Nathanial Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter in the middle of the nineteenth century. It is a story that is set in the early New England colonies which were strongly influenced by the Puritan religion. In his attempt to show the real conditions of life in this earlier time, Hawthorne tried to include ideas and concepts that would have been familiar to the Puritans, but that also helped to illustrate the dark side of people even in his own time.
One instance where this is shown is in the instance where Hester could not just run off with Reverend Dimmesdale when she discovered she was pregnant. This treatment was particularly cruel since Hester had not had an option of who she married before she left England, her husband had not been seen or heard from in many years, and in any other case, she would have been free to marry the father of her child before the pregnancy became known. The book opens with Hester emerging from prison carrying her three-month-old fatherless baby, illustrating the dark side of human nature in the way that other people treat her, the way that she sees herself.
The birth of her baby made it obvious to the rest of her village that Hester had sinned greatly against God. To win her place in heaven, then, it was necessary for her to suffer the lowest status on earth to do penance for her past deeds, marked by the scarlet letter of her sin, which “had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself” (Chapter 2).
For both Hester and for the townspeople, the mere presence of this letter appearing this one time on her dress is enough to mark her as something different from the rest of them and secluded. Because she can leave the village (there is nowhere else for her to go), she will forever be excluded and alone. Even though the letter is elaborately decorated, it is a badge of shame that, as one spectator noted, “not a stitch in that embroidered letter but she has felt it in her heart” (Chapter 2).
By the time she steps out of the prison, Hester has already felt the sting of her shame enter into her soul and knows that she will never escape from it. Even if she is not forced to actually wear the letter, the baby that she carries will always be a reminder and the people will never forget this unusual occurrence. The darker side of human nature is revealed in this because people will not forget something bad that they know about another person and will continue to hold it against them for the rest of their life no matter how good they are in the future.
For some people, this profound exclusion within society is not enough punishment, though. The women watching Hester come out of the prison talk about how she is receiving a very light punishment in being forced to wear the letter and to stand on public display. One woman insists that the letter should not be a removable mark on her gown, but instead a mark in her skin. “The magistrates are God-fearing gentlemen, but merciful overmuch … At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead” (Chapter 2).
While another woman attempts to convince the others that Hester’s mark is quite deep enough, another woman quiets her with the remark that even a brand in the skin is not enough. “What do we talk of marks and brands, whether on the bodice of her gown or the flesh of her forehead? … This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die; Is there not law for it? Truly there is, both in the Scripture and the statute-book” (Chapter 2). Although the men around them seem to feel the women are being overly harsh, Hester’s punishment is not complete with a jail sentence or the probationary term of life under the scarlet letter.
She is also required to stand on public display for a certain amount of time under the silent and accusing glares of the townspeople. This aspect of the scene illustrates how the darker side of human nature will always want to give greater physical punishment as a means of guaranteeing that the individual suffers. Although Hester’s punishment is long-term and severe, the women want it to be greater because they want to see her squirm and Hester continues to hold her head high.
As if being imprisoned and sentenced to appear wearing the red letter even this one time isn’t enough punishment, Hester is then questioned by the frightening black figures of the town leaders. She’s offered a chance to get rid of her scarlet letter if she will name the father of her baby, but Hester has already been damaged beyond repair. She tells Reverend Dimmesdale that he will never be able to remove the letter: “It is too deeply branded.
Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony as well as mine!” (Chapter 3). Only later does the cruelty of this scene become clear as the reader understands that Dimmesdale is the father of the baby. If he had truly wished to save Hester from the isolation and harsh punishment of her neighbors, he could have done so long before this. That he hasn’t illustrated to Hester that his love for her is not sufficient to carry them through any future difficulties.
Despite the love they supposedly felt for each other, Reverend Dimmesdale could not be seen to be associating himself with Hester after Pearl was born because she was a fallen woman and he was the highest moral authority in the village. They came from opposite ends of the social spectrum, one representing extreme sin and the other representing ultimate righteousness. It is interesting to compare Hester’s strengths as a sinner to Dimmesdale’s weaknesses as a pillar of moral character and righteousness. “Notwithstanding his high native gifts and scholar-like attainments, there was an air about this young minister – an apprehensive, a startled, a half-frightened look – as of a being who felt himself quite astray, and at a loss in the pathway of human existence, and could only be at ease in some seclusion of his own” (Chapter 3).
The reason for this appearance, of course, is because he was ‘quite astray’ from what he preached to the rest of the community. This reveals the dark side of human nature as a man becomes a coward in the face of his own challenges. Dimmesdale does suffer a great deal of punishment throughout the remainder of his life because of his sin with Hester Prynne, but it is carried out almost entirely in secret and is only brought to public awareness as he dies. Instead of standing up for her, Dimmesdale allows himself to remain hidden.
Throughout this scene of Hester’s returning to society from the darkness of the prison, Hawthorne indicates there are many levels to the dark side of human nature. There is the cultural element that people will never forget something bad that someone did and will manage to hold it against them forever. There is also the element that people want to watch ‘bad’ people suffer horrendously for their deeds and that psychological punishment is somehow not considered to be sufficient. Finally, there is the element of cowardice that would enable one person to allow another person to suffer tremendous isolation and punishment rather than stand up for them as would be right. It is because of this dark side of human nature that the story is possible at all.
Works Cited
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Alfred P. Knopf, 1992.