Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlett Letter is set in a time when colonists were trying to create a better society than they were previously used to. Early Puritan towns set out to do just that; create a utopian society where puritan morals were followed very strictly. Hawthorne’s anti-transcendentalist views give a clear focus on the communities’ strict views that show no regard for the individuals in society, but only for the conformity needed to repress any sinful lures that may tarnish the society’s reputation as a whole. In The Scarlett Letter, Hawthorne exemplifies the societal flaws of human nature and conformity through a young, beautiful woman who has a baby out of wedlock. The story focuses its attention on Hester Prynne, the sinner;
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The citizens of the town, dressed in very bland, conformist clothes, look at Hester with disgust and shout for a harsher punishment. Hester is scorned by all the citizens of the town for having a baby with a man she isn’t married to. The contradictory narrative of Hawthorne describing Hester compared to that of the townspeople strongly foreshadows the hypocritical society Hester has to prepare for. As the woman of the town speak about Hester, their criticism comes with no pity, “If the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded? Marry, I trow not!” These women speak as though they have never sinned in their lives and don’t consider an option to reform her. These women’s “utopian” society is comprised of conformists that harshly exile those who don’t conform. The women are not the only ones; Bellingham is one of the powerful men of the town who lives well beyond how Puritans are suppose to live. The criticism and hate towards Hester presents the town as extremely hypocritical because they pursue harsh punishment for Hester while breaking their own rules. Hester finds herself secluded from the town and living in the forest with her daughter. The solitude of the forest is seen to the Puritans as punishment, but really, Hester is able to find her true self there. She not only finds herself, but also finds the unfortunate truth of the Puritan town that the others are blind to; the hypocrisy, the faults, and true sins that plague the people of the society. They hope to create a place that, from an outside perspective, is perfect and that may be true, but the citizens within the town are blind to the strict laws of their society that force upon them a marginalized
The citizens of the town, dressed in very bland, conformist clothes, look at Hester with disgust and shout for a harsher punishment. Hester is scorned by all the citizens of the town for having a baby with a man she isn’t married to. The contradictory narrative of Hawthorne describing Hester compared to that of the townspeople strongly foreshadows the hypocritical society Hester has to prepare for. As the woman of the town speak about Hester, their criticism comes with no pity, “If the hussy stood up for judgment before us five, that are now here in a knot together, would she come off with such a sentence as the worshipful magistrates have awarded? Marry, I trow not!” These women speak as though they have never sinned in their lives and don’t consider an option to reform her. These women’s “utopian” society is comprised of conformists that harshly exile those who don’t conform. The women are not the only ones; Bellingham is one of the powerful men of the town who lives well beyond how Puritans are suppose to live. The criticism and hate towards Hester presents the town as extremely hypocritical because they pursue harsh punishment for Hester while breaking their own rules. Hester finds herself secluded from the town and living in the forest with her daughter. The solitude of the forest is seen to the Puritans as punishment, but really, Hester is able to find her true self there. She not only finds herself, but also finds the unfortunate truth of the Puritan town that the others are blind to; the hypocrisy, the faults, and true sins that plague the people of the society. They hope to create a place that, from an outside perspective, is perfect and that may be true, but the citizens within the town are blind to the strict laws of their society that force upon them a marginalized