Puritanism holds a tight grip on the early settlements of New England as its reason for foundation and source of sustenance. Through the development of a theocracy surrounding this religious sect, a strict way of life, ideals, and the societal norm is set in every puritan community such as that in mid-seventeenth century Boston, Massachusetts. All individuals must sternly conduct themselves or expect scornful, sometimes extreme, punishments for any action considered sinful by the faith. Many puritans of this community, such as those described by Nathaniel Hawthorne, trigger a chain reaction of sinful disobedience that greatly defies the moral standards of an entire society. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne, Reverend
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She leaves the prison chamber already stamped with her mark of disgraceful sin which immediately begins seven years of contempt she faces from the entire settlement. As Hester is displayed upon the market-place scaffold for public and religious shame, her infant, the product of her sin, provides the evidence and reason for her defamation. She further sins as she denies to expose her fellow perpetrator of adultery, retorting “I will not speak! … And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one” (Hawthorne 64), to the secretive minister. The image of Hester Prynne, branded with the scarlet letter, becomes synonymous with that of sin and thus, the narrator states “She would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point…they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion” (Hawthorne 73). Hester Prynne can be further categorized as a sinner by her defiant, solitary repentance and continued silence in the details of the commission of her sin which she never confesses herself. It is known to all that she did not lust alone and her partner is yet to be revealed, suffering his sin through internal remorse and …show more content…
Chillingworth’s sin is of evil, not passion, and therefore, Dimmesdale and Prynne believe that his sin is the greater disobedience and betrayal of God than their adultery. He explicitly states in the beginning of the story to Hester Prynne in the prison chamber that “I shall seek this man…I shall see him tremble” (Hawthorne 70), to Hester’s denial to expose Dimmesdale. Roger Chillingworth darkens as a more vile character as the story progresses in his deliberate attempt to befriend the minister and intentionally torture him from his inner social circle. A more puritan-like view of Chillingworth’s crimes is that which portrays his greatest evil as working for the Devil and intervening in the justice to be served directly by God. Dimmesdale, now aware of Chillingworth’s true intentions, condemns him and argues “Let Him do with me as, in His justice and wisdom, He shall see good. But who art thou, that meddles in this matter? – that darest thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?” (Hawthorne 124). More simply, this man takes it into his own hand to deliver his own justice where he has no business interfering. All three are sinners and each receives their own consequences, punishments, and possibly redemption in time from their
She leaves the prison chamber already stamped with her mark of disgraceful sin which immediately begins seven years of contempt she faces from the entire settlement. As Hester is displayed upon the market-place scaffold for public and religious shame, her infant, the product of her sin, provides the evidence and reason for her defamation. She further sins as she denies to expose her fellow perpetrator of adultery, retorting “I will not speak! … And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one” (Hawthorne 64), to the secretive minister. The image of Hester Prynne, branded with the scarlet letter, becomes synonymous with that of sin and thus, the narrator states “She would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point…they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion” (Hawthorne 73). Hester Prynne can be further categorized as a sinner by her defiant, solitary repentance and continued silence in the details of the commission of her sin which she never confesses herself. It is known to all that she did not lust alone and her partner is yet to be revealed, suffering his sin through internal remorse and …show more content…
Chillingworth’s sin is of evil, not passion, and therefore, Dimmesdale and Prynne believe that his sin is the greater disobedience and betrayal of God than their adultery. He explicitly states in the beginning of the story to Hester Prynne in the prison chamber that “I shall seek this man…I shall see him tremble” (Hawthorne 70), to Hester’s denial to expose Dimmesdale. Roger Chillingworth darkens as a more vile character as the story progresses in his deliberate attempt to befriend the minister and intentionally torture him from his inner social circle. A more puritan-like view of Chillingworth’s crimes is that which portrays his greatest evil as working for the Devil and intervening in the justice to be served directly by God. Dimmesdale, now aware of Chillingworth’s true intentions, condemns him and argues “Let Him do with me as, in His justice and wisdom, He shall see good. But who art thou, that meddles in this matter? – that darest thrust himself between the sufferer and his God?” (Hawthorne 124). More simply, this man takes it into his own hand to deliver his own justice where he has no business interfering. All three are sinners and each receives their own consequences, punishments, and possibly redemption in time from their