The romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, was written to expose the major flaws of the puritan society, the most prominent being their blatant hypocrisy. Hawthorne creates traits of dishonesty and fraud in many of his characters but presents one in particular to highlight these weaknesses in all the others: Mistress Hibbins, “the bitter-tempered widow of the magistrate” (I:49) and the witch of Boston. Hibbins’ primary functions in the novel are to reveal to the reader what might have become of the protagonist, Hester Prynne, and to unveil the false virtue hidden in the puritan regime. Hawthorne uses Hibbins, specifically, to reveal this defect because “alone among the women of this rigid, straight-laced society, witches
…show more content…
Hawthorne has created more interactions of this nature between them, however, to highlight the fact that Mistress Hibbins is a clear representation of what would have become of Hester Prynne if she did not have her daughter, Pearl. This would explain why Hibbins seems to identify with Hester, which “led her to do what few of the townspeople would have ventured on; to begin a conversation with the wearer of the scarlet letter in public” (XXII: 246). In Hester’s premier years of wearing the scarlet letter, she is already treated like a witch by the townspeople. The location of Hester’s home also hints at her almost becoming a witch. She is placed on the outskirts of society, still a part of the puritan society but on the very border of it, and right at an entrance to the forest, Mistress Hibbins’ domain. The scene in Governor Bellingham’s home proves that Mistress Hibbins sees herself in Hester, when she asks “Wilt though go with us tonight? There will be a many company in the forest; and I well-nigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one” (VIII:118) inviting her to grant her soul to the devil, as Mistress Hibbins. Hester replies by explicitly telling her that if the magistrates had taken Pearl out of her custody, she would have gladly joined the witch in the forest that night. By giving birth to the character Mistress Hibbins, Nathaniel Hawthorne is able to grant
Hawthorne has created more interactions of this nature between them, however, to highlight the fact that Mistress Hibbins is a clear representation of what would have become of Hester Prynne if she did not have her daughter, Pearl. This would explain why Hibbins seems to identify with Hester, which “led her to do what few of the townspeople would have ventured on; to begin a conversation with the wearer of the scarlet letter in public” (XXII: 246). In Hester’s premier years of wearing the scarlet letter, she is already treated like a witch by the townspeople. The location of Hester’s home also hints at her almost becoming a witch. She is placed on the outskirts of society, still a part of the puritan society but on the very border of it, and right at an entrance to the forest, Mistress Hibbins’ domain. The scene in Governor Bellingham’s home proves that Mistress Hibbins sees herself in Hester, when she asks “Wilt though go with us tonight? There will be a many company in the forest; and I well-nigh promised the Black Man that comely Hester Prynne should make one” (VIII:118) inviting her to grant her soul to the devil, as Mistress Hibbins. Hester replies by explicitly telling her that if the magistrates had taken Pearl out of her custody, she would have gladly joined the witch in the forest that night. By giving birth to the character Mistress Hibbins, Nathaniel Hawthorne is able to grant