Themes In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter addresses numerous themes. It is a commentary on punishment, on society, on religion, on passion, on love, on revenge. These are just a few examples of the vast array of topics that the scarlet letter addresses, whether Hawthorne was aware of them or not. While he does use some traditional methods to convey his themes, his style of writing is particularly unique, in that Hawthorne uses the physical appearances and mental states of his characters to detail certain themes. Some of the largest and most blatant examples of themes he addresses in this manner are those of punishment and the acceptance or rejection of it, the guilt and redemption of sin, and the struggle between good and evil. The first major …show more content…
Dimmesdale. Arguably, the main story of the novel is his story and his struggle with his sin and the guilt of letting hester take the fall without being by her side. Clearly, being a Reverend and having this secret to which he is unable to confess takes a toll on his weak and fragile psyche. Hawthorne frequently refers to his disease and how “his intellectual gifts, his moral perceptions, his power of experiencing and communicating emotion, were kept in a state of preternatural activity by the prick and anguish of his daily life” (Hawthorne 212). His suffering strengthened his mind, but it also weakened his body. All of this intellectual and spiritual prowess he gained was gained “while thus suffering under bodily disease” (Hawthorne 212). One of the main story arcs, the conflict between Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, is brought about by the minister’s bodily weakness and his ailing health. Dimmesdale, however, is not just used as an embodiment of guilt but of redemption as well. When Dimmesdale confesses, Pearl, “with her birdlike motion, [flies] to him and [clasps] her arms around his knees” (Hawthorne 376). Before Pearl would not accept the minister, and goes so far as to wash off the the minister’s kiss in the brook. This instance, however, is a symbol of redemption. When the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale accepts his sin, and subsequently Pearl as the …show more content…
Chillingworth is an obvious example of evil, the darkness, and of the manifestations of these traits in society. His appearance at the start of the novel is described as possessing a “thin visage and [a] slight deformity of the figure” ( Hawthorne 92). Here his appearance is not so harsh. As the book progresses, however, “Roger Chillingworth’s aspect had undergone a remarkable change while he had dwelt in town, and especially since his abode with Mr. Dimmesdale” (Hawthorne 190). His face grew more and more evi as time went on and many people thought him to be the devil. Roger chillingworth’s appearance shows the evil in his soul and the evil he forces on dimmesdale. He embodies, physically and psychologically, the evil that Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl all must fight against. Additionally, in his torture and punishment of Dimmesdale, he embodies the punishment and condemnation Puritan society so harshly clings to, and as such, he represents the hypocrisy of Puritan society, another major theme of the novel. Nathaniel Hawthorne addresses many themes in his novel, either intentionally or simply as a result of how the story pans out. This is not unique to him. What is unique to him is how he conveys these themes. He uses characters’ physically and emotional states in a way few authors can. He uses the link between the two to