The Scarlet Letter by Nataniel Hawthorne

Basic Summary

"The Scarlet Letter" is a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1850. The story is set in
17th-century Puritan New England and follows the life of Hester Prynne, a young woman who is publicly
shamed and ostracized for committing adultery and having a child out of wedlock.

The story begins with Hester standing on a scaffold in the center of the town, holding her infant
daughter (Pearl) and wearing a scarlet letter "A" on her dress to signify her sin. The townspeople stare at
her with judgment and disgust, and she is forced to endure their ridicule and scorn. Hester's husband,
who has been presumed dead, arrives in town and takes on a new identity to seek revenge on her lover,
the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Meanwhile, Hester tries to rebuild her life as a seamstress, and her
daughter Pearl grows up wild and free-spirited, often drawing attention and criticism from the
townspeople.

As the novel progresses, the relationships between Hester, Dimmesdale, and her husband become more
complex and intertwined. Hester refuses to reveal the identity of her lover, even when given the
opportunity to escape with him, out of a sense of loyalty to Dimmesdale. However, as his health
deteriorates and his guilt becomes overwhelming, Dimmesdale finally reveals his own scarlet letter "A"
on the day of his final sermon, and then dies in Hester's arms.

In the end, Hester and her daughter leave the town and start a new life, but the scarlet letter remains a
permanent symbol of Hester's sin and redemption.

"The Scarlet Letter" explores themes of sin, guilt, redemption, and the nature of humanity. The novel's
complex characters and intricate plot create a powerful meditation on the consequences of adultery and
the struggle for forgiveness and acceptance. The book is considered a classic of American literature and
is widely taught in schools and universities today.

Themes, symbols and motifs:

Themes:

1. Sin and Guilt: This theme is central to the novel, as Hester's sin of adultery and the resulting guilt
she and the other characters experience drives the story.
2. Identity: The novel explores the idea of identity, particularly how one's actions and experiences
shape their identity, and how identity can be both fixed and fluid.
3. Redemption: The possibility of redemption is explored through Hester's journey toward
acceptance and forgiveness.
Symbols:

1. The Scarlet Letter "A": This symbol represents Hester's sin of adultery and the judgment she
faces from society. It also represents her eventual acceptance and redemption.
2. Pearl: Hester's daughter Pearl represents the sin of adultery and its consequences, but also the
potential for renewal and change.
3. The Forest: The forest symbolizes the wild and untamed nature that lies within humans, as well
as a place of refuge and freedom.

Motifs:

1. Light and Dark: The contrast between light and dark is used to illustrate the struggle between
good and evil, purity and sin, and acceptance and rejection.
2. Nature: The natural world is a recurring motif in the novel, representing both the untamed and
free-spirited nature of humanity, as well as the forces of order and control.
3. Color: Color is used symbolically throughout the novel, with red representing sin and passion,
black representing evil and death, and white representing purity and innocence.

Overall, "The Scarlet Letter" is a deeply symbolic and thematically rich novel that explores the
complexities of human nature and the struggle for acceptance and redemption.

Main characters:

1. Hester Prynne: The protagonist of the novel, Hester is a strong-willed and independent woman
who is forced to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest as punishment for committing adultery.
She is determined to rebuild her life and care for her daughter, Pearl, despite the judgment and
scorn of the Puritan community.
2. Arthur Dimmesdale: The town's young and popular minister, Dimmesdale is tormented by guilt
and the knowledge that he is the father of Hester's child. He is conflicted by his sense of duty to
his congregation and his love for Hester.
3. Roger Chillingworth: Hester's estranged husband, Chillingworth is a man consumed by his desire
for revenge on Hester's lover, whom he eventually discovers is Dimmesdale. He becomes
increasingly sinister and twisted as the novel progresses.
4. Pearl: Hester's daughter, Pearl is a wild and free-spirited child who is often seen as a symbol of
Hester's sin. She is fiercely loyal to her mother and is fascinated by the scarlet letter.
5. Governor Bellingham: The governor of the Puritan colony, Bellingham is a staunch defender of
the strict moral code that governs the town. He is suspicious of Hester and her motives, and is
often at odds with the other characters in the novel.
6. Mistress Hibbins: The sister of Governor Bellingham, Hibbins is rumored to be a witch and is
often associated with the forest and the supernatural.

These characters are all complex and multifaceted, with their own motivations, desires, and struggles.
Hawthorne's skillful portrayal of them helps to bring the story to life and illuminate the novel's themes
and symbols.
Notas:

• Pearls name is a symbol: She’s a beautiful gift that the mother paid an enormous price for. She is the
only one that is referred to as “otherworldly” maybe as a symbol of being raised outside that society,
she doesn’t have any of the negative connotations attached to her.
• Different layers of morality are broken in the novel, adultery, shame, revenge, hypocrite society.
• Hester takes accountability for all her mistakes.
• The story highlights the inherently flawed nature of people and what happens when we live in denial
of that fact.
• Hawthorne is from Salem Massachusetts and had ancestors that were part of the Salem witch trials
(great-great grandfather was a judge, John Hathorne), his actual surname is Hathorne, he added a “w”
to avoid association with that infamous time, and for this he feels a sense of shame with his connection
to his puritan roots.
• He was greatly influenced by the transcendentalist movement even though he wasn’t a
transcendentalist. His work involves the puritan times, he became friends with two key
transcendentalist writers: Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. He even married a woman
who was involved in the transcendentalist movement but he never gets classified as a transcendentalist
because he focused more on story-telling than Emerson, Thoreau or Whitman and had a darker view
about human nature than they did. Transcendentalist believed that the human existence transcended
the sensory realm and they rejected formalism in favor of individual intuition and imagination.
• Influences: his early childhood in Salem and work in the Salem custom House, his puritan family
background, he believed in the existence of the devil, he believed in determinism a theory of
predestination (that when your soul comes to earth your destiny is already set for you, so u don’t have
any free will).
• The Puritans: Puritanism is the religious reform movement of the 16 th and 17th centuries seeking to
purify the church of England. Characterized by earnest, intense moral and religious principles such as the
necessary covenant relationship with god, the emphasis on preaching and the holy sprit’s dominance
over reason as the instrument of salvation. America was seen as a Holy commonwealth and a
covenanted community. A radical faction of puritanism were The Pilgrims.