The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a piece of romantic literature that often focuses on individualism. While most of the characters in The Scarlet Letter represent individualism well, Hester Prynne is the best example. Darrel Abel discusses the purpose of Hester in his essay “Hawthorne's Hester.” Hester, an allegory for strength, bears her sin by herself and creates a good life for her and her child. Hester's purpose in the novel is to show that there is strength in the truth through her individualism.
According to Abel “[Hester's] role in the story is to demonstrate that persons who engage our moral compassion may nevertheless merit moral censure.” In other words, while a reader may feel sympathy toward Hester, he or she must not forget that she too sinned. “We sympathize with Hester at first because of her personal attraction, and our sympathy deepens throughout the story because we see that she is more sinned against than sinning.” Because the novel is named for what Hester wears on her bosom, it is often thought that her sin is the primary focus of the novel. The book is not about the sin, but rather about how the sin affects Hester and others.
“The prime offender against her [Hester] is Roger Chillingworth. . .” (Abel). Chillingworth holds three major sins toward Hester. First, he married her before she could fathom the consequences of this action. Chillingworth admits “Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay” (Hawthorne, 69). His second, lesser sin was leaving her alone in the colony while he finished business in England. This was common at the time, but Chillingworth sees it as a sin because he believes he should have foreseen her betrayal. “. . . I might have foreseen all this. I might have known that, as I came out of the vast and dismal forest, and entered this settlement of Christian men, the very first object to meet my eyes would be thyself, Hester Prynne, standing up, a statue of ignominy, before the people” (Hawthorne, 69). This second sin is more an extension of the first; Chillingworth believes he shouldn't have married her because she is too much his younger and she was bound to be unfaithful.
According to Abel, Chillingworth's final sin against Hester was “lack of charity toward her after her disgrace.” Chillingworth has a right to be upset that she betrayed him for another man, and does not need to offer charity to her, though he should not ruin the life of a man she does love once he accepts that he knew she would betray him. “He was motivated not by love, but by self-love; in his marriage and in his vengeance he cherished and pursued his private objects, to the exclusion of the claims of others, whose lives were involved with his own” (Abel). Chillingworth did not think of how his revenge on Dimmesdale would affect Hester, and this is his final sin against her.
Dimmesdale also sinned against Hester. He made Hester carry both her burden and his own. He tried to take his sin by fasting, performing vigils, and scourging himself, but the only way she could be without it was for him to confess to the townspeople. “[Dimmesdale] had moral defenses and moral duties that [Hester] did not have. He had a pastoral duty toward her and a professional duty to lead an exemplary life” (Abel). Even though Dimmesdale should have not committed his fornication in the first place, “his perilous pride in his reputation for sanctity was dearer to him than truth. Like Chillingworth, he wronged Hester and left her to bear the punishment alone” (Abel).
Hester had many reasons for not exposing the two men sinning against her. First, simply, she gave her word to Chillingworth that she would not reveal that he was her husband. When she asks why Chillingworth does not announce himself and cast her off, Chillingworth gives his reasons, saying that it will be to the world as if her husband is dead. Chillingworth continues, “Breathe not the secret, above all, to the man thou wottest of. Shouldst thou fail me in this, beware! His fame, his position, his life, will be in my hands. Beware!” (Hawthorne, 71). It is only after Hester realizes that Chillingworth does have absolute control over Dimmesdale that she reveals the secret and breaks her oath.
Hester chooses not to reveal that Dimmesdale is the father of her child because she would rather carry his sin with hers than make him accept his sin. She wants him to confess himself, and join her because he wants to. She will not do it for him. In his words to her while she is standing on the scaffold, Dimmesdale begs her to condemn him. “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life” (Hawthorne, 63). Dimmesdale does not want to take responsibility himself and confess, but he realizes that by not confessing he will be forced to add hypocrisy to his sin. For this reason he wants Hester to confess for him.
Hester lived with her daughter Pearl in a small abandoned cottage. This further emphasizes her individualism. Abel writes that “[t]he ostracism called too lenient a punishment by the perhaps envious matrons of the town was almost fatal to Hester's sanity and moral sense.” Though Hester lived on the outskirts of town, she still saw and spoke to many people because of her extraordinary embroidery skills. “Lonely as was Hester's situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she, however, incurred no risk of want. She possessed an art that sufficed . . . to supply food for her thriving infant and herself” (Hawthorne, 75). Hester also took it upon herself to teach Pearl about the scriptures, thus proving she did not lose her moral sense. “. . . Hester Prynne, the daughter of a pious home, very soon after her talk with the child about her Heavenly Father, had begun to inform her of those truths which the human spirit, at whatever stage of immaturity, imbibes with such eager interest” (Hawthorne, 102). While living apart from the community, Hester continued to live a life based on Puritanism.
The scarlet letter manifests itself in many ways throughout the novel; on Hester's bosom; through Pearl; and finally, on Dimmesdale. The appearance of the letter on Dimmesdale confirms that the novel is not solely about Hester's sin, but also other's sins. Hester's sin is important, but more important is how she resists sin afterwards. Hester shoulders her sin and another's all the while keeping her promises and educating Pearl about sin. Hester's strength is what eventually prompts Dimmesdale to confess. He refuses to run away while she still carries that burden. Hester's strength also keeps Chillingworth from achieving satisfaction in his revenge on Dimmesdale. Because Hester believes that Dimmesdale will eventually tell the truth, Chillingworth receives no fulfillment from his revenge. Hester's individualism makes her strength all the more impressive.
