‫بسمه تعالي‬

‫ادبیات آمریکا‬

‫دانشکده علوم انساني و اجتماعي‪ /‬علوم اقتصادی و اداری‬

‫ادبیات آمریکا‬
‫)‪(The Scarlet Letter‬‬

‫استاد‪:‬‬
‫فرشید نوروزی روشناوند‬

‫بابلسر – دانشکده علوم انسانی و اجتماعی‪ /‬علوم اقتصادی و اداری ‪1166 418 2165 -‬‬
 as Defensein
Humor
Ironic
THE SCARLET LETTER
NICHOLAS CANADAY, JR.
Althoughthe multipleirony of cir-
cumstanceproceedingfrom secret sin
and centralto The Scarlet Letter has
oftenbeen noted,certainotherexamples
of Hawthorne'sironic humorhave not
receivedsufficientattention.Very infre-
quent are these flecksof ironichumor
that relieve the atmosphereof gloom,
but when such humorappears it serves
as Hawthorne'sdefenseagainst a com-
mitmentto harshPuritanism.The irony
permitshim to expresshis insightinto
the problemsof sin, guilt,and punish-
mentwithoutsacrificingtheircomplexi-
ties. Togetherwith the ironiesof char-
acter and circumstance, the symbolism,
and the characteristic
multipleexplana-
tionsaccompanying crucialevents,ironic
humormakespossiblethe moralambigu-
ityofthenovel.
The openingof the book, presenting
dramaticallya sinfulwoman about to
be punished,picturesthe harshPuritan
measures against adulterythat are a
matterof historicalrecord.Hawthorne's
attitudetowardthis severityhas a cen-
tral bearingon the themeof the novel,
and he employs ironic humor as a
vehicle for showing this attitude.As
Hesteris led towardthe platform of the
pillory,Puritanhumanityassembled to
view the spectacleis in partcharacteriz-
ed by the remarksof vicious female
spectators.One woman notes that the
"brazen huzzy" has so workedwith the
needle the letteron her breast as to
"laugh in the faces of our godlymagis-
trates,and makea prideout ofwhatthey
... meant for a punishment."'A sec-
page seventeen
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ond murmursa desire to strip Hester's
rich gown fromher shouldersand give
her a rag of flannelfor the letter.The
magistratesof course conceal theirper-
sonal feelingsbeneatha maskof official-
ism; yet these voices fromthe crowd
characterize the society that presents
such a spectacle.Juxtaposedupon these
speechesis the beadle's cry:
"Make way, good people, make
way in the King's name! . . . A
blessingon the righteousColonyof
Massachusetts,where iniquity is
dragged out into the sunshinel"
(p. 75)
It is the ironic circumstanceof the
beadle's cry, using the epithets"good"
and "righteous"to apply to the people
and colonyjust afterthe vicious,even
sadistic,impulseshave been revealed,
thatprovidesan insightintoHawthorne's
attitude.Specifically,
he is not question-
ing fundamental tenetsof Puritantheo-
logy, but is underscoringcertain un-
fortunate human failings: harshness,
cruelty,and extremeself-righteousness.
An unnamedtownsmanprovidesan-
otherexampleof ironichumorwhen he
greets the newly-arrived Chillingworth,
who is gazingat the womanon the plat-
form. The townsmanremarksthat it
must gladdenthe heart of the stranger,
having just returnedfromthe savagery
of the wilderness,to findhimself"in a
land whereiniquityis searchedout, and
punished . . . as here in our godly
New England" (p. 83). He continues:
"Now, good Sir, our Massachusetts
 magistracy. . .have not been bold along by her side! Come, therefore,
to put in forcethe extremity of our and let us fling mud at them!"
righteous law against her. The (p. 128)
penaltythereofis death.But in their Here the ironic humor proceeds from
greatmercyand tenderness ofheart, the incongruity betweensubject matter
theyhave doomed MistressPrynne and expression.The stately,formalsen-
to standonlya space of threehours tences and the pompous diction em-
on the platformof the pillory,and phasize by contrast the mud-slinging
thenand thereafter, forthe remain-
impulseof the Puritantemperament.
der of her naturallife, to wear a
mark of shame upon her bosom." In the somberconcludingchapterof
the book Hawthornestrikesa spark of
(p. 84)
humor in sumarizingPearl's fortunes.
The heavy irony,grim humor indeed, She is now the richestheiress in the
about mercy and tendernessis based New Worldas a resultof RogerChilling-
upon the contrastbetween "savagery" worth's bequest to her. The elf-child,
in the wildernessand "righteousness" in the demonoffspring now possessesgreat
"godly" New England. Hawthornethus wealth,and, as Hawthornewrites,"not
pointsto the severity of the systemwith- wroughta
improbablythis circumstance
out condoningthe crime. verymaterialchangein the public esti-
Only three other examples of this mation"(p. 308). This humorous,ironic
techniqueare found in the novel, and, understatementshows sympathy for
since all have referenceto the Puritan Pearl, but at the same time containsa
childrenand to Pearl, the ironichumor wryverbal thrustat Americanmorality.
is somewhatlighterthan is appropriate Hawthorne'sgospel is clearly not the
in the marketplacescene. Perceivingthe "gospelof wealth."
humor in the incongruity between the Ironic humoris rare in The Scarlet
innate naturalnessof the child and the Letter,a book with a grimatmosphere
grim Puritan form into which he is singularlyunrelieved,but the device
molded, Hawthorneobserves the chil- assumes an importancebecause it is
dren "playingat going to church,per- used with matterthat is of thematic
chance; or at scourgingQuakers;or tak- significance.Unwillingto commithim-
ing scalps in a sham-fight with the In- self to a condemnation of Puritantheol-
dians; or scaringone anotherwithfreaks ogy and feeling ever-consciousof sin
of imitativewitchcraft"(p. 119). It is and guilt,Hawthorneuses ironichumor
humorousto observethe adult worldin as a defenseagainstuncriticalacceptance
miniature,but at the same time Haw- of the Puritannotionof justice and the
thorne'sdisapprovalof the moresof this unrelenting if not vindictiveretribution
adult world is revealed.On anotheroc- for sin exacted by Puritanmagistrates
casion the Puritan children--"sombre and divines.
littleurchins"(p. 127)--observeHester Louisiana State University
and Pearl, and one of them speaks like
his elders:
"Behold, verily, there is the NOTE
woman of the scarlet letter; and, INathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter,
of a truth,moreover,there is the "Riverside Edition," (Boston, 1883), p. 74.
likenessof the scarletletterrunning All citations are from this edition.

page eighteen

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 Hester'sSkepticism,
Hawthorne'sFaith;or,
WhatDoes a WomanDoubt?
the AmericanRomanceTradition
Instituting

T
EmilyMillerBudick

HROUGHOUTThe ScarletLetterone particular question gen-

erates the action. It is the question on everyone'slips, spoken
and unspoken, from beginning to end. It is the question
asked the moment Hester steps onto the scaffold in the public
square. It is reformulatedin various ways not only by the different
charactersin the novel but also by the reader. Whose child is Pearl?
This question does not express some trivial curiosityconcerning
Pearl's paternity.It also means, what kind of being is Pearl? From
what immortalconstitution,divine or demonic, does she derive? As
such, it representsexactlythat inquiryPuritan societymust conduct
in order to preserve its sense of itselfas a chosen people, a new
Israel reincarnatedin a New England. The issue of Pearl's paternity,
in other words,is as much a historical,theological,and philosophical
concern as it is a moral and social one. It expresses the Puritans'
desire to discover a single line of descent, moving directlyfrom
God, the Father, through the patriarchs of ancient Israel, to the
(male) leaders of the American entity.The illegitimate(female) child
threatensthathistoricalcontinuity.Interruptingthe lines of spiritual
genealogy Pearl calls into question the principle of visible sanctity
on which the American nation had founded itself.The question,
then, Whose child is Pearl? exposes a problem of historical con-
sciousness inextricablylinked to an issue in skepticism,where by
skepticismI mean the doubt whether one can prove either one's
own existence or that of the world, or move fromone proof to the
other. Through its federal theology and its principle of visible
sanctity,the Puritan communitytried to resolve any and all doubts
concerning itself and the realityof its embodiment of the divine.
By tracing in its historya clear-cut, unambiguous line of divine
inheritance,it attemptedto confirma relationshipbetween physical
evidences and spiritual realities.
New Literary
History,1991, 22: 199-211

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Rereading Women: Hester
Prynne-ism and the Scarlet
Mob of Scribblers
Jamie Barlowe

Just think: we live in a culture in whichScarlett O'Hara and

The Scarlet Letter compete with the Bible and The Exorcist for
popularity... Wherethe Lady in the Red Dress ... is all danger
and unresolvablemystery.... WhereHester Prynne [Anita Hill
has the uppity self-promotingaudacity to try to recast herself
as "the Rosa Parks of sexual harassment,"and whereReverend
Dimmesdale [Clarence Thomas]breaks with his faith and martyrs
himself, giving birth to the world'sfirst case of "reversesexual
harassment." Where "witch-hunt"is used to mean not a posse
for but by; where "high-techlynching"means a Broad with a
Bullhorn.

Patricia J. Williams, "A Rare Case Study of

Muleheadednessand Men"

I could not keep silent.

Anita Hill, Senate Hearings for Clarence Thomas, Oct. 11, 1991

1. RereadingWomen: Radicalism

For more than 140 years, readers and critics have examined
Nathaniel Hawthorne's radicalism. Those who find him most
radical point to his irony and his romancer's love of "deception
and concealment" (Bell, "Arts"41), even to his protodeconstruc-
tivism (Lloyd-Smith)-or they claim as evidence Hester Prynne's
stoic dignity, antinomian rebelliousness, nonconformity, or her
"powerfully transgressive free-thinking" and "powers of moral
reimagination" (Brodhead, School 43). Hawthorne's subversive

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 198
Theprimary way in
whichmale mainstream
Hawthorne scholarship
has Otheredwomenhas
been in its almost total
disregardof women's
scholarshipon The
Scarlet Letter.
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Rereading Women
side, as described by Michael Davitt Bell, is part of the ro-
mancer's identity as one who is "in opposition to the most basic
norms of society: reason, fact, and 'real' business" ("Arts" 37);
in fact, Bell argues that Hawthorne goes further than this kind
of societal opposition, rejecting even Jeffersonian "reason and
fact, plain and unadorned" (qtd. in "Arts" 39). Bell thus agrees
with Nina Baym's claim that "the romance originated as an ex-
pression of [Hawthorne's]own feelings of social defiance and dis-
content .. ." (Shape 146). Baym even names Hawthorne a femi-
nist ("Thwarted Nature").'
Many of these critics who argue for Hawthorne's radicalism
see themselves among those who oppose the received beliefs of
the status quo (the "acquired knowledge" that Melville too re-
jected). Some call themselves the "New Americanists" (see
Pease, "New"). For Jonathan Arac, Hawthorne's radicalism is
apparent and relevant because of the radical interpreter:"... we
must value the hope he offers in his openness to our interpretive
energies but must recognize his own limitations within a 'frame-
work' " (259).
Despite their professed radicalism, these critics of The Scar-
let Letter have remained conservative in their relationship to
women-both to Hester Prynne as a metaphoric representation
of a white American woman and to women scholars and critics
who have also written about this text. These male scholars and
critics have continued the limiting, sexist cultural practice of
Othering anyone whose difference calls tradition into question.
The primary way in which male mainstream Hawthorne scholar-
ship has Othered women has been in its almost total disregard
of women's scholarship on The Scarlet Letter.
A decade ago Joyce Warren argued that "[l]ike the legend-
ary Narcissus, the American individualist focused on his own
image to such an extent that he could grant little reality to oth-
ers" (4), and more recently Pam Morris has theorized in support
of this insight: ". .. by seeing women as other to themselves, as
not-men, men can read into 'femininity' whatever qualities are
needed to construct their sense of the masculine. So, a mythi-
cized 'Woman' becomes the imaginary location of male dreams,
idealizations, and fears: throughout different cultures 'feminin-
ity' is found to represent nature, beauty, purity and goodness,
but also evil, enchantment, corruption and death" (14). Men's
self-legitimizing, yet un(self)conscious, cultural tendency toward
Othering, I argue, has determined the male critical relationships
both to Hester Prynne and to women's scholarship. In this essay
I draw on a particular, pervasive way of Othering women-the
decidedly nonradical, deeply mythicized, cultural economy of
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
 AmericanLiteraryHistory 199

what I call "Hester Prynne-ism"-to contextualize my rereading

of some of the practices and conclusions of mainstream literary
scholarship on The Scarlet Letter, which has replicated rather
than resisted the culture's relationship to women.
As Julia Kristeva and others have argued, texts and cultural
economies (like Hester Prynne-ism) contain "the excess of mean-
ing that constantly threatens to disrupt the boundaries of these
defined identities and expose the fiction of any imposed 'truth' "
(Morris 138). Recontextualizations and rereadings can help to
reveal these fictions, which are based in the status quo's depen-
dence on received beliefs about women, running the gamut from
Hester Prynne-ism to fear-based perceptions that women are
taking over the academy, when, in fact, the prominence of a few
women has substituted for, rather than enhanced, women's posi-
tions in the academy.2
This essay's concern for Hawthorne's novel, its body of
scholarship, and academic practices helps to reveal the Hester
Prynne-ism imposed on academic women. Such a rereading
demonstrates that exclusion and Othering are part of the beliefs
which influence, even determine, our literary scholarship. Unless
our institutions and their practices are thus reread in various
contexts that question rather than blindly support them, then
whatever progress or change occurs will be as conditional and
easily erasable as the scholarship of generations of women has
been.

2. RereadingWomen: Hester Prynne-ism

The Scarlet Letter has often been taught as a moral text in

high school and university classrooms in the US, with Hester
Prynne as the scarlet (white) woman and adulteress who serves
as a cultural warning to girls and women and therefore functions
as part of their social conditioning. Darrel Abel articulates the
warning when he moralizes about Hester's "moral inadequacy"
and "moral dereliction" (181, 187). Hester Prynne has also been
seen as an American heroine-self-punishing, maintaining the
separation of the private from the public, and suffering in silence.
Her few "noisy" moments-in the prison after her hours on the
scaffold and during her impassioned plea for Pearl at the gover-
nor's-are met, in the first case, with drugs (sinisterly adminis-
tered by Chillingworth) and, in the second case, with admon-
ishments about her moral responsibilities to Pearl. Her final
"noise"-in the forest-is appropriated by Dimmesdale and
used as energy for his last two performances (his sermon and

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200 RereadingWomen

confession)-an "almost vampirish transfer of energy" (Person

134).3
Yet in fact, fiction, criticism, and culture, no woman has
been viewed as more continuously desirable to white men than
one who, like Hester Prynne, is beautiful, strong, silent, self-
regulating, (hetero)sexual, and subversively sinful enough to
break the sexual codes with men who (like Dimmesdale) will also
break the codes, as long as they are not held publicly account-
able. This American relationship to and representation of the
"scarlet Woman"-as good and bad, as desirable because she is
physically beautiful and sexually transgressive but also in need
of warning, punishment, and instruction-has been translated
into various versions of Hester Prynne, as in, for example, even
the supposedly wholesome musical The Music Man:

I smile, I grin when the gal

With a touch of sin walks in.
I hope, I pray, for Hester
To win just one more "A."

Playboy articulates this male desire in one of the many cartoons

about Hester; this one foregrounds Hester's sinful nature as it
"depicts [Hester] at the head of a bevy of Puritan lasses": "Beam-
ing smugly and proudly, Hester sports an A+ on her bosom
while all her companions have just simple A's" (8). These allu-
sions appeared in the publication of the Nathaniel Hawthorne
society as if to show that Hawthorne's influence is alive and well.
However, a new film version of The Scarlet Letter (1995),
which stars Demi Moore, rewrites Hester Prynne-ism by exposing
sexual objectification and violence in its representation of the
Puritan community's fear of (and desire for) Hester, and of rape
and sexual abuse, including the process by which women were
accused of witchcraft and brutally interrogated and indicted.
Thus, in this case, it is not the film version or translation of Hes-
ter Prynne which reinscribes male desire, as so many films have,
but the reviews, which nostalgically cry out for the "real" Hester
of Hawthorne's text-the beautiful, but silent one. Most of the
critics focus on Moore's chest and body, oblivious to the film's
refusal to rehumiliate Hester Prynne.
This brief description of the pervasive context of Hester
Prynne-ism allows for a significant kind of answer to questions
about why women's scholarship on The Scarlet Letter has been so
disregarded. Mainstream scholarship has generally interpreted
Prynne as sexually transgressive and thus morally inadequate
and/or defeminized-"Some attribute had departed from her,

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 American Literary History 201

the permanence of which had been essential to keep her a

woman" (Hawthorne 174)-or as sexually transgressive and thus
desirable and/or politically radical. In this cultural and academic
confusion, which is related to received beliefs about and desire
for transgressive women, Hester Prynne continues to function
paradoxically as both a moralizing warning and radical model,
especially directed at women and feminists who choose not to
act fully in terms of their social conditioning and who practice
what is viewed by the culture and the academy as problematic
(even abhorrent), noisy politics.4

3. RereadingWomen:Mainstream Scholarship'sScarlet
Snub

Cultural and academic attitudes about women and prac-

tices that exclude women remain inadequately examined, and
when they are publicly discussed, the result is often a perpetua-
tion of the exclusion of women by maintaining the focus on the
intentions and desires of men (authors, critics, filmmakers, char-
acters, scholars, and mentors) rather than on the consequences
for the women or on women's analyses and narratives that de-
scribe those consequences (as, for example, my discussion of
Hester Prynne-ism attempts to do). Besides the kind of covert
but influential messages sent by Hester Prynne-ism, its most ob-
vious imposition can be seen in academic women's attempts to
enter the critical conversation about Hester Prynne. Mainstream
scholarship has assumed ownership of a territory where radical
inquiries made by the Other are shunned-where the Other, rep-
resented by Hester Prynne, is the object of the radical inquiry,
not a subject doing her own inquiry or, more dangerously, re-
sisting the inquiries already in place. The woman doing scholar-
ship has been expected to work within authoritarian, predeter-
mined, duplicitous notions of radicalism and cultural subversion
and in spite of the often degrading constructions of women's sex-
uality and subjectivities. Thus, when an academic woman writes
about Hester Prynne, she must battle the cultural and academic
attitudes that are the consequences of such definitions and for-
mations, externally and, perhaps, internally. Many women, then,
have either aligned themselves with Hester Prynne, negatively
critiqued her (and Hawthorne), or discussed their ambivalence
about both.5
The imposition of Hester Prynne-ism on academic women
has functioned in the same ways in which women's scholarship
on The Scarlet Letter has been Othered. One way has been the

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