The Scarlet Letter Public Dichotomy

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne employs a wide variety of dichotomies, but arguably the most important example--the classic “public versus private” dichotomy--is a reoccurring theme, commanding the reader’s attention amidst a colorful amalgamation of appealing messages and thematic concerns. As the story documents the characters’ behavior as public values, regarding social and cultural ideas, and private tendencies shape it, Hawthorne indicates that a balance or agreement of the force of personal desire and the force of community is not always possible, especially in the strict Puritan society residing in Boston, in 1642. And, according to the narrator, it is more important for one to satisfy personal inclinations, than to conform …show more content…
However, Rousseau’s concept of “general will” allows man a method for living within a social organization while maintaining his freedom. If each individual in the society comprehends that they should hold general will, or the communal interests, above the inclinations of the singular member, then the society can be free, according to Rousseau’s thinking. Obviously, there are numerous goals that the Puritan community in The Scarlet Letter desires to work towards, but it is also evident that each individual member of this community has their own private desires that they prioritize above those of the community. The inhabitants of Boston in 1642 are not free--those in power, and the rules that strictly govern each citizen, imprison them. Even in death, Hester is not free from the oppressive power of the Puritan community. In the last chapter, the narrator reveals the epitaph inscribed upon Hester’s gravestone--“On a field, sable, the letter A, gules,” (150). Instead of a dignified or personal message, the community marks Hester’s grave with the scarlet letter, and heirs of the Puritans who prosecuted Hester will remember her only as the wearer of the letter. Then, in