Kim Rolin
English 1B
Knapp
The Puritan Society and The Scarlet Letter
Puritan beliefs have had a strong influence on the roots of early American History. Nathaniel Hawthorne briefly touched upon the lives of puritans in his novel, The Scarlet Letter, and the trials and tribulations they shared in their faith. Their strict set of principles and controlling faith has most famously led the puritans to be tied to persecution. Puritan morals set a guideline to all of those in their faith, and those who crossed the line faces humility, scorn, punishment, isolation, and even death. All of the restrictions imposed on this group of people foreshadows the horrific events taken in early American history. It is important to realize what these restrictions were and how they affect the characters in Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter.
As The University of Notre Dame states, Puritans believed in “conversion not repression.” Those outside of the puritan faith were acceptable, but unless converting to the Puritan faith was wanted by these outsiders, many of them had to leave the Puritan colonies. The Puritans were formed in America. Those who dissented the Church of England created a new faith that could only be acceptable away from the church and its leaders. The puritans believed the Church of England was a “product of political struggles and man made doctrines” (University of Notre Dame). They decided to immigrate over to America, where they could practice their pure belief in God. The Puritans believed in predestination, the idea that God had a destined plan for every person, usually before they are born. Work ethic was an important part of puritan society, as puritans believed that work was an honor to God and that work could be a reward to get into Heaven.
It was a strict lifestyle that kept most Puritans grounded in their faith. However, with a no forgiveness policy, extreme precautions and consequences were taught and given to those who were seen to disgrace their faith. Hester, the protagonist of Hawthorne’s novel, receives an “A” for her sin of adultery and is scorned for the duration of her life for her sin. In 1692, the Salem witch trials took place. A series of trials that took place in Salem, Massachusetts by the Puritans. A mass hysteria swept over Puritan society, accusations and disapproved behavior led many women to be judged on whether or not they were witches. Although men were sent to the gallows as well, it was mostly women being accused of being coerced by the devil. Nineteen were hung, one man was pressed to death, and another four died in prison (University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law). At least, that was what was recorded.
In Puritan society, men were the most elite figures. Patriarchy played a heavy hand in the Puritan lifestyle. Women were wives and mothers, and without the leadership of a man, women were expected to stray from their pure belief in God. Education was a very important cornerstone of the Puritan faith. In fact, Puritans established the first formal school in America, the Roxbury Latin school in 1635(University of Notre Dame). Four years later, Harvard college was established by the Puritans as well. Women were seen almost as a reward to men, but certainly not treated as one. The professions of women in puritan society consisted of mother, wife, and especially if you were a widow, a teacher. These were the only honorable positions for women to upkeep, and if they did not fulfill these duties to the highest expectations, usually from men, they were scorned. Hester, who was abandoned by her husband for seven years, clearly had an affair with the birth of her daughter Pearl. Though her affair remains unknown by the public of Salem, Hester has failed her role as a woman in puritan society. Overlooked however is her husband, known in the novel as Chillingsworth. He abandoned his wife in a different country for seven years, and yet there are no repercussions given towards his behavior.
Hawthorne expands upon the puritan system and its workings in The Scarlet Letter. Hester’s sin of committing adultery affects every aspect of her life. Just as she is isolated by the townspeople, her isolation becomes physical. Hester lives on the outskirts of the village, apart from everyone else. Even her daughter Pearl seems to be isolated by her Mother’s sin. For example, Pearl has become so accustomed to seeing the A on her mother, that when it is not upon Hester, Pearl demands the sin to be replaced. “Pearl, without responding in any matter to these honey-sweet expressions, remained on the other side of the brook. Now she fixed her bright, wild eyes on her mother, now on the minister, and now included them both in the same glance; as if to detect and explain to herself the relation which they bore to one another… At length, assuming a singular air of authority, Pearl stretched out her hand with the small forefinger extended, and pointing evidently towards her mother’s breast. And beneath, in the mirror of the brook, there was the flower-girdled and sunny image of little Pearl, pointing her small forefinger too” (Hawthorne 142). To pearl, the sin defines her mother. Hester can no longer be a person in this society, without her sin defining her.
Yet sins were cast out for everything. The Scarlet Letter gives a preface to the life and times of a displaced member of Puritan society; Hester. Notable “sins” in the Puritan society were punished, but what Hawthorne foreshadows in the relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale is just an insight to how far the Puritan society goes with defining sin. Soon accusations were being treated as fact, rumors were undeniable, and the townspeople of Salem turned on each other in such a tyrannical setting. With a society bound so tightly, freedom came with a price. It was as easy to disguise your sin or wrong doing by blaming it on another person. Eventually, seemingly harmless complaints became the go to excuse for these oppressed people. A neighbor with more land may be ratted out by another neighbor for being a witch. Once punished, that underprivileged neighbor becomes a better member of society. Punishment escalated quickly, from wearing a letter that represented your sin, to death by accusation.
Hester represented Puritan punishment in its early stages. Though Hester committed a sin, and was out casted from society, she was still an active member; whether it was embroidering gloves for the governor, or helping the poor and disabled. The time after Hester, which included the Salem Witch Trials, showed the progression of Puritan restraint and control in their society. The actions that Hester partook in bore her the sin of adultery and the letter A. With Puritanism being Such a strict and morally righteous society, all of the characters in Hawthorne’s novel played a part in Hester’s sin. Sin did not define one person and as seen in The Scarlet Letter, an individual sin can engulf an entire society. Hester was accused of adultery, and in turn had to wear a letter A for the rest of her life. Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover and Pearl’s father, was guilty of the same sin, yet was perceived innocent by the townspeople for his job as the reverend. Mistress Hibbons was expected to know all along about the affair and who was involved, yet never revealed anything to the public. Hester’s display of her sin was seen as a warning to other townspeople, a kind of precaution that repercussion would find and follow sinners.
Puritan society had many restrictions on puritans. In the beginning, these restrictions were not seen as restrictions, but as tools to purify their lives. As soon as their lives started to be threatened however, Puritan society went from a stable establishment to a prime example of chaos. The sets of rules Puritan society imposed on people were punishable if broken. Punishment was a factor of Puritan order, and in Hester’s case, her punishment was a public display of her sin. Punishment mixed with accusations would eventually turn sour, as many people were later hung for their sins of being “witches and wizards.” Hawthorne introduced Hester’s sin, which in modern light, isn’t considered to be a sin at all. Adultery is frowned upon, but modern society does not take the same measures as Puritan society did to scorn adulterers. Personal freedom was intervened in Puritan life; for the lives of individuals were primarily being lived for God and no one else One could argue that Puritan ideologies and restrictions in fact led Hester to commit her sin. Hester was allowed to only marry once to a man in Puritan society. With her husband presumed dead and gone for seven years of her life, the rest of Hester’s life would comprise of being a widow. If perhaps she could have re-married, her sin would have never been a sin, but since Puritan society knew of her past, the restriction was applied to Hester.
In conclusion, Hawthorne shines a light on Puritan society throughout his novel. With Hawthorne’s grandfather being a judge in the Salem Witch Trials, the history of Puritan society was indeed Hawthorne’s family history as well. Understanding the background of the Puritan faith and society is crucial to understanding the severity of Hester’s sin as well as the Salem Witch Trials. The Puritan lifestyle did not match up with Hester’s lifestyle, and so followed her letter, her bastard daughter, and her secret affair. Soon the Puritan lifestyle would not agree with nineteen men and women, and result in a dark piece of American history. Hester is an individual example of the tyranny Puritan life had over her. Through experiencing the scorn Hester receives and her own internal struggle, Hawthorne portrays how the restrictions of Puritan society ripped apart one woman, and in turn, would continue to rip apart an entire town.
Annotated Bibliography
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York, London: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1988 Third Edition. Print.
Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is the base of this essay. It introduced the story of Hester Prynne and her struggle living in Puritan society. Hawthorne’s grandfather was a judge in the Salem Witch Trials as explained in the preface to the novel, The Custom House. The novel reviews a woman who committed the sin of adultery, and must wear a letter A on her chest to publicize her sin, and to humiliate her. The punishment leads in to a whirlwind secret romance, shame, and emotional turmoil for Hester. The punishment takes place in a Puritan society, where the severity of her sin is analyzed through Puritan history that Hawthorne had a tie to himself.
Famous American Trials: Salem Witchcraft Trials 1692. University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/salem/salem.htm
This web page provided by the University of Missouri-Kansas City is a recollection of all things, people, and events held in and around the Salem witch trials. The Salem witch trials were a series of trials held against accused individuals in Salem, Massachusetts in 1692. Since Hawthorne’s novel, the basis for this research paper, was located in Salem Massachusetts and was a prologue to the trials, I found the information on the trials extremely insightful to the Puritan society that both the novel and the era encompassed.
University of Notre Dame. “Puritans.” University of Notre Dame. Web. 2 Dec. 2010. http://www.nd.edu/~rbarger/www7/puritans.html
