Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous The Scarlet Letter is a composition that held a lot of meaningful perspectives exploring the seventeenth century. The Scarlet Letter was originally published in 1850 by Hawthorne pointing out the hypocrisy that the Puritans did and the number of people who were condemned for life because of their sins. The novel The Scarlet Letter invokes the pretense of the term “lawful” and arouses the heart of every people to look more closely to the double standard society when it comes to wrong doings.
The Scarlet Letter‘s main point is to establish sins and knowledge in the broad light. The Puritans’ believed that the sins initially started from Adam and Eve thus, adultery is an abomination and immoral act. Being shamed until death gave the Puritans the satisfaction of shunning the sinner as a reminder of not doing it themselves. That somehow they are learning not to do unlawful acts in the eyes of God because they see others getting punishments. Hester and Dimmesdale 's tale is reminiscent of Adam and Eve 's story; in all instances, guilt ends in alienation and pain.
Hawthorne discussed the issue of women's liberation by explaining how firmly Hester takes her own choices and seems to be capable of taking care of herself. The novel showed that women’s independence is possible despite the incurable sanctimony of the society. It is a positive theme he ventured on regardless of how women were forced to be dependent to men. Another issue that he discussed is the power of conscience. The conscience will not be forever silenced, there comes a day when it will insist to let go of the guilt and confess the wrongdoings. Societal pietism is another subject matter that was tackled in the famous novel. The Puritans had a very sensitive and highly exaggerated emotional idolization in God that they believe chosen ones are born to be perfect and pious and those who are not will be in hell. He crafted the novel into a reflection of a Puritan community.
However, there is a small nut noticeable weakness in The Scarlet Heart. The flaw in the story is how Pearl was described as the devil’s child. It is upsetting to see that a young sweet child became characterized as a devil’s spawn just because of her parentage. The child was innocent of her parents’ mistake; no born child should have to shoulder the evilness of judgemental people. She too was condemned for life as a creation of the devil like how Robert Chillingworth became the devil man himself. Robert Chillingworth was filled with revenged and anger that he did many things, proding questions that caused Dimmesdale to further torture himself. He chose to do these things, it was his will to be evil.
The Scarlet Letter is an incredible literary piece that tackled reality and the things that reality should have. Hawthorne described Dimmesdale as a weak hearted human being but he is the perfect example of what people should be, a listener of the conscience. He died telling the truth of his life, confessing his sins because he cannot bear them to be hidden from those who looked up to him. Moreover, his creation of Hester as a woman of firm determination, love, sacrifice and selflessness yet still capable of committing mistakes shows that there are no perfect person. All humans can do is to face their mistakes and lived by them while learning from it.
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The Representation of Woman and her Life in The Scarlet Letter.
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