Charlie Spinale
AP Literature
7/2/14
1st
half of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne prompt #1: “Setting includes
more than just time and place. It also concerns social conditions and customs
of a given location and time period. Discuss the setting of The Scarlet Letter
and how it contributes to your understanding of the book so far.”
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel
Hawthorne is a novel that takes place in seventeenth century Puritan Boston,
Massachusetts. Hester Prynne is a young woman who perpetrates adultery and has
a child named Pearl leading her into relentless ignominy and ridicule. Throughout
The Scarlet Letter the strict social
conditions and traditional customs of the era demonstrate the setting of the
book and grant the reader a better understanding of the book allowing insight
on why Hester Prynne feels guilty and is shunned for her crime and sin of the
time period.
The
reader sees some of the social conditions and customs of the time period as the
story begins in the chapter “The Market-Place”. This is where the reader sees
Hester for the first time exiting the prison to proceed to her punishment and
the reader gets a glimpse of the beliefs of the time through the narrator and
some citizens talking amongst each other. The narrator elucidates the Puritan
character allowing the reader to see how cold-hearted and strict the people of
the time period truly were: “The grim rigidity that petrified the bearded physiognomies
of these good people…It could have betokened nothing short of the anticipated
execution of some noted culprit…But, in that early severity of the Puritan
character, an inference of this kind could not so indubitably be drawn. It
might be that a sluggish bond-servant, or an undutiful child, whom his parents
had given over to the civil authority, was to be corrected at the whipping-post…It
might be, too, that a witch, like old Mistress Hibbins, the bitter-tempered
widow of the magistrate, was to die upon the gallows” (41-42, Hawthorne). This
quote exhibits the faces of the people who show a group in a different era who
are about to witness the punishment of a very serious criminal who is so
well-known that the decision of the court is already known by the citizens.
Nevertheless, since the Puritans have such a “severe” character, the reader
cannot be sure of the crime. As described in the quote, the Puritans character
and expressions show that they would take the execution of a witch just as
serious as the whipping of a disobedient child.
The shear fact that this is a time were “Mistress Hibbins” a witch is
being hanged among the “gallows” shows the utmost beliefs of the Puritan people
because it is a time were witches are thought to be nonfictional. The reader
already gets an idea of the beliefs and social conditions of the era if witches
are being publically executed and children whipped for something that would be
laughed of today. The severity of the citizens allows the reader to have a
better understanding of the feelings the Puritans will have toward Hester who
has committed adultery which is much worse than a disobedient child or servant
who does not follow orders. This quote signifies that Hester will face dreadful
guilt and shame in a society that takes any crime as serious as the death
penalty. The reader gets an even better understanding of the social conditions
and customs of the time when some of the women discuss Hester and how she has
put shame to everyone: “’This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to
die. Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and the
statute-book. Then let the magistrates, who have made it of no effect, thank
themselves if their own wives and daughters go astray’” (43)! This quote conveys
how angry the female population is with Hester and how they believe adultery is
morally wrong. This women points out that she brought shame to all of them and
In return for that she should die. Although the women of the time period were
not soft, they still believed it was morally wrong to cheat on their husbands.
Such a crime to them puts them to disgust and shows the severity of their moral
beliefs. The strict religion of the time is demonstrated when the women
mentions how there are laws against adultery in the “scripture” and she then
looks down on the city officials who did not follow these rules or take them
serious enough on Hester’s punishment. The harsh women of the time period and
the general Puritan character warrant the reader an understanding of why Hester
received so much hatred and shun for a “sin” that although looked down in even
today’s society, was so unethical in Hester’s time period that it changed her
life perpetually.
In
the next chapter “The Recognition”, the reader sees a greater profundity of the
religious beliefs of the time period as well as the severity of shame Hester
receives for her wrong-doings. The reader sees the humiliation Hester
encounters for her crime of adultery through her punishment with the scaffold:
“It was, in short, the platform of the pillory; and above it rose the framework
of that instrument of discipline, so fashioned as to confine the human head in
its tight grasp, and thus hold it up to the public gaze. The very idea of
ignominy was embodied and made manifest in this contrivance of wood and iron”
(46). Hester punishment for her crime was to stand on the scaffold for 3 hours
as everyone stared at her making her feel humiliated and also to keep her
scarlet letter embroidered on her as a constant reminder of her wrong-doing. The scaffold as described holds the human head
in place so the head cannot be hidden from the public’s view. This scaffold was built for humiliation and
expresses a time period where punishment was not taken lightly even in the
slightest cases. The scaffold signifies the beginning of Hester’s guilt because
although she faces a lot of guilt at this one moment her guilt and shun will
sustain for the rest of her life. The reader gets a greater comprehension of
why Hester was shunned so severely through Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale’s plea to
Hester to reveal Pearl’s father: “…thou
hearest what this good man says, and seest the accountability under which I
labor. If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly
punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to
speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer’” (53)! In this
quote Dimmesdale is stating that he has the authority to tell her that if it
makes her soul feel better to admit who she sinned with than she should publicize
his name in order to help her eternal salvation for what she has sinned for.
This quote allows the reader to see the religious influence of the time period.
In getting Hester to confess her lover a reverend is used in hopes she will
admits his name because otherwise she would be living in sin to them. The
constant mention of the “scripture” and the use of religious officials show how
adultery is a consequential sin in the religion of the Puritan people. The time
was distinctly strict due to the fact that people did not have free-will that
did not come with punishment. In today’s society no one would be obliged to
admit something using religious force not to mention public shame through
force.
In the chapter “Hester
at Her Needle” the reader learns how shunned Hester becomes in society but at
the same time how her needle works becomes popular among many Puritans who
desired fancy decorations that Hester created such as her scarlet letter. The
reader sees a society who wants Hester’s decorations for public ceremonies or
for a night were they wanted to feel scandalous, either way they purchase these
decorations even though they look down on the women who produced them. The reader also sees how Hester makes these
decorations for all types of occasions except she was never asked to make a
white veil for a bride: “Her needle-work was seen on the ruff of the Governor;
military men wore it on their scarfs, and the minister on his band; it decked
the baby’s little cap; it was shut up, to be mildewed and moulder away, in the
coffins of the dead. But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her
skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure
blushes of a bride. The exception indicated the ever relentless vigor with which
society frowned upon her sin” (63). This quote is stating that Hester’s
needlework was worn by just about everyone including the Governor, military
men, the minister and babies. However, she was never asked to create a white
veil for a bride. This showed how society still did not let go of Hester’s sin
and they still believed that shame would be justifiable. Hester’s work,
although popular among the Puritans did not make her any less shameful, if
anything it brought her even greater shame: “Dames of elevated rank, likewise,
whose doors she entered in the way of her occupation, were accustomed to distil
drops of bitterness into her heart; sometimes through that alchemy of quiet
malice, by which women can concoct a subtile poison from ordinary trifles; and
sometimes, also, by a coarser expression, that fell upon the sufferer’s defenceless
breast like a rough blow upon an ulcerated wound” (64). This quote shows that
the rich women who bought decorations from Hester would slyly insult her when
she went to their homes. It also shows that they would sometimes attack her
calling her horrible names and forcing her into more shame. Both quotes show a
society who looks down upon Hester for her sins of adultery and her scarlet
letter yet they request to have the same scandalous decorations she wears
proving that they are endeavoring to mimic her ways. The Puritan society at
large is hypocritical because they wear Hester’s decorations and insult her
when buying them even so some of them have committed the same if not worse
“sins” than Hester but they have just not owned up to them. Hester was also
shunned whenever she was in public: “Clergymen paused in the street to address
words of exhortation, that brought a crowd, with its mingled grin and frown,
around the poor, sinful woman. If she entered a church, trusting to share the
Sabbath smile of the Universal Father, it was often her mishap to find herself
the text of the discourse. She grew to have a dread of children; for they had
imbibed from their parents a vague idea of something horrible in this dreary
woman, gliding silently through the town, with never any companion but one only
child” (64). This quote conveys that when Hester went into public she would be
stopped by a priest who would begin to preach about how sinful she was as a
group of people surrounded her in disgust. It also states that when she tried
to go to church she found that she was the subject of the sermon. She even grew
hatred toward children because their parents had told them how horrible she
was. She has become completely isolated from society because people and places
where Hester should feel safe, they have become places and people she cannot consult
with or go to and feel safe. The fact that Hester cannot even walk the streets
or go to church without being shunned shows the severity and ability for the
Puritan society to latch on to what she did and never forget it.
In
the chapter “Pearl” the audience learns that Hester’s daughter, who was born an
outcast to society possess odd traits that are arguably demonic. The reader
learns that Pearl is not allowed to play with the other children and
understands this and in return shows hatred and resentment towards them: “Pearl
was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product
of sin, she had no right among christened infants…If spoken to, she would not
speak again. If the children gathered about her, as they sometimes did, Pearl
would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling
at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations that made her mother tremble,
because they had so much the sound of a witch’s anathemas in some unknown
tongue” (70). This quote illuminates the fact that Pearl was not allowed to
play with the other baptized children. This emphasizes the religious beliefs of
the time, because Hester had Pearl through adultery making Pearl an outcast to
society. This is a common theme Hawthorne is bringing up because in every
society and time period people feel resentment towards a certain group like
people during the Civil Rights Movement showed resentment towards African
Americans. If Pearl was spoken to by the
other children she chose to ignore them. Also, if they came near her she would
begin to scream and throw stones at them in a way that made her look like an
evil witch. The fact that Pearl already does not get along with the children in
her society shows her understanding of her mother’s situation and the fact that
she is hated due to her mother’s adultery. Pearl, symbolizes the scarlet letter
because she is a constant reminder to Hester of her wrong-doings but at the
same time she is all Hester’s happiness. The religious belief of the Puritans
of the time is shown when Pearl is asked where she comes from and it is
automatically assumed by Hester that she came from God: “’He sent us all into
this world. He sent even me, thy mother. Then, much more, thee! Or, if not,
thou strange and elfish child, whence didst thou come’” (73)? In this quote
Hester tells Pearl that everyone comes from God and if she came from God then
her own daughter obviously came from God. This quote shows how there was no
question about religion at the time. Today, a lot of people are atheist or have
no religious preference. Pearl’s lack of understanding of her religion and
where she came from worries Hester because she assumed Pearl would know in an
era were religion was a significant part of people’s lives.
During the time period
there was speculation that demons and witches existed. This is shown when Pearl
is assumed to be a demon: “She remembered—betwixt a smile and a shudder—the
talk of the neighbouring townspeople; who, seeking vainly elsewhere for the
child’s paternity, and observing some of her odd attributes, had given out that
poor little Pearl was a demon offspring; such as, ever since old Catholic
times, had occasionally been seen on earth, through the agency of their
mothers’ sin, and to promote some foul and wicked purpose” (73-74). This quote emphasizes
that the Puritan people believed Pearl was a demon because during that era the
Catholic religion believed that sinful mothers produced demon babies. This
assumption plays a large role in the story because the society’s belief that
Pearl is a demon leads to even more detestation toward Hester. The religion of
the time period was strict and Pearl, being a suspected demon essentially
caused a large uproar in the community because people were scared of such
things and prayed against them during the era. The fact that Pearl is believed
to be a demon which leads to the official town’s people, especially the
governor, to want to take Pearl away from Hester and find someone who can take
care of her suitably and fix her: “The point hath been weightily discussed,
whether we, that are of authority and influence, do well discharge our
consciences by trusting an immortal soul, such as there is in yonder child, to
the guidance of one who hath stumbled and fallen, amid the pitfalls of this
world. Speak thou, the child’s own mother! Were it not, thinkest thou, for thy
little one’s temporal and eternal welfare, that she be taken out of thy charge,
and clad soberly, and disciplined strictly, and instructed in the truths of
Heaven and earth? What canst thou do for the child, in this kind” (81)? This
quote is saying that they want to take Pearls demonic soul and put it in the
hands of someone who can dress her right, discipline her strictly, and teach
her the right way to live. This shows not only the strict religion of time and the
belief that the girl is a demon but also the strict power of government during
the era. In The Scarlet Letter’s time
period it is compelling to think that politicians would be allowed to decide if
Hester gets to keep her daughter. It shows that politicians involved themselves
in the small matters such as: “The period was hardly, if at all, earlier than
that of our story, when a dispute concerning the right of property in a pig,
not only caused a fierce and bitter contest in the legislative body of the
colony, but resulted in an important modification of the framework itself of
the legislature” (75). This quote shows that the ownership of a “pig” was
debated among politicians and led to changes in the structure of the legislative
body. This indicates the strictness of the period if the ownership of a pig
generated such problems and changes and also goes to show how serious they are
taking the case of Hester and her accused demonic child Pearl. The politicians
came to the conclusion, after the persuasion from Dimmesdale that Hester was
the only one who truly knew Pearl enough to care for her, that Pearl could stay
with Hester as long as she went to school and church: “Indeed hath he,”
answered the magistrate, “and hath adduced such arguments, that we will even
leave the matter as it now stands; so long, at least, as there shall be no
further scandal in the woman. Care must be had, nevertheless, to put the child
to due and stated examination in the catechism at thy hands or Master
Dimmesdale’s. Moreover, at a proper season, the tithing-men must take heed that
she go both to school and to meeting” (84). This quote states that the governor
will leave things as they are as long as Hester does not cause any more
scandalous things and under the condition that Pearl gets a genuine religious
education and goes to school and church. This again emphasizes the religion in
the era because the only way Hester was allowed to keep Pearl was if she had a
religion in her life.
The first half of The Scarlet Letter provides the reader
with a profusion of information proving the severity of the Puritan character, the
strict religious rules, government rules, and social conditions of the time
period which give the reader a better understand of the novel permitting an
understanding of why Hester was looked down upon at the level she was. The
setting therefore allocates the reader with everything indispensable to an
understanding of what Hester went through. The reader can therefore deduce that
Hester’s adultery and the incalculable punishment she receives for it can be associated
with any time period and society that has certain beliefs and social conditions
that if not followed will lead to some form of punishment and shun.
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