather than a collection of tales, with autobiographical information (Turner 193). The choice between a single romance and a collection of short stories was eventually left to Fields, under the condition that if
the work was to be a single story, it would be entitled The Scarlet Letter, and it would be printed in red on the title page (Turner 193).
However, Hawthorne was also influenced by real incidents of the past he had read about, since he did not utterly invent the conditions and events of his characters’
dilemmas, as Newberry states (337). Although the writer usually sought for authentic details of colonial history, miscellaneous small changes turned out to be necessary in his presentation of the 1640’s New England, not due to lack of awareness of the facts, but for the sake of the smooth development of the plot and the production of the
“grand and simple balance” of the story (Ryskamp 291). Hence, in The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne mingles the actual with the imaginary, as all of his characters are actual figures in history and have real names, apart from Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth and little Pearl, who gain their life form throughout their realistic meetings with recognized people of colonial Boston (Ryskamp 298). It took him four years to finish the most famous and controversial novel of his career; four years that were “never spent for a better purpose,” since the “most powerful and imaginative work” of the era and the “most remarkable of Mr. Hawthorne’s works” was produced (Mayo 267-8).
Nevertheless, it ought to be said that Hawthorne must have been influenced by an actual female figure, Anne Hutchinson, as well. Colacurcio uses an interesting phrase to describe Hawthorne’s work, stating that The Scarlet Letter is created out of
“Hutchinsonian materials” (318). The historical context the writer seems most urgently to suggest in his work is Hutchinson’s life (Colacurcio 319). It is true that Hawthorne seems to have been inspired by this lady heretic to create the fictional character of Hester (Colacurcio 305). Anne Hutchinson was considered a woman not fit for Boston society and was banished by Governor John Winthrop in 1638 for
unconventional and insulting preaching. She was an intelligent, dynamic and educated woman that held prayer meetings for women (Colacurcio 306). She was accused by Puritan society of seductiveness of her doctrines, which were considered to entail sexual implications (Colacurcio 306). She also faced accusations of Sadducism, that is, she denied the existence of resurrection, while she was considered to be an emblem of theological disbelief (Weinauer 371). She was a strong woman that was not afraid to speak her mind and thoughts and was considered dangerous for the time, while her behavior was believed to be inappropriate for her sex by the Puritan community, just as Hester’s in the novel. Hutchinson challenged the theocratic and male-dominated society of her time and was granted the exemplary punishment of banishment, just as Hester is singled out for a punishment that is supposed to set an example (Colacurcio 306). She had a special kind of relationship with a minister, who was one of the most acknowledged, intellectual and spiritual leaders of the society she lived in. However, there is no evidence that their relationship was more than a friendly one (Colacurcio 306). Although Hester’s and Hutchinson’s stories are not identical, since there is no adultery involved in Hutchinson’s life, nor an illegitimate childbirth, since her children were her husband’s, the two women appear to have a lot in common, a fact that will be pointed out throughout the paper where necessary (Colacurcio 305). In a few words, these two women stood symbolically against their Puritan community and the order Puritan people were keen on emphasizing, given that they denied their assigned position in it, showing enormous and admirable strength of character, dynamism and courage (Weinauer 376). Both Hutchinson and Prynne, the latter with her strong personality and her committed adultery, dared challenge Puritan patriarchy and, more specifically, the established conviction of women’s inferiority of mind.
Nevertheless, I must refer to certain other facts that Hawthorne must have been influenced by, as well. In 1694, a law was enacted in Salem that demanded women that had been convicted of adultery to wear a capital “A” sewn on their garments (Newberry 331). Moreover, there are historical documents that reveal that there was a woman like Hester that had been accused of adultery (Newberry 332). The first case of adultery is documented in 1651, when Mary Batcheller was branded with a letter “A” on her bosom, while there was a child involved in this woman’s case and her partner in adultery was the minister George Rogers (Newberry 332). The fact is that in seventeenth-century New England, even Puritan ministers were involved in cases of adultery, while wayward women faced the menace of being physically and socially stigmatized by a “burning” “A” (Newberry 337). Hawthorne must have known about all these facts, bearing in mind that he had read the local histories of all the significant New England towns (Ryskamp 292).
The “extraordinary power” of Hawthorne’s romance is made clear by the fact that the novel has been adapted since its publication several times on film, on television and on stage, a fact that constitutes evidence for the enormous popularity of the book among the reading audience throughout the years (Levine 184). The most recent adaptation, which was released by Allied Stars in 1995, will be discussed in this paper, in an attempt to compare it to Hawthorne’s work. The director of the movie, Roland Joffe, presents a film version of the novel, choosing well-known and talented protagonists: Demi Moore incarnates Hester Prynne, while Gary Oldman, Robert Duvall and Joan Plowright incarnate Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth and Harriett Hibbins co respectively. Joffe’s obvious inspiration is Hawthorne’s fictional heroine. Nevertheless, as it will be shown in this paper, the film is inundated by postmodern ideas and traits, alluding to the twentieth century it was released in.
Puritanism
The fact that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s female protagonist has attracted my attention to a great extent explains why Hester Prynne is the focus of this paper.
Hawthorne manages to make her the focal point of interest, representing her to be a remarkable and extremely rare personality of the Puritan times. Having committed adultery, she has to face the resentment of the Puritan community she lives in.
However, before I delve into the way Hawthorne presents Hester, a few words about the Puritan laws and way of thinking seem to be necessary for better comprehension of the context of the story.
As Porterfield notes, Puritanism flourished as a “social reform movement” in England after 1558, with the accession of Elizabeth (18). Puritans gave emphasis to self-control, self-regulation and self-constraint in all domains of life (Porterfield 17).
They were devoted to law and religion, while they were addicted to a formalized behavior (Brodhead 49). The interdependence between society and religion was indisputable and moral behavior constituted great sign of grace (Porterfield 33).
Aggressiveness and violence were paradoxically key elements for the soul’s salvation, representing the Saints’ struggle against Satan (Porterfield 17).
Moreover, the people’s soul was a matter of public concern, while adultery was considered to be a crime against the state (Ziff 127). What is more, there seemed to be an unwritten law according to which the husbands that killed their wives’ lovers in the act of adultery, were acquitted, since they were considered to be “involuntary angels of Good,” while the lovers of their wives were perceived as Satan’s children and “noxious reptiles” (Thomas 189). Marriage was considered to be the basic unit of social order and stability, while it was a precondition for the proper context of family
life (Porterfield 21). However, the two spouses were not considered to be equal, as Puritans maintained a particular mentality concerning women. Submissiveness and wifely devotion were basic traits of female piety, which stood for the control of anger, lust and greed that permitted the establishment of a graceful society (Porterfield 13).
Not only should wives be dependent on and subject to their husbands’ desires, but they should actually find pleasure in their obedience, too (Porterfield 20).
Authoritative husbands, the so-called “rulers,” and obedient wives were supposed to love each other, while maintaining their “hierarchical” relationship (Porterfield 20).
John Winthrop himself, the Governor of Massachusetts Bay, where the novel is set, stated in his General Court in 1645: “he is her lord, and she is to be subject to him, yet in a way of liberty, not of bondage” (Porterfield 34). Conclusively, the hierarchical relationship between husband and wife should also be affectionate and faithful (Porterfield 28). Furthermore, Puritans accepted and, in fact, celebrated sexual intercourse, but “only in marriage” and sexual satisfaction was defined in terms of “an encounter between male authority and female submission” (Porterfield 14). Generally speaking, men dominated in every domain of life, whereas women lived under social constraints, being considered as inferior, while their devotion, dedication and fidelity to men were considered unquestionable (Porterfield 80).
As for the punishments for people who strayed, Hawthorne himself points out that in those days, not only was “[t]he discipline of the family” extremely rigid, but there was also “the frown, the harsh rebuke, the frequent application of the rod, enjoined by Scriptural authority” (SL 62). These penalties had a didactic nature as well, since they served as daily examples useful for the promotion and development of childish virtues (SL 62). The “early severity of the Puritan character,” according to Hawthorne, also included the punishment on the whipping-post, not to mention death
on the gallows. Everything was taken very seriously and the punishment by death was not rare (SL 38). People were also ridiculed, scourged or even taken with stripes into the forest, depending on their offence (SL 37). The spectators, on the other hand, dealt with each situation with the same solemnity. All in all, it was a community in which religion and law were almost identical, a fact that explains all the rigidity and strictness in question (SL 37). Even their countenances betray the “grim rigidity that petrified the […] physiognomies” of these, otherwise, “good” people (SL 37).
Hester Prynne The Symbol of Evilness
Bearing in mind the above-described situation, it is understandable why Hawthorne presents Hester, an adulteress that raises the offspring of her sin, facing the hostility and rejection of the Puritan community she lives in. To begin with, she has to deal with the punishment of being branded with a scarlet “A” on her bosom standing for “Adultery” and the one of public exposure on the scaffold in the marketplace of Boston (Brodhead 43). To be more specific, her sentence entails not only always wearing the “token of her shame,” as Hawthorne calls the scarlet letter, but also her daily public exposure as well, since she has to stand for a specific time upon the platform but “without undergoing that gripe about the neck and confinement of the head” (SL 42). In fact, according to a townsman, the Massachusetts
“magistracy” have actually shown “great mercy” and “tenderness of heart” towards the female protagonist, reflecting upon the fact that she is young and fair, and has probably been “tempted to her fall” (SL 46). Hence, they have not punished her with the extreme penalty of death; instead, they have condemned her to stand for three hours on the platform of the pillory and to wear a badge of disgrace upon her bosom
for the rest of her life; a “wise sentence,” as Roger Chillingworth argues, since in this way, she will be “a living sermon against her sin, until the ignominious letter be engraved upon her tomb-stone” (SL 46).
Hester remains throughout the novel the “object of severe and universal observation” (SL 44). She has to endure thousands of merciless and insistent eyes, which are fixed firmly upon her and concentrated on her chest (SL 42-3). Hawthorne makes it clear that, for the Puritans, Prynne has “raised a great scandal” and she is inextricably connected with evil, due to her “evil doings,” as a man of the crowd informs Roger Chillingworth, when Prynne stands upon the scaffold (SL 45). The way Prynne is treated by the Puritan community verifies Levin’s view that human beings are often framed by the severities of an “inhuman system of values,” such as the one Hawthorne describes in his novel (15). The writer depicts Hester to represent for the townspeople “iniquity,” which is “punished in the sight of rulers and people” (SL 45).
John Wilson himself, the eldest clergyman in Boston, talks about “the vileness and blackness of [her] sin” and about her dreadful fall when he speaks to her (SL 48). The author has Hester constantly refusing to reveal her child’s father and her partner in her sin, a fact that renders her crime even more severe according to the Puritan mentality, leading John Wilson to point out her “hardness and obstinacy” (SL 48). It is worth noting that when Prynne is in a condition of intense nervousness when she returns to prison after having discerned her husband in the crowd, her state is considered to be in demand of “constant watchfulness,” for fear of perpetrating violence upon herself or upon her child (SL 50). In this scene of the novel, Hawthorne explicitly shows that the Puritans connect Hester directly with evil, never considering that all this torture has greatly affected her state of mind and her psychological condition, presenting Master Brackett, the jailer, who symbolizes the common, hostile attitude towards the heroine,
to point out that she has been “like a possessed one; and there lacks little, that [he]
should take in hand to drive Satan out of her with stripes” (SL 50-1).
What is more, Hester is directly connected with superstitions and legends of the time, alluding to evilness. For instance, in the scene in the forest, her daughter, little Pearl, after having heard the comments of the bystanders and witnessed her mother’s embarrassment, asks her if she has ever met “the Black Man,” who represents evilness (SL 120). Hester recognizes “a common superstition of the period”
according to which the “Black Man” is the Satan, and answers that she has met him once in her life and that the “scarlet letter is his mark” (SL 120). As Scott Harshbarger observes, given the Puritans’ extremely strict and inflexible attitude towards adulteresses, Prynne is, apparently, drawn into a connection with “the Black Man,”
who, for her, stands for her own violation of the rigid Puritan rules, that is her adultery, which has led her to this ordeal (Weinauer 381). In addition, the emblem of her “guilty passion” grows into a living legend, according to which the scarlet letter is
“red-hot with infernal fire,” glowing alight whenever Hester Prynne walks in town during night-time (SL 61). There is no doubt that for the Puritan community in Boston, Hester becomes a “symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point,”
vivifying and embodying “their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion” (SL 55). She is the “figure, the body, the reality of sin” in the townspeople’s eyes (SL 55).
Therefore, she is watched over inquisitorially (SL 58). Consequently, according to Puritan mentality, her child must be taken away from her. In fact, Governor Bellingham compares Hester to the Whore of Babylon, while he insists on reminding her that she has “stumbled and fallen, amid the pitfalls of this world” (SL 74).
Moreover, he keeps on repeating the “stain which [her] letter indicates,” announcing:
“[w]oman, it is thy badge of shame!” (SL 75). Hence, he resolves in taking little Pearl
away from her, for the child’s “temporal and eternal welfare,” so that the girl can be strictly disciplined and instructed properly “in the truths of heaven and earth” (SL 75).
Hawthorne himself points out that “these good people,” that is the Puritans, “not unreasonably” decide to transfer little Pearl “to wiser and better guardianship” than that of Hester’s (SL 68). Although the writer does not approve of Puritan ways, he seems to understand them and realize exactly how Puritan people think, which is sufficient for a man of his brilliance to write about them (Van Doren 137). Besides, Hawthorne himself had stated that although he did not believe in Puritanism, he respected its doctrines (Miller ix).
But the Puritans’ resentment against Prynne does not end here. Hawthorne is totally convincing when he argues that, indeed, this “was not an age of delicacy” (SL 59). To be more specific, Hester is constantly made a spectacle in the town.
Swisshelm observes that whenever Prynne and her daughter appear in town, they are greeted by all the Puritans with contempt or appellations of disgrace (272). Hester is treated as a moral leper and she is always either scorned or avoided (Swisshelm 273).
For instance, whenever she is met by clergymen in the street, she faces “words of exhortation,” attracting the crowd’s attention upon her, as if her public display and her shameful brand was not enough (SL 59). Moreover, when she goes to church she often finds herself being the subject of the religious discourse (SL 59). Furthermore, as the writer informs us, Prynne grows to have a dread of children. Having been imbibed from their parents that there was something horrific in “this dreary woman,” they keep their distance from her, while pursuing her with “shrill cries,” babbling unconsciously a word that is terrible for her, insulting her morality (SL 59). Moreover, among the spectators comprised of “stern browed men and unkindly visaged women” when Hester is commanded to go along and show her scarlet letter in the market place, there
is also a “crowd of eager and curious school-boys,” with, of course, limited comprehension of the situation (SL 41). However, they do not hesitate to run “before her progress,” constantly turning their faces “to stare into her face,” at her child and at the scarlet letter on her bosom (SL 41). The Puritans’ children even give up their play whenever Hester passes by with Pearl, saying “[b]ehold, verily, there is the woman of the scarlet letter” and, the next moment, Hester and her child are once again humiliated, as the children resolve in flinging mud at them (SL 69).
Of great significance is the rest of the women’s attitude towards Hester.
Hawthorne presents the female Puritans of the town being extremely hostile and cruel towards Prynne. It is true that Hawthorne presents them to “reject sisterhood” with the heroine, as they make it clear with their harsh comments that she has nothing in common with them (Yellin 644). As the writer informs us, the townswomen had a
“peculiar interest in whatever penal infliction might be expected to ensue” (SL 38).
The women of the period were particularly rigid and pitiless, while their attitude appears to be equally stern towards our heroine, a fact that comes as no surprise though, given that they represent the exceptionally strict attitude of the Puritans.
These women obviously correspond to the severity of the Puritan mentality, according to which religion and law are practically identical (Brodhead 44). The values of Puritan society, through which it defines itself, are brought to light via the female participants in this scene (Brodhead 44). Hence, one of them does not hesitate to state that it is them, the women and goodwives of mature age and good repute, that should have to handle “such malefactresses as this Hester Prynne” (SL 38). Another one, calling her “naughty baggage,” believes that they should have put “the brand of a hot iron on [her] forehead,” since Prynne does not care at all about what they put on her gown, pointing out the “heathenish adornment” of the scarlet letter (SL 39). Their
cruelty and judgmental attitude towards Prynne goes on, as another one remarks ironically: “Let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart” (SL 39). Another goes further, saying that Hester has brought shame upon all of them and should die, since there is such a law in the Scripture and the statute book (SL 39). Their condemnatory approach of Hester continues, as one of them comments upon the adornment of her scarlet letter, emphasizing that it is nothing but a way to ridicule the magistrates and their attempt to punish her; to this remark, another woman answers that they should strip Hester’s gown off “her dainty shoulders” and replace the “curiously” stitched scarlet letter with a rag of “rheumatic flannel, to make a fitter one” (SL 41).
What is more, the strangers that come to town have a fixed gaze of curiosity on her bosom, an act that leads her to cover her scarlet letter with her hand, a fact that betrays her pain and possibly the shame all this ordeal causes her to feel (SL 59). The attitude of strangers is made clear during the Election Sermon, as well. The people that come from around the country, being aware of the story of the scarlet letter,
“embellished” by exaggerating rumors that make Hester horrific, stare at the woman with “rude and boorish intrusiveness” (SL 156). The sailors gathered in town “thrust their sun burnt and desperado looking faces” upon her, while the Indians “[fasten]
their snake-like black eyes on Hester’s bosom” (SL 156). As for the inhabitants of the town, they are the worst of all, fixing their “well-acquainted gaze at her familiar shame” (SL 156). Even when Hester goes to persuade Governor Bellingham not to take her little girl away from her, his servant, being a newcomer in the town, stares
“with wide-open eyes” at her mark of shame (SL 70). Her shame and her sin are so diffused, that the writer, via a personification, has the whole nature “talking” about it;
even the leaves of the trees “whisper the dark story among themselves,” the breeze murmurs it, while the wind shrieks it aloud (SL 59).
It is plain to see that for the Puritans that believed in the doctrine of predestination, the heroine, in committing adultery, simply gave evidence that she had always been one of the damned; hence, she is treated as if she had abandoned God for Satan (Winters 14). The Puritans evidently lacked power to sympathize, given the harshness and inflexibility they treat Hester with (Thomas 189). For them, Prynne is viewed as another Eve that has fallen deep into sin, a fact that makes society turn against her, giving her no excuse (Yellin 642). The writer reminds the readers of the story of Eve, who, according to Puritanism, being the original sinner, is a proof of female infirmity (Thickstun 31).
The “Poor Woman”
Although Hawthorne describes in detail the way Hester is perceived as evil by the Puritan society she lives in, in an attempt to reveal how harsh and cruel Puritan people are, I argue that he maintains a different point of view from the Puritans as far as the heroine is concerned. The writer obviously sympathizes with his female protagonist, implying his negative feelings for the Puritan society, while he manages to create feelings of sympathy for Hester and of condemnation for the Puritan people.
As hesitant and reluctant as he might be, due to the dominant mentality of his time, he cannot, and does not, hide his admiration and sympathy for Prynne. This point will be explained and justified in the next pages.
To begin with, Puritan people show no human sympathy towards Hester’s sin, a fact that can be justified by the fact that adultery is considered immoral and unacceptable even today. Hence, it is understandable why infidelity could only be
condemned by the people of the time. However, the writer’s sympathy towards his heroine is evident by the fact that the narrator seems to utterly understand Hester’s emotional and psychological state. For instance, he describes all this experience as an
“ordeal” for her, presenting her to be in “agony” when people stare at her, “as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon” (SL 41).
He describes Prynne standing upon the scaffold, calling it “miserable eminence,”
while the way he portrays her as a “miserable” spectacle can only reveal his compassion, observing the “hot, midday sun burning down upon her face, and lighting up its shame” (SL 43). Hawthorne depicts Hester’s suffering, illustrating every single detail of her ordeal, such as the “scarlet token of infamy on her breast,” which is a constant reminder of her sin, the “sin-born infant in her arms,” the crowd that is
“drawn forth as to a festival staring at the features that should have been seen only in the quiet gleam of the fireside,” making clear that she should have been somewhere else and happy, in a happy home (SL 60). Moreover, Hawthorne describes his female protagonist as an “unhappy woman,” going through a “real torture” with a “sick and morbid heart” (SL 47). He presents the heroine having become a spectacle of disgrace, at which, as he puts it, “all mankind was summoned to point its finger” (SL 55). The writer goes on expressing his sympathy naming what she is going through a “daily torture” and a “burden” she has to take up and “bear along with her” forever (SL 60).
The time that would pass, would only add more “misery upon the heap of shame” she is condemned to (SL 55). Calling her a “sufferer,” the author personifies her bosom with the mark on, presenting it to be “defenseless,” too (SL 59). In fact, Hester is stated to be a “sad woman,” a fact that may imply that in the rigid Puritan society in question, there might be some people who actually feel for her (SL 74). Her sadness is more than evident, since even Governor Bellingham calls her “unhappy woman” (SL
74). What is more, Hawthorne has Reverend Wilson and Arthur Dimmesdale calling Hester a “poor woman,” a fact which makes the notion of her as a victim even more intense (SL 90). It is possible that Hawthorne implies that the rigid Puritan people realize that they might have been too harsh with the heroine, but there is nothing they can do now to mitigate her suffering pain.
I am in accord with Leverenz that Hawthorne was fully aware that his readers would sympathize with Hester as much as he obviously does, only if she was presented to suffer for her sin (480). Depicting her going through all these ordeals and sufferings makes her “satisfactorily miserable” (Leverenz 480). Hence, the reader, who might have had a negative view of Hester because of the adultery she has committed, certainly attains a different point of view when the heroine is presented as a martyr. Thus, Hawthorne intelligently manages to reach his goal, which is no other than to create the circumstances which make his readers feel compassion for Hester.
However, it is an obvious fact that Hawthorne could understand exactly a woman’s feelings. Throughout this psychological analysis of Hester’s character, the writer verifies Margaret Fuller’s viewpoint that he was a man with delicate tenderness that allowed him to comprehend the heart of a woman (Wagenknecht 18). Hence, although Hawthorne does not fail to see that Hester has sinned, he indirectly disapproves of the Puritan people’s pitiless and ruthless attitude towards Hester, given that they act as if Prynne is the only sinner in this town and they are utterly untainted. This may be the case not only because he might believe that her punishment does not actually serve any useful purpose, but also because he appears to be perfectly capable of understanding a woman’s psyche and feelings (Wagenknecht 143). As Matthiessen notes, Hawthorne seemed to have a unique power to sympathize with people, as it is the case with his heroine as well (190).
There is another reason why Hawthorne sympathizes with Hester so much, while he seems to be opposed to this ordeal she is going through. The writer maintained the view that human beings are not perfect, as they have tendencies towards evil, while he believed people are nothing but victims of forces that cannot be controlled (Turner 307). He was aware of the existence of evil in the world (Wagenknecht 192). The writer assumed that in fallen world, sin is unavoidable (Wagenknecht 195). In fact, he believed that sin is part of people’s lives, as he supported that even when someone merely thought of it, he was stained by it (Wagenknecht 193). Hence, this is why he shows compassion for Hester, as he feels that all the people, including those who condemn her, are “wronged and wrongers”
(Turner 107).
The “Banished Woman”
It is worth noting that Hawthorne emphasizes his heroine’s seclusion and loneliness, as a consequence of the rejection she faces due to the adultery she has committed. By constantly repeating her isolation, the writer intensifies the readers’
sympathy towards Hester and emphasizes his own compassion. Hester is presented to be banished from the community she lives in because of her sin, while the constant reiteration of her seclusion renders isolation an issue that seems to be of paramount significance in the novel.
Hence, Prynne is presented as a “lonely woman” with no friend on earth, at least none that would dare openly admit friendship with her (SL 57). The author overtly states that she is “banished” and lives “as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature by other organs and senses than the rest of human kind” (SL 58). She feels that she does not belong to the society
she lives in, while she remains remote from the Puritan community, living “like a ghost” that cannot be seen or felt (SL 58-9). Along with Pearl, they are banished from
“human society,” living in a “solitary cottage” (SL 68). Hester appears to be an
“outcast woman,” while her footsteps are “lonely” (SL 104). Even whenever she is in the market with other people, there is always a “small vacant area” wherever she stands, formed by the rest of the people who always keep a distance from her, reminding her that she is a sinner that, in their point of view, deserves to be alone (SL 60). As Hawthorne points out, she is thus enforced to a “moral solitude,” enveloped by her scarlet letter (SL 149). It is also worth mentioning that the writer represents her to remain all alone for the rest of her life in Boston, since, apart from experiencing the crowd’s rejection, the father of her child passes away and little Pearl leaves the town when she grows up. Hence, she is presented to live a lonely life, remaining an outcast until she passes away.
It is possible that Hawthorne reflects his own seclusion via the character of Hester, giving another autobiographical characteristic. Hester’s isolation reminds the readers of Hawthorne, who has been described as the “most solitary man of American writers” (Wagenknecht 75). It is true that the writer had a tendency towards solitude (Turner 42). His college-mates from Bowdoin college, where he graduated from in 1825, spoke of him as a “quiet, thoughtful, and […] mysterious” young man, living
“in a mysterious world of thought and imagination” (Turner 42). Although the writer is portrayed as a genial and friendly personality that always participated in social gatherings, he was an enigmatic, contradictory character, with a “skeptical outlook”
and with an intense inclination towards solitude and seclusion (Turner v). The writer is described as a silent and diffident personality (James 42). In fact, he seemed to retain this solitary attitude when he was at his own residence as well, given that when
he returned home, he spoke no word to any human being (Turner 155). Moreover, according to Hayes, the author’s childhood was solitary and lonely, too, a fact that led him to reading books for consolation (xi). Turner attributes Hawthorne’s remoteness to an accident he had at the age of nine, which resulted in extensive lameness (18).
Hence, the writer turned towards reading and his tendency for seclusion and introspection was encouraged (Turner 18). Hawthorne, himself, believed that his natural tendency towards isolation was coming from his father, a “reserved man,”
who was keen on reading and “subject to melancholy” (Turner 10). Additionally, James informs us that there was a tendency in the writer’s household for the numerous members of the family to spend time by themselves (51). Hawthorne stated that they did not actually live in their house, while they seldom walked in the town, and that was only during night-time (James 51). Moreover, the members of his family used to eat alone in their rooms, while they rarely communicated with each other (Wagenknecht 77). According to Parkes, the author remained always aloof and detached from the world that surrounded him (Leavis 25). Hawthorne himself admitted that he “shut himself” in a heavy seclusion, especially after college, while he felt that everybody else moved on and he was left behind (James 42). The writer had confided in Longfellow that he had made himself a “captive” and had thrown himself in a prison, whose key could not find to get out, but, even if the door opened, he would be too afraid to come out to the world (Wagenknecht 76). The sense of isolation led him to regard seclusion as a sin, while he was so obsessed with it, that he made it the topic of numerous of his stories (Leavis 25-6). Kaul verifies this, stating that among the modern spiritual problems Hawthorne dealt with, isolation and alienation were the main ones (2). Making it clear that in Hester’s case isolation does
not result into anything evil, the writer keeps Prynne in this novel remains all alone throughout the whole book, while her seclusion is repeatedly emphasized (Lewis 73).
Inner and External Beauty
Hawthorne constantly emphasizes Hester’s femininity throughout the novel, as if he wanted to remind the readers that the person he talks about is, above all, a woman. In this part of the paper, it will be shown that the writer appears to respect and admire womanhood. The notion that women were connected with wickedness and evilness seems to be subverted by Hawthorne, as he presents his female protagonist to be both an admirable and beautiful personality, emphasizing her physical perfection, as well.
To start with, the writer admires his own heroine’s appearance, describing Hester as a particularly beautiful woman. He presents her to be young, tall, “with a figure of perfect elegance” (SL 40). Her hair is described with poetic language, being dark and abundant, “so glossy that it thr[ows] all the sunshine with a gleam” and her face is “beautiful from regularity” with “richness of complexion,” while her “marked brow” and “deep black eyes” seem to be responsible for her impressiveness (SL 40).
The author also points out that this “beautiful woman” looks very “picturesque in her attire and mien” (SL 42). Hawthorne also presents her to be “lady-like,” with a certain dignity (SL 42). The writer even has a townsman admit that this woman is “youthful and fair” (SL 46). It is plain to see that the author highlights Hester’s femininity, betraying his own admiration and fondness for the female sex. In fact, Hawthorne gives the impression that, via Hester, he actually describes the ideal woman according to his own perspective. It seems that Hawthorne disagrees with Melville, as the latter believed that the innocent woman, even when she falls into a sin, is supposed to be
presented with blonde hair and fair colors, namely the “fair lady,” who was considered to be flawlessly beautiful (Fiedler 401). The writer appears to depict Hester in darker colors, which alludes to the “dark lady” of the American novel of the time (Fiedler 401). Hence, even though Hawthorne depicts Hester to be a faultlessly beautiful woman, the heroine is presented in colors and a kind of beauty that are different from the literary tendency of the period. Through Hester’s depiction, Hawthorne verifies that he was not aligned with the established views and tendencies.
Besides, it appears that the writer was somehow “destined to go against the stream,”
given his unusual way of living and his unusual themes and way of writing, a fact that is proved by the story of The Scarlet Letter, as it is explained in the introductory part of this paper (Matthiessen 197).
The writer presents Prynne’s beauty in such a detailed manner, giving the impression that he is in awe of female exquisiteness. It seems that for him, external appearance reflects the soul of a woman, portraying Hester’s bewitching prettiness. It is possible that for Hawthorne, Hester’s external excellence reflects her inner beauty and her rare personality. Hence, the readers cannot help noticing that strong that the heroine’s beauty, both in the inside and the outside, is juxtaposed with the terrible ugliness of her ordeal.
However, later in the novel, Hawthorne presents the heroine losing her femininity, as a result of her sufferings. Being tormented and exhausted by her tortures, she does not care at all anymore about her femininity. All the pain she goes through has an impact on her appearance as well, as her endless sorrow inundates her entire being. It is as if the pain is so much that it overflows from her person in every way. The writer states: “nothing in Hester’s form, though majestic and statue-like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace; nothing in Hester’s bosom to
make it again a pillow of affection” (SL 107). Her femininity is gone, as “[s]ome attribute had departed from her, the permanence of which had been essential to keep her a woman” (SL 107). Her attractiveness disappears, undergoing a “sad transformation,” while her “rich and luxuriant hair” is not visible anymore, either being cut off or hidden by a cap, “that not a shining lock of it ever once gushed into the sunshine” (SL 107). There is nothing left in her face “for Love to dwell upon” (SL 107). Having been through such a “peculiar severity,” as Hawthorne puts it, this
“stern development” comes as a natural fate (SL 107). According to the author, given that Prynne encounters and experiences such an ordeal, this change is understandable.
It is evident that Hawthorne here underscores the effect of her awful experience, emphasizing its horridness by having it washing away such an absolute beauty.
Nevertheless, the writer gives a hint of hope that she will regain her lost femininity, by stating that “[s]he who had once been woman, and ceased to be so, might at any moment become a woman again, if there were only the magic touch to effect the transfiguration” (SL 107). Hawthorne surely puts the readers in great agony, saying that “we shall see whether Hester Prynne were ever afterwards so touched, and so transfigured,” implying that there will follow a scene in the novel where this will take place (SL 107). Indeed, when Hester meets Arthur in the forest, the author has this
“magic touch” coming from the man she loves. Her transformation begins by throwing away the scarlet letter; Hester unfastens the clasp of the scarlet letter, and, taking it off from her bosom, throws it to “a distance among the withered leaves” (SL 130). Her “stigma” now is gone, and her relief shows that she feels as if her agony and shame are gone with it (SL 130). Next, she takes off her cap “that confine[s] her hair”
(SL 130). As the writer describes in detail, “down it fell upon her shoulders, dark and rich, with at once a shadow and a light in its abundance, and imparting the charm of
softness in her features” (SL 130). Her beauty and femininity are back. Her hair plays around her mouth and a “radiant and tender smile” beams out of her eyes, which seems “gushing from the very heart of womanhood” (SL 130). Hawthorne continues his description of Hester’s revived womanhood, shedding light on her cheek, which, after being pale for so long, obtains a glowing “crimson flush,” while he explicitly states: “Her sex, her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty, came back from what men call the irrevocable past,” emphasizing the heroine’s beauty once again (SL 130). However, Hester’s femininity is gone when she puts the scarlet letter back on her bosom. Hawthorne evidently implies that this badge of shame, and, by extension, the Puritan community that has condemned her to wear it, are responsible for the loss of her beauty, devastating not only her psychological state, but also her physical appearance. To be more specific, the author writes that when she puts on the “scarlet misery” again, it is as if there is “a withering spell in the sad letter, her beauty, her warmth, her richness of her womanhood, [depart], like fading sunshine; and a grey shadow seem[s] to fall across her” (SL 135). The fact that Hester has lost her femininity is emphasized during the Election Sermon, as well. Hester now has a
“frozen calmness of a dead woman’s features” (SL 144). Thus, the author demonstrates that the only instance she becomes a woman again is when she meets the love of her life. Evidently, Hawthorne implies that true and profound love restores the heroine’s lost womanhood, giving her so much happiness that it overflows her entire being, making her beauty shine even brighter (Yellin 652).
But Hawthorne brings to light another aspect of the time concerning women as well, via Hester. Women were traditionally considered to be destined for the household, while needlework was one of their main preoccupations, while they were considered to be very good at it. Hence, Hester is presented to be quite good at
needlecraft, with a “rare capacity,” while her female vanity may be said to be depicted by the embroidered scarlet letter on her dress (SL 58). Nevertheless, it is likely that Hawthorne presents this embellishment of her stigma to imply that Hester does everything she can to lighten her burden. Apparently, her art is a means of expression for her and a way of soothing her repressed passion (Brodhead 62). Additionally, Hester is represented to be creating a scarlet letter that is totally different from the one she was condemned to wear by the Puritans (Brodhead 64). During Hester’s first appearance in the novel, Hawthorne mentions the red cloth on her gown, which is
“surrounded with elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” (SL 40). The reader is assured that Hester is good at needlework, as all women are in this sector, as the writer reiterates how the scarlet letter is “fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (SL 41). The letter is so “artistically done” and has such a “gorgeous luxuriance of fancy,” that it looks like a suitable decoration to her outfit (SL 40). What is more, the writer describes the embellished letter to glimmer with an
“unearthly ray” (SL 105). Hence, Hawthorne presents the heroine to accept her punishment, but on her very own terms. She turns the scarlet letter into a personalized symbol and a product of her own imagination, via which she creatively expresses herself, giving it a new meaning in terms of her own awareness of her sin. Clearly, the embellished letter also represents her conflict with the community she lives in (Brodhead 45). It is Hester’s statement that, although she realizes that she has sinned in the eyes of the Puritan community she lives in, and therefore she accepts her punishment, she actually believes that her sin was beautiful, a fact that is implied by the embellished letter. To be more specific, Prynne realizes she has committed adultery, which the letter is a constant reminder of. However, she embroiders the symbol of her crime, as if she wants to state that her sin was not merely a common
adultery, just like the letter affirms, but a profound and true relationship that has awaken beautiful feelings to her, just like the beautiful embroidery implies. Hence, although the Puritans view Hester’s sin as dreadful, just like their stigmatizing letter demonstrates, Prynne knows that what she lived was profound and beautiful, just as her own adorned letter cries out.
Furthermore, Hawthorne informs the reader about the activities women were supposed to be preoccupied with, which mostly include needlework and gardening, via the scene where children secretly enter Prynne’s cottage, looking at her “plying her needle” or “laboring in her little garden” (SL 57). Besides, the writer states explicitly that “the art […] of needlework” was “almost the only one within a woman’s grasp” (SL 57). In fact, Hester has such a “delicate and imaginative skill” at it, that all the ladies of the court want to benefit from it and add their simple Puritan gowns a “richer and more spiritual adornment of human ingenuity to their fabrics of silk and gold” (SL 57). Her handiwork becomes the fashion, as men and women go to her to embroider their attires (SL 57). Even the Governor, military men and the minister wear her needle-work on their embroidered clothing and accessories (SL 68).
Hawthorne possibly presents the Puritans that condemn Hester in the worst way to benefit from the heroine’s needlecraft in order to depict that they are nothing but hypocrites. Perhaps the author implies that, on the one hand, they criticize and censure Prynne, but, on the other hand, they try to benefit from her skills.
Hester is presented to embellish her own daughter’s clothes too, making them
“fanciful,” while she makes “coarse garments for the poor,” as well (SL 58). The writer attributes his heroine’s preoccupation with needlecraft to the fact that the
“[w]omen derive a pleasure, incomprehensible to the other sex, from the delicate toil of the needle” (SL 58). In addition, the author has Roger Chillingworth remark that
“[a] woman must needs follow her own fancy, touching the adornment of her person.”
(SL 110).
However, the reason why Hawthorne insists on emphasizing needlework as Hester’s, and all women’s in general, main preoccupation, is probably because the writer himself believed that needlecraft should be their only preoccupation, as he disliked career-women (Wagenkencht 149). To be more specific, in 1855, Hawthorne expressed his views about women writers, whom he called “the damn mob of scribbling women” (Wagenkencht 150). The writer believed that women writers were frail and tiresome, while he considered their writings to be nothing but trash (Wagenkencht 150). In fact, Hawthorne wished that women would be forbidden to write, on the grounds that he did not consider them qualified to write first-rate books (Wagenkencht 150). Nevertheless, this stance comes in total opposition to the fact that the writer admires women, not only for their beauty, but particularly for their intellect, strength and nature. It is very likely that the real reason why he resented women writers is because he felt threatened. What strikes as an oxymoron is that although Hawthorne thought of women’s writings to be “trash,” he worried that he would not have any chance for success (Wagenkencht 150). In Hawthorne’s insistence on the art of needlecraft, Weinauer notes that he talks about Hester’s needlework, about a literary battle between men and women, in which men would be the losers (384).
Besides, Hawthorne himself stated that women are too good for literature, given that their writing would have enormous effect (Wagenkencht 151). Not to mention that the author feared that women’s entry in authorship would immediately clear their way towards other “inappropriate fields” (Wagenkencht 150). Let us bear in mind that Hawthorne believed that the appropriate place for women was the household. This stance of his may have derived from his enormous admiration for women and his
realization of their tremendous capacities, which made him feel threatened.
Apparently, he feared that the other sex would not only inundate and intrude the fields that were linked with masculinity, such as writing, but mostly that they would be even better than himself and the rest of the men.
Of vital significance is the fact that Hawthorne seems to recognize an exceptional strength of character in women. It is evident that for the writer, a woman’s inner beauty is of paramount significance as well. Hawthorne seems to imply that strength of character and courage are among the traits that make a woman beautiful on the inside, as well.
On the one hand, the writer implies that women are harsh and unforgiving by having Hester being unable at first to forgive Dimmesdale for “sinking” her dream of fleeing with him and for withdrawing himself so completely from their “mutual world” (SL 152). The author writes and I quote: “[…] much of a woman was there in Hester, that she could scarcely forgive him, - at least of all now, when the heavy footstep of their approaching Fate might be heard, nearer, nearer, nearer!” (SL 152).
On the other hand, however, Hawthorne makes it clear that women are much stronger and decisive than men, a quality which he appears to admire. Besides, the author clearly states that Prynne is very strong, “with a woman’s strength” (SL 106). In fact, according to Hawthorne, her “wild energy” enables her to fight “against her sorrows”
(SL 119). Hence, right from the beginning, Hester is presented to have a “natural dignity and force of character,” as she repels the town-beadle that draws her forward to the crowd and steps ahead “as if by her own free will” (SL 40). Her strength and pride are also betrayed by the “haughty smile” and a “glance that would not be abashed” with which she looks at the townspeople (SL 40). As Hawthorne states, being aware of her part, Hester ascends the scaffold by herself, implying that she
realizes her mistake but is not afraid to deal with the consequences of her action (SL 42). The writer himself constantly informs the reader about his heroine’s personality, as her spirit displays a “wild and picturesque peculiarity” (SL 41). The heroine’s answer to all the “rigid countenances” that stare at her is a “bitter and disdainful smile” (SL 43). She even ignores the servant that tells her that she cannot see Governor Bellingham, saying decisively: “Nevertheless, I will enter” (SL 70). She does not hesitate to repel the medicine Roger gives her for Pearl, “gazing with strongly marked apprehension into his face” (SL 51). What is more, her mind is constantly working. Even when she is on the scaffold, it travels to her past, bringing up other happier scenes, as a mechanism to help her deal with this awful situation, which is so painful, that she must think of something else in order to endure it (SL 43). Apparently, Hester is trying to escape her present obnoxious situation by conjuring up pleasant and happy thoughts, a fact that reminds the readers once again that she is a true fighter. Even during these moments, she does not give up; instead, she tries to fight this painful and difficult situation by finding escape in joyful reflections.
Hawthorne certainly achieves his goal, which is to create admiration towards Hester, albeit her sin. Prynne’s strength of character is noteworthy, leaving the readers no choice but to be impressed by her dynamism. The fact that she endures all this torture because of her mistake is only one side of the coin. Even more noteworthy is the fact that the writer depicts her so strong-minded, that she is by no means willing to reveal Pearl’s father; instead, she prefers bearing all her suffering alone, just to protect Arthur Dimmesdale. No matter how she is pressured to speak out her partner’s name, she simply refuses to talk, a fact that reveals not only her true and deep love for him, but also her tremendous dynamism and unselfishness, which lead her to experiencing
this entire ordeal alone. Let us not forget that Hester had not sinned alone. The writer himself implies that her partner should face the consequences of their action as well, and attempts to make his readers realize this, by asking: “[h]as Hester sinned alone?”
(SL 60).
A townsman confirms that Prynne’s partner has remained a riddle, since
“Madam Hester absolutely refuseth to speak and the magistrates have laid their heads together in vain” (SL 46). Even when Reverend Wilson cries out to Hester to speak out the name of her partner and the scarlet letter will be taken off her bosom, she is uncompromising: “Never! […] It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine” (SL 49). The demanding voices that order her to speak and give her child a father, meet her intransigent answer, with a voice so decisive, that the reader can almost hear it: “I will not speak! […] And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one! (SL 50).
Thus Hester stands upon the “pedestal of shame, with glazed eyes, and an air of weary indifference,” while Dimmesdale, impressed himself, murmurs: “Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman’s heart! She will not speak!” (SL 50). Roger Chillingworth, her husband, meets her inflexible attitude towards the matter as well, when he asks her who Pearl’s father is, as she replies looking firmly at him: “Ask me not! […] That thou shalt never know!” (SL 53). Hence, Hester appears, indeed, to possess a “strong, calm, steadfastly enduring spirit” that enables her to behave like a man (SL 53). There is no doubt that Hawthorne subverts the traditional gender roles, having his heroine be the one who protects a man.
The subversion of gender roles becomes even more evident when Hester interacts with Dimmesdale. When they meet in the forest, Hester is the one who, selflessly, gives courage to the minister. When he asks her if she has found peace, she
immediately asks him back “Hast thou?” making clear that her prime concern is Dimmesdale’s state, not her own, as she is worried about his psychological condition more than hers, while she knows deep inside that they might never find peace (SL 123). She constantly tries to console him, reminding him that the townspeople reverence him, a fact that should comfort him. Hawthorne presents her utterly unselfish, as she forgets all about her own misery and focuses on the minister’s consolation. When Arthur blames himself, she responds that he wrongs himself on the grounds that he has profoundly repented and his sin is left behind, in the past (SL 123). She goes on comforting him, saying that his present life is as holy as the townspeople perceive it to be and that his penitence should give him peace (SL 123).
In addition, Hawthorne depicts Hester being honest and straightforward as well, since when Dimmesdale asks him who Chillingworth really is, she
“remember[s] her oath, and [is] silent,” protecting her husband as well, albeit she does not want to (SL 103). Of course, a woman like Hester cannot keep the secret for too long and put in danger the man she loves. Hence, Hawthorne presents her to be decisive and strong once again. She is a responsible woman that is aware of her duties, as she is “determined to redeem her error” and rescue Dimmesdale from Chillingworth’s evilness, by confessing that Roger is her husband (SL 109). The writer presents her growing stronger all the time, since she finds herself no longer so inadequate to deal with Roger as on the night she promised to keep his secret. As the narrator states, “[s]he ha[s] climbed her way, since then, to a higher point” (SL 109).
However, even more impressive is the fact that instead of running to Dimmesdale as soon as she decides to tell him the truth, she wants to be sincere and straightforward towards Chillingworth first, even though he plans to harm her beloved. Hawthorne depicts her as such an astonishingly honest personality, that she “resolve[s] to meet
