Guilt In The Scarlet Letter Essay Research

Guilt In The Scarlet Letter Essay, Research Paper

Guilt in The Scarlet Letter

Generally, guilt would be expected to weaken one s character; however, in some cases, it can actually strengthen one s character. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester and Dimmesdale both experience guilt for their sin of adultery. An illegitimate child results from their sin, and since Hester s husband has been away for years, the members of the community know she is an adulteress, but they do not know who her partner in sin is. Hester takes the full blame for their sin, so over time she is able to conquer her guilt and gain back the community s respect. Dimmesdale goes on with his normal life, keeping his guilt to himself, and eventually he has to break down and confess. In contrast to Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne develops Hester to prove that guilt may strengthen one s character rather than weaken it.

Adultery is a sin that tends to result in a lot of pain and suffering for the small amount of happiness that goes with it. Hester and Dimmesdale realize this fact too late to prevent these consequences. Carpenter posits that according to the traditional moralists, Hester Prynne was truly a sinful woman. Although she sinned less than her hypocritical lover and her vengeful husband, she nevertheless sinned; and, from her sin, death and tragedy resulted (285). Hester and Dimmesdale could not predict that a pregnancy would come out of their sin, making it punishable by the community, and they could not anticipate the problems their sin could cause. They acted out of love, without thinking about the situation thoroughly. Although it [the love which unites Hester and Dimmesdale] is disastrous in that it wrecks all possibilities for happiness in their lives, it matures them morally and spiritually; under its influence they grow to a tragic height of character which they otherwise would probably not have reached (Sandeen 303). Hester is able to show her strength of character, and Dimmesdale breaks down, showing his weakness of character. Their adultery occurs because of their deep love for each other, and it is therefore unavoidable.

Since Hester is pregnant with an illegitimate child, it is impossible for anyone to deny that she has committed adultery. There is no way for the community to know who the father of her child is unless one of them comes forward, so Hester is obligated to take the complete denouncement for their sin. [It was Puritan asceticism] which fixed the scarlet letter to the breast of Hester Prynne, and which drove Arthur Dimmesdale into a life of cowardly and selfish meanness, that added tenfold disgrace and ignominy to his original crime (Loring 273). The community s treatment of Hester is harsh because of the Puritan belief system. They punish her for her sin, and since Dimmesdale is too cowardly to confess and ruin his life in the community, he just lets his guilt for allowing Hester to take all the blame grow privately. Hester has the opportunity to share her punishment with Dimmesdale, but she refuses to give his name, because she would prefer to suffer for both of them. All in all, Hester Prynne seems at once to share the community s judgment upon her, yet to accept herself with her past and her destiny intact (Wagenknecht 65). She realizes that she has sinned and does not look for a way out of her punishment. Hester accepts the community s judgment of her, because she knows it is true, and she goes on to repent for her sin and regain her place in society.

As the punishment for her sin, Hester is forced to wear a scarlet A on her chest to identify her as an adulteress, and she is basically ostracized from the community. She must accept this punishment, so she tries to at least keep her pride. Hester s story is one of penance, it is clear. She accepts the role as the outcast, the revulsion of society and the insults from even those unfortunates whom she succors, but she does this out of pride rather than humility (Warren 310). Hester is strong, so she is able to endure the criticism of the entire community. Even though she experiences guilt, she makes it work in her favor, and eventually she is strengthened by the experience. Hester suffers alone for her sin, but she uses her pride to get through it:

From the beginning of her exposure to public view, Hester bears her ordeal with haughty agony. Undeniably she flaunts the letter; yet Hawthorne seems to sympathize with the emotional understanding shown by the youngest matron outside the jail when she says that the pang of the letter will be always in Hester s heart. Alone in the world with the symbol and consequence of her sin, Hester dons an armor of pride that is also a mantle of suffering. (Martin 111)

The community tries to force her to go through life alone, but she is able to work through it. With Pearl standing by her, Hester is able to start over and get through her experience as an outcast from society.

Since Pearl is an illegitimate child, she is automatically made an outcast. She is completely innocent at birth, but she is still forced to suffer for her parents sin:

Little Pearl was a token more scarlet than the scarlet letter of her [Hester s] guilt; for the child, with a birth presided over by the most intense conflict of love and fear in the mother s heart, nourished at a breast swelling with anguish, and surrounded with burning marks of its mot