Transcendental Themes In The Scarlet Letter

The novel The Scarlet Letter, contains a plethora of themes all of which were impacted by Hawthorne’s own transcendental beliefs and attitudes. This article reflects on many major themes that were seen throughout the novel such as: sin, morality, Puritanism, society vs. individual, etc., but most importantly how transcendentalism philosophy affects the themes. The article discusses specifically how religious law and societal law failed in their efforts to reveal the truth behind the true identities of both Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. This allows the novel to become a story of transcendental fortitude in which one of the main characters, Hester, is forced to become an outcast and fend for herself and her daughter. The article also mentions …show more content…
I found this statement interesting because I did not view the novel using this perspective. Once I read this statement I had an epiphany and I tried to go back and run through the story looking for spots where this theme was most prevalent. The scaffold scenes were the ones that came to mind the quickest, especially when Dimmesdale so blatantly rejected Hester and Pearl when they asked him if he would stand with them on the scaffold next time and he response was no. It’s heart breaking to think how disrespected and lowly women in the 1800s were treated. It is inspiring how well Hester dealt with all the discrimination and hate that everyone in her town was directing towards her and her alone, since there was no one else courageous enough to take credit for the sin with her. She was strong and loyal to herself and her values and because of that I do believe that Hester is a great model for the feminist party, not only because how she was treated, but because of how she handled herself. Overall I thought that the article made a lot of very sound points, but I really enjoyed reading this statement especially because it made me view the book in a whole new light because it was from another person’s point of