Nielsen 1 Amber Nielsen Professor Hogge 10 March 2011 English 4520 Freedom From Penance Nathaniel Hawthornes The

Scarlet Letter explores different ways that redemption can be achieved through a Puritanical society. But there isnt much redemption going on in the romance. Hester Prynne, the heroine, pays the public price for her sin adultery as the laws of Puritanical Boston require her to do. After she pays the required penance for her, sin she makes no attempt to rejoin the community. Hester is happy to remain the outsider that she has become because of her sin. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, a town minister, never comes forward to pay the price that is demanded by society. As a result he remains a part of the community. Not only is he an accepted member of the community, he is one of the main and most respected members within the community. However, because few people know of his private sin, and the price has not been paid Dimmesdale becomes trapped by the guilt that his private sin is causing, so much so that it begins to weaken and kill him. Because Hesters sin has become public, she isnt expected to be a pious member of the community; this allows her to become free, whereas, as long as Dimmesdales sin remains a secret, he has to live a pious life, one he knows he is not worthy of living. And as a result he becomes trapped by his sin and the hypocritical life that he leads. In the eyes of the Puritan society, Hester Prynne has done penance for her sin, but she is not saved or one of the elect that will make it to Heaven. If she truly was one of the chosen to make it to heaven then she wouldnt have committed adultery. Because she paid the price for her crime of adultery, she is allowed to live in the community after she is released from prison, but

Nielsen 2 because she is not one of the elect she becomes an outsider. The scarlet letter that Hester constantly wears as a reminder of her sin also serves as a reminder that she is an outsider: so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of ordinary relations with humanity, and inclosing her in a sphere by herself(1381). As an outsider, whose sin is out in the open, Hester gains a measure of freedom, a freedom that Dimmesdale never achieves. Hester is free because, the town knows who and what she is: an adulterer. On the other hand Dimmesdale becomes trapped by his sin. He cannot openly acknowledge his private guilt without undermining his public position in the community(Hunt 29). So Dimmesdale remains silent about his sin and by doing this he becomes more aware of that sin and the accompanying guilt. Because it is not publicly known what he is, an adulterer, the townspeople ironically believe his powerful public sermons are a sign that he is a good manone of the elect that will be saved. These assertions by the town only drive Dimmesdale further in to despair, because they dont know what he is and take his powerful sermons for a sign that he is one of the elect; instead of recognizing that the sermons are an attempt to pay public penance for a private sin. When Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the forest, it is apparent that Hester has found freedom, even though she is still required to wear her letter which Dimmesdale conceals his sin. Dimmesdale asks Hester if she has found peace, Hester only answers by look smiling and looking at her letter. But when she asks Dimmesdale the same question, he replies, None nothing but despair!(1455). This conversation shows that Hester has been able to move on after what has happened because her sin was made public. She has found peace because she is not living a life that requires her to be pious while carrying the guilt of a private sin. Dimmesdale,

Nielsen 3 has done exactly that. Because Dimmesdale feigns the life a pious person, he is constantly reminded that he is guilty. From the peace that they talk of Hester has gained freedom. Because everyone knows her sin, Hester is placed on the outside, and as a result she finds freedom. She is free because she because after she is found guilty, the town doesnt expect much from her. She isnt expected to act like one of the chosen that will be saved; her willingness to commit adultery has shown that she isnt one of the chosen. For Dimmesdale it is different. He carries the burden of his sin, knowing that according to Puritan doctrine he is not one of the saved, but because his sin is a secret he must act like one of the saved. His position in the community demands it. No one, especially Puritans would want to be preached to by a soul that is damned. The burden of his guilt along with the hypocritical life that he leads traps Dimmesdale. Dimmesdales tells Hester: The judgment of God is on me answered the conscience stricken priest, It is too mighty for me to struggle with! Dimmesdale is trapped by the guilt of his un-penanced sin and the double life that it has caused him to lead. He knows that Gods judgment will be harsh on him because he is not one of the chosen and because he is guilty. However, Hesters reply shows the freedom that she found by having her sin made public: Heaven would show mercy, rejoined Hester, hadst thou but the strength to take advantage of it(1458). Here Hester shows the freedom that she has found by telling Dimmesdale that Heaven will offer mercy if he will confess and make public the sin that he is hiding. Even though Hester isnt one of the chosen, the no longer feels guilty for her sin because she isnt trying to hide it. And if Dimmesdale would come clean he would no longer have to carry his guilt and worry about the harsh judgment of God. In R. V. Youngs article Individualism and Community he states that about Dimmesdale: his seven years hypocritical concealment of his sinhis only recourse was

Nielsen 4 confession and the penance of death (36). Because Dimmesdale had been so trapped by his guilt and double life no earthly penance could have done justice, especially in the Puritan society. At the end of the novel when Dimmesdale does confess it would have been enough for him to serve a prison sentence and wear a scarlet letter as Hester had because, it was no longer the sin of adultery that he had to pay penance for, he was paying for the hypocritical life that he had led. Dimmesdale allowed himself to become trapped by his sin and the hypocritical life that he led because his sin remained a secret. By the time that he gains the strength to confess for his sin he cannot enjoy the freedom that comes, because when he finally does admit his guilt the only recourse is for him to die. Whereas, Hester, who confessed early on in the story, wasnt forced to live a hypocritical life; she found freedom when her sin was made public, because she wasnt carrying guilt or living a double life.

Nielsen 5 Works Cited Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. Levine and Krupat 1352-1493. Hunt, Constance C. T. The Persistence of Theocracy: Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter. Perspectives on Political Science 38.1 (Winter 2009): 25-32. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. Levine, Robert S., and Arnold Krupat, eds. The Norton Anthology of American Literature. 7th ed. Vol. B. New York: Norton, 2007. Print. Young, R. V. Individual and Community in The Scarlet Letter. The Intercollegiate Review. (Fall 2007): 32-40. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Web. 9 Mar. 2011.