The following paper will discuss Nathaniel Hawthorne’s work, The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850. In the paper I will discuss one of the main characters, Hester Prynne, and her behavior. I will claim that the author uses Hester and the characters she interacts with as an allegory for the revolutionary spirit present in the colonies of America prior to, during, and in the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War in 1776. This is done throughout the entire book and in no particular chronological order.
As with every work, I find it fitting to start at the beginning. In chapter 2, even before Hester Prynne leaves the prison, she is preceded by the beadle “with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand”, who draws her forward until she repels him and takes the final steps by herself. This act can be compared to the earlier history of the colonies, with the beadle himself representing the Puritan law and way of life of the early colonists, while the sword and staff of office together combine to represent the dualism of life in the colonies, both religious and secular at the same time. The final steps taken without the beadle can themselves represent the final steps taken by the Americans prior to the Declaration of Independence, removing the Church from the equation, which later is given official sanction in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the USA.
In the very next paragraph, we see how Hester finally faces the crowd “with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed”. I claim that the same way Hester Prynne decides to face the crowd can be compared to the feeling amongst the colonial settlers prior to declaring Independence. The Loyalists, those that wished to remain loyal to the British Crown, are the “burning blush”, while their opposites, the Revolutionaries, are the “haughty smile” and the “glance that would not be abashed”. This combination of both hesitancy and pride in Hester Prynne meshes well with the combination of hesitancy on the Loyalists’ part and pride and eagerness on the Revolutionaries’ part regarding the issue of separation from the Crown.
Hester Prynne’s walk to the scaffold “might be reckoned a journey of some length; for haughty as her demeanour was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep”. In this, I find a very clear comparison to the American Revolutionary War itself. As described before, the Revolutionaries had pride in themselves and in their cause, yet the war itself could be accurately described as an agony on behalf of the nation in every footstep in the path to independence.
In Chapter 5, at the end of her confinement period, the author describes one of the many problems facing Hester Prynne: “Tomorrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the next: each its own trial, and yet the very same that was now so unutterably grievous to be borne.” I would like to claim that this accurately portrays the problems the now free Americans faced once independence was gained. The tasks of building and running a government and a country entailed within them problems and issues every single day, and very often these issues repeat themselves. We can even see this looking at the same US government today that strives to deal with some of the same problems dealt with over 200 years ago, including taxes, wars and others.
In Chapter 7, Hester Prynne goes to the Governors house to fight for the right to keep her child, Pearl. In Hester’s willingness to fight someone both higher in stature than her and stronger than her, physically and politically, I see the same fighting spirit that led the Revolutionaries to fight the British Crown, whose reach was not only nearing the height of its strength and size, but also had a standing army that was much larger and stronger than the army the Americans were able to field.
When trying to find some sort of motivation for Hawthorne’s writing and why he would choose to make this allegory, I found an answer in his introduction to the book, “The Custom House”. President Taylor is elected into office as President (“A remarkable event of the third year of my Surveyorship … was the election of General Taylor to the Presidency”), and being on the losing side, Nathaniel Hawthorne begins contemplating his upcoming removal from office: “But it is a strange experience, to a man of pride and sensibility, to know that his interests are within the control of individuals who neither love nor understand him”. This sounds very much like the situation the colonies were in before the American Revolutionary War. The interests of the colonies and the settlers were in the hands of, and under the control of, the British Crown, which at best professed ambivalence towards the colonies and at worst portrayed outright aggression, violence and hostility towards them.
Using the above examples, I once again would like to restate my original claim that the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses Hester and the characters she interacts with as an allegory for the revolutionary spirit present in the colonies of America prior to, during, and in the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War.
As with every work, I find it fitting to start at the beginning. In chapter 2, even before Hester Prynne leaves the prison, she is preceded by the beadle “with a sword by his side, and his staff of office in his hand”, who draws her forward until she repels him and takes the final steps by herself. This act can be compared to the earlier history of the colonies, with the beadle himself representing the Puritan law and way of life of the early colonists, while the sword and staff of office together combine to represent the dualism of life in the colonies, both religious and secular at the same time. The final steps taken without the beadle can themselves represent the final steps taken by the Americans prior to the Declaration of Independence, removing the Church from the equation, which later is given official sanction in the First Amendment of the Constitution of the USA.
In the very next paragraph, we see how Hester finally faces the crowd “with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed”. I claim that the same way Hester Prynne decides to face the crowd can be compared to the feeling amongst the colonial settlers prior to declaring Independence. The Loyalists, those that wished to remain loyal to the British Crown, are the “burning blush”, while their opposites, the Revolutionaries, are the “haughty smile” and the “glance that would not be abashed”. This combination of both hesitancy and pride in Hester Prynne meshes well with the combination of hesitancy on the Loyalists’ part and pride and eagerness on the Revolutionaries’ part regarding the issue of separation from the Crown.
Hester Prynne’s walk to the scaffold “might be reckoned a journey of some length; for haughty as her demeanour was, she perchance underwent an agony from every footstep”. In this, I find a very clear comparison to the American Revolutionary War itself. As described before, the Revolutionaries had pride in themselves and in their cause, yet the war itself could be accurately described as an agony on behalf of the nation in every footstep in the path to independence.
In Chapter 5, at the end of her confinement period, the author describes one of the many problems facing Hester Prynne: “Tomorrow would bring its own trial with it; so would the next day, and so would the next: each its own trial, and yet the very same that was now so unutterably grievous to be borne.” I would like to claim that this accurately portrays the problems the now free Americans faced once independence was gained. The tasks of building and running a government and a country entailed within them problems and issues every single day, and very often these issues repeat themselves. We can even see this looking at the same US government today that strives to deal with some of the same problems dealt with over 200 years ago, including taxes, wars and others.
In Chapter 7, Hester Prynne goes to the Governors house to fight for the right to keep her child, Pearl. In Hester’s willingness to fight someone both higher in stature than her and stronger than her, physically and politically, I see the same fighting spirit that led the Revolutionaries to fight the British Crown, whose reach was not only nearing the height of its strength and size, but also had a standing army that was much larger and stronger than the army the Americans were able to field.
When trying to find some sort of motivation for Hawthorne’s writing and why he would choose to make this allegory, I found an answer in his introduction to the book, “The Custom House”. President Taylor is elected into office as President (“A remarkable event of the third year of my Surveyorship … was the election of General Taylor to the Presidency”), and being on the losing side, Nathaniel Hawthorne begins contemplating his upcoming removal from office: “But it is a strange experience, to a man of pride and sensibility, to know that his interests are within the control of individuals who neither love nor understand him”. This sounds very much like the situation the colonies were in before the American Revolutionary War. The interests of the colonies and the settlers were in the hands of, and under the control of, the British Crown, which at best professed ambivalence towards the colonies and at worst portrayed outright aggression, violence and hostility towards them.
Using the above examples, I once again would like to restate my original claim that the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, uses Hester and the characters she interacts with as an allegory for the revolutionary spirit present in the colonies of America prior to, during, and in the aftermath of the American Revolutionary War.
Cheers,
Ben
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