The+Scarlet+Letter+Notes

The Scarlet Letter Notes __Themes__ Guilt/unconfessed sins destroy soul Hester confesses, pays price, survives with inner spirit in tact Punishment by ourselves worse than that from others Hester's partner, Dimmesdale, doesn't confess, denies Pearl as daughter > pays price with guilt and self-condemnation - falls apart mentally and physically > in end admits guilt (at scaffold where book starts) and gains inner peace > then he dies True repentance lies in yourself To what extent caused by Puritan heritage Feminist idealism Individualism/transcendentalism Conflicts Fate vs. Free Will Self-Fulfillment vs. Accommodation Individual vs. Society Individual vs. Own Inner Demons Sense of determinism/predestination - humans do control their own fate Alienation - caused by society, self, or both Initiation - person actively tries to get rid of negativity Effect of sin Lead sorrow filled lives Consequences greater in Puritanical society People can be both good and evil Cowardice Dimmesdale can't tell congregation > justifies it would prevent him from doing God's work Eats away at him Realizes he's a hypocrite Must have courage to be true to self Adultery really isn't a theme - it has already occurred Strength of human spirit > Hester won't let society bring her down Hester rises above town ridicule Dresses daughter in elaborate clothing/begins to help others Revenge destroys seeker and sought Conflict between law and one's own belief system __ Mood __ Dark/Gloomy (Gothic) Dimmesdale/Chillingworth - note the names - embody depression Pearl opposite - represents joy and happiness/free-spirit > has nothing to confess Hester - goes back and forth between gloom and joy > able to because she has confessed __ Language __ Narration - Common to language of Hawthorne's 1850 Puritan speech - common to that of King James Bible Notice length and use of commas __ Symbolism __ The Scarlet Letter What might Scarlet Letter be in today's world? What are some student crimes? Pretty obvious, however meaning changes throughout the novel A originally stands for adultery for Hester/Stands for ability at the end < due to all her good works Stands for agony for Dimmesdale and Chillingworth Dimmesdale's hand on heart - symbolizes his own invisible scarlet letter Pearl's Name Embroidery Meteor Indians The brook Scaffold God's Judgment Dimmesdale confesses first under cover (hiding from God), then in public Prison Isolation/Alienation - unable to live happily within society (does anyone live happily in Puritan society—“sad garments”?)...better word - at peace Forest Nature - lightness and darkness/freedom Notice how brightness changes with Dimmesdale/Hester scene in forest Colors Dull - those imprisoned by the rules of Puritan society Bright - Pearl - those who have kept their free spirits Scarlet/Red - the Devil Green - color of life/color of Pearl's letter Black - Black Magic/Black Man > identified as Chillingworth by Pearl __Objects__ Burning Law Red Truth Wild __ Irony __ Who's punished more - Chillingworth/Hester? Pearl's dress foreshadows future status Hester stays in Boston Hester gains respect through her scarlet letter __ Ambiguity __ Hawthorne leaves many questions unanswered Who is Mistress Hibbins? What is her role? She was accused of witchcraft in real life Meaning of "A" in the clouds - adulterer, angel Is Chillingworth a witch? Why does Dimmesdale keep relationship with Chillingworth? What is on Dimmesdale's chest when he reveals it to crowd? Other Hester serves as a feminine Christ/Mary figure of sorts, carrying the burden of women kind and suffering for all. Key texts that carry this notion include, but are not limited to the vision of her standing on the scaffold and her/the narrator’s pondering being a martyr (or “destined prophetess”) at the end of the novel. Ironically, it is Dimmesdale who dies publicly, and (in such a typical fashion) he who receives the honor and glory, while Hester again silently suffers. She refuses/is not able to take the position of the prophetess as she has already gone through too much, as she was “stained with sin” among other things. By the end of the novel, it becomes clear that Hawthorne is indicting not simply the puritan society, but perhaps traditional Christianity as a whole while celebrating love, regardless of how it (love) manifests: “at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven’s own time, a new truth would be revealed in order to establish the whole relationship between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness.” About Hester’s “guilt”: I find it questionable if Hester feels bad about her acts of adultery, as there is little evidence to support this—and that is conflicting. Instead, it becomes painfully obvious (especially during the Flood of Sunshine chapters) that Hester’s guilt/pain is an extension of the Dimmesdale’s guilt/pain, and little (if anything) more. The “A” for Hester is not so much a symbol of adultery—or angel for that matter—but is a symbol of Arthur. Remember, Puritan society also used the letters “AD” to signify adultery—how convenient for Hawthorne: Arthur Dimmesdale. We see more of this at the moment of Dimmesdale’s death: while he is concerned with repentance and gaining salvation—both his and Hester’s—she is most concerned about whether they will “meet again” or spend their “immortal life together.” Remember too Hawthorne’s closing focus—not on the rightness or wrongness of the relationship, but on the fact that tragically, even in death it seemed as if their “dust had no right to mingle.” Clearly, Hawthorne believes this to be tragic. He does not condemn their relationship; instead, he condemns a system that forbids it. A brief note about Pearl/God/Religion: It is interesting that while Pearl constantly references God, and she is compared to a demon child of sorts, her salvation comes only with the loving kiss of her father, as opposed to the hand of God. In fact, in a book that uses religion as one of its foundations, it is interesting that God is never to be found—at least in any traditional way. Indeed, the only time when any sort of light (divine, perhaps) pierces the gothic gloom of Hawthorne’s novel, is when the sensuality of Hester (when Dimmesdale has thrown off his own Scarlet Letter along with Hester’s literal one) blossoms, and her feminine beauty with its passionate spirit is finally unfettered. This idea helps to support the ideas set forth in the Hester paragraph.