The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered to be a magnus opus of both Hawthorne and of Colonial American literature. Set in seventeenth century Puritan society, Hawthorne uses Puritan ideals and human consciousness to craft a story about the struggle between man and society. Hester Prynne and her daughter Pearl are forced to live a life confined in solitude for an act the Puritan society determines a sin. Society wants them to perpetually live in guilt as a result of Hester having had Pearl out of wedlock. The society visually identifies Hester's guilt in the form of a scarlet letter “A” that must forever be worn on her chest. The novel determines that the consequences of guilt can be transcended by an outcast once that outcast breaks away from society.
As an outcast, the separation from society allows Hester to discover and define meaning in her own life. Hester sees the letter as a representation of Pearl, the joy of her life; it cannot have a negative significance. Hawthorne says, “The sin that man thus punished, had given her a lovely child [Pearl], whose place on that dishonored bosom, to connect her parent forever with the race and descent of mortals, …show more content…
Due to Hester and Pearl’s lives as outcasts, they only have each other as company. Because this is all they know, the pair creates their own community with their own values. Hester professes, “She is my happiness!...See ye not, she [Pearl] is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved” (Hawthorne 133). Because her daughter is her “happiness” and is “only capable of being loved,” Hester has changed the meaning of the letter to represent her deep love of her daughter. Her daughter is her entire world, and she does not regret the life of her child. Without out the A, Hester would be lost. The letter, therefore does not represent guilt, but instead love, and her life revolving around her love of
As an outcast, the separation from society allows Hester to discover and define meaning in her own life. Hester sees the letter as a representation of Pearl, the joy of her life; it cannot have a negative significance. Hawthorne says, “The sin that man thus punished, had given her a lovely child [Pearl], whose place on that dishonored bosom, to connect her parent forever with the race and descent of mortals, …show more content…
Due to Hester and Pearl’s lives as outcasts, they only have each other as company. Because this is all they know, the pair creates their own community with their own values. Hester professes, “She is my happiness!...See ye not, she [Pearl] is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved” (Hawthorne 133). Because her daughter is her “happiness” and is “only capable of being loved,” Hester has changed the meaning of the letter to represent her deep love of her daughter. Her daughter is her entire world, and she does not regret the life of her child. Without out the A, Hester would be lost. The letter, therefore does not represent guilt, but instead love, and her life revolving around her love of