Anarchy in Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter
Hester Prynne's Fight for Nature, and Against the Establishment
Jun 30, 2009
The Mother and Baby in Prison and on the Stocks
Hawthorne begins his novel in the same spot that anarchists often end up: in prison. Of course, Hester Prynne has delivered a child, with an absent husband. The Puritan society has counted up the months, and realized that Hester has not had relations with her absent, lost husband, and that she is guilty of adultery. Hence, she has been in jail, where she has delivered her child, and the book begins with her punishment to stand with the child in front of the town.
While evidently the townspeople expected Hester to be broken by the experience, instead she is weathering it. “[…] with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, [she] looked abound at her townspeople and neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded by an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A” (1052).
The "A" for "Adultery" could stand for "Anarchy" and Rights of the Individual
In her trouble with the law and her defiance in the face of a repressive society’s disapproval, Hester seems to embody the anarchist philosophy, of a loner in the clannish and judgmental Puritan world. The A of course stands for adultery, but also reminds us of anarchy. Hester’s gold needlework around the fantastic red A is similar to the anarchist symbol of an A encircled with an O. According to one anarchist, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, “Anarchy is order,” with the A encircled by an O for “order” (“Anarchist Symbolism” ). This symbol might fit Hester, who is a rebel, but who will remain in the ordered Puritan society, and create her own sense of order.
The Reverend Dimmesdale, the Secret Father
The Reverend Dimmesdale is called upon by the elders to appeal to Hester, and convince her to name her partner in “crime.” Hester refuses, to the disbelief of the townspeople, who noted the pleading quality of the minister, “What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him—yea, compel him, as it were—to add hypocrisy to sin?” (1060).
Dimmesdale represents the idealistic leader that the Puritans looked up to. They believed in his piety and sincerity. Dimmesdale is doomed because he can’t let down his mask of piety. He helplessly begs his partner in crime to help him by removing his mask, and showing him to be the criminal he considers himself to be.
Dimmesdale Avoids Responsibility
But his appeal, which seems so righteous, is in reality a threat. He is telling her that she is responsible for his will to sin. If she doesn’t tell the townspeople that he is the father, then she is responsible for making him sin even more. The irony of this situation is clear. She is a double victim, and by “saving” his reputation by her silence, she is “damning” his soul to Hell. It’s interesting that a Puritan minister, who believes that salvation lies in God’s hands, is placing a man’s salvation in the hands of a woman, who has less stature in a Puritan community. When she refuses, he can’t help but admire her as he blames her: “”Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman’s heart!” (1061).
The Anarchist Love of Nature
In contrast to these over-learned bookworms who are decaying in the environment of ancient knowledge and philosophy, Hester and her daughter Pearl live at the edge of the settlement, alone, near the woods. Though they are considered heathenish as sinful, Hester is called upon to use her needle for the town’s sewing needs. Sometimes she is sewing shrouds, sometimes infant clothing, but never a bridal gown. Hester keeps a somber air, but her child Pearl seems to be an offspring of Nature.
In fact, Hester constantly wondered at her punishment for adultery: “God, as a direct consequence of the sin which man thus punished, had given her a lovely child […]” (1071). This sentence sums up Hawthorne’s critique of Puritanism in particular, and dogmatism in general. Taking the natural perspective, Hawthorne illustrates in the little girl, the idea that Nature is more kind and ethical in her treatment of humans than humans are.
In fact, Hawthorne hints that the union of the minister and Hester was naturally good, but with the tragedy of an interfering society. Indeed, Hawthorne might argue with Thomas Paine, who believed that “Society in every state is a blessing […]” In Hester’s case, the society is also the necessary evil of government, mixed with religion, and this lack of separation between church and state, this lack of respect for lovers, creates the recipe for ruined lives in The Scarlet Letter.
Nature is Freedom
Nature as freedom is a common American symbol. "Just as, in America, Nature took the place of society and "freedom" meant nature, as "restraint" meant State and Society, so have many Anarchists proved that their hatred of the State was really the hatred of artificial society and but another side of their love of nature. Between certain types of American Anarchists and "Friends of Nature" there is very little difference. ("American Liberal Anarchism.")
Along with other New England Transcendentalists and Romantics, Hawthorne’s themes often included the importance of the individual, the importance of taking responsibility for one’s actions, and the importance of challenging traditional ways of thinking. Hawthorne’s philosophy as it is shown in The Scarlet Letter certainly created an interplay of ideas with those of the anarchists.
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