Yesterday, I finally finished The Scarlet Letter, a fairly interesting, yet pretty difficult book. The Scarlet Letter describes the events that take place after a woman named Hester Prynne is found to be an adulterer and refuses to release the name of her lover. As adultery is a prominent part of the book, it would be reasonable to consider how Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author, thinks about this topic.
Even though Hawthorne does not necessarily encourage adultery and still believes that it is immorally wrong, he never really says whether he condones or condemns it. Rather, his main commentary is about the hypocrisy of Hester's Puritan community. Even though adultery may be more serious compared to venial sins, Hawthorne points out that everyone has faults and flaws. Hawthorne condemns the actions of the Puritan community and how they isolate Hester and Pearl for their "sins."
In "The Governor's Hall," Hester and Prynne are walking to Governor's Bellingham's house when some children see them and say to each other that they should "fling mud" at the "woman of the scarlet letter [...and] the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side" (The Governor's Hall). In this, Hawthorne demonstrates to his audience how deeply this unfair stigma has penetrated the town -- it has gone so far as to affect children, who are usually symbols of innocence and kindness. Even though Pearl has done nothing wrong, the children still see her as a sin, a product of adultery, and attack her. This is ironic because although the children want to throw mud at Hester and Pearl because they have sinned, they are sinning themselves by assailing another person.
After Hester leaves Governor Bellingham's house, Mistress Hibbins, the governor's sister, pokes her head out of the window and asks whether Hester "wilt [...] go with [them] to-night" because she "promised the Black Man" that Hester would come (The Elf-Child and the Minister). Despite the obvious signs that Mistress Hibbins isn't so innocent herself, the townspeople fail to condemn her or bring her to trial due to her high stature in the community as the governor's sister. Hawthorne criticizes the town's actions by showing the irony between her situation and Hester's. Even though witchcraft definitely more worse than adultery, nobody does anything because she's important, while they isolate Hester for years for a much more venial crime just because she isn't in a high position in the community.
Although I had mixed feelings about The Scarlet Letter (especially while trying to finish The Custom House), I do agree that the book has very interesting commentary that is both relevant to the Puritan age and the modern one as well. Today, people can often be hypocrites when judging other people's sins, failing to realize that they themselves have sinned. Hawthorne realizes this and clearly demonstrates it in The Scarlet Letter.
Even though Hawthorne does not necessarily encourage adultery and still believes that it is immorally wrong, he never really says whether he condones or condemns it. Rather, his main commentary is about the hypocrisy of Hester's Puritan community. Even though adultery may be more serious compared to venial sins, Hawthorne points out that everyone has faults and flaws. Hawthorne condemns the actions of the Puritan community and how they isolate Hester and Pearl for their "sins."
In "The Governor's Hall," Hester and Prynne are walking to Governor's Bellingham's house when some children see them and say to each other that they should "fling mud" at the "woman of the scarlet letter [...and] the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side" (The Governor's Hall). In this, Hawthorne demonstrates to his audience how deeply this unfair stigma has penetrated the town -- it has gone so far as to affect children, who are usually symbols of innocence and kindness. Even though Pearl has done nothing wrong, the children still see her as a sin, a product of adultery, and attack her. This is ironic because although the children want to throw mud at Hester and Pearl because they have sinned, they are sinning themselves by assailing another person.
After Hester leaves Governor Bellingham's house, Mistress Hibbins, the governor's sister, pokes her head out of the window and asks whether Hester "wilt [...] go with [them] to-night" because she "promised the Black Man" that Hester would come (The Elf-Child and the Minister). Despite the obvious signs that Mistress Hibbins isn't so innocent herself, the townspeople fail to condemn her or bring her to trial due to her high stature in the community as the governor's sister. Hawthorne criticizes the town's actions by showing the irony between her situation and Hester's. Even though witchcraft definitely more worse than adultery, nobody does anything because she's important, while they isolate Hester for years for a much more venial crime just because she isn't in a high position in the community.
Although I had mixed feelings about The Scarlet Letter (especially while trying to finish The Custom House), I do agree that the book has very interesting commentary that is both relevant to the Puritan age and the modern one as well. Today, people can often be hypocrites when judging other people's sins, failing to realize that they themselves have sinned. Hawthorne realizes this and clearly demonstrates it in The Scarlet Letter.