A Structuralist Look at The Scarlet Letter

Abstract： This essay is going to make a comparison of the characters by analyzing these binary oppositions

Key words： binary opposition； innocence and guilt； honesty and hypocrisy； salvation and punishment

The Scarlet Letter， one of the masterpieces of Nathaniel Hawthorne， describes a moving love tragedy in North American colonial time. From the beginning of the story that Hester Prynne， the heroine， commits the crime of adultery， the novel reveals three binary oppositions between innocence and guilt， honesty and hypocrisy， as well as salvation and punishment. This essay is going to make a comparison of the characters by analyzing these binary oppositions. Hester confesses her sin bravely and tries to atone for it. Her honest attitude and behavior win trust and respect in public， so she gets salvation at length. Dimmesdale conceals his guilt. His hypocritical attitude towards guilt makes him live in great anguish secretly， and thus he is punished.

Ⅰ.Innocence vs. Guilt

Hester Prynne appears to be guilty of the adultery. The fact shows that she is a criminal puritan who blasphemes the scriptural law. She is an unfaithful wife who betrays her husband. Also she is a shameless lover of a holy clergyman. On one side， her hasty marriage with Chillingworth finally leads to her betrayal. Their marriage originates from a kind of spiritual adventure rather than true love. And Hester’s adolescence is ruined by a tragic marriage， which seems “like a tuft of green moss on a crumbling wall， feeding itself on time-worn materials”. This is the very ideological basis of her transgression. On the other side， it is natural and understandable that Hester， who has not heard from her husband for long， could not restrain her passion when she meets the charming young minister. In spite of the rules of Puritanism， Hester expresses her true love to the clergy bravely. If she wants to be faithful to her true love， she has to be unfaithful to Puritanism. She is guilty up to the puritan law， while she is innocent up to the human nature.

Dimmesdale， the judge of Hester’ crime， appears to be an innocent， honorable and elegant. Actually， he should be blamed for the adultery. Although he attributes love to sin and thinks that his love for Hester is to blaspheme God， he cannot resist Hester’s outburst of enthusiasm in fact. That is because he owns the ideology of a clergy as well as the natural emotions of a human being. So when his stifled human nature like the withered grass touches the proper kindling of Hester， it bursts into flames in Dimmesdale’s heart. But he is week and timid. He dares not face his behavior and betrays either Hester or his true nature. Therefore the more Dimmesdale tries to appear his innocence and honour， the more he feels profound guilt in his heart.

Ⅱ.Honesty vs. Hypocrisy

Hester is honest to the guilt. She stands out boldly to confess her guilt when her adultery is exposed in public. In order to protect her lover’s reputation， she shoulders all the responsibility alone and bravely. She stands on the scaffold in an impressive and dignified manner.

It is just her own moral concepts that make Hester face her guilt bravely and encourage her to endure censure of the public. Hester views honesty as moral excellence. When her true love is thought to be guilty by the community， she confesses her sin to the public. The scarlet letter to her is a symbol of her own experiences and character. Her past sin is a part of whom she is； it is to deny a part of her life if she conceals the fact. Thus， Hester very determinedly integrates her sin into her life.

Moreover， Hester Prynne is so strong-willed and unbending. She does not flee the community， but faces the reality honestly where she is made to be “the type of shame” after being sentenced to wear upon her bosom a scarlet letter A - the mark of “adultery” for the remainder of her life. During the rest of her lonely life， her sincere affection， diligent work， and kind-hearted help identifies that she is a woman who deserves respect， and the scarlet letter becomes a symbol of happiness and relief at length. She determines to melt the hypocrisy with her sincerity， and tries to transform hatred into love by a gradual and quiet process. It’s just her sincerity that makes the community warmer.

Dimmesdale is hypocritical to his guilt. When Hester’s illicit intercourse is exposed to the public， Dimmesdale does nothing but persuading Hester hypocritically to unmask her secret love. Although his consciousness of guilt tells him that he should confess his guilt and share Hester’s punishment， he dares not confess to the public bravely by himself. His feeble voice of persuading Hester to reveal his guilt sounds like the muttering to himself.

One reason for his hypocritical attitude towards his guilt is that Dimmesdale is weak in mind. He wishes he could stand out like Hester but actually he doesn’t have the courage to proclaim his guilt. When he defends those who bury some secrets in their hearts， he says： “they shrink from displaying themselves black and filthy in the view of man， because henceforward， no good can be achieved by them and no evil of the past be redeemed by better service.” These words can be safely regarded as his explanation for his own failure to reveal his sin.

Another reason is that Dimmesdale’s vanity and pride do not allow him to confess. He is a scholar from Oxford University， and has profound religious accomplishments and lots of parishioners. In the mind of his congregation， Dimmesdale is a holy clergyman， a sage and a guard of the morality. People go to him for guidance and direction， and consider him almost sinless， the perfect model. So how can Dimmesdale speak out that he is indeed a sinner with the evil even more serious than those whom he helps to wash out the guilt in their minds？

Ⅲ. Salvation vs. Punishment

Hester’s experiences show that a state of suffering leads to her personal growth. Years of tribulation not only train her to be a stoic but also steel herself for rebellion. It’s her torture that leads her to be a freethinker. The great torture that Hester suffers also makes her more understanding and sympathetic towards others. She devotes her life to helping the sick and the poor. As a result， after all those years， the scarlet letter A is no longer a stigma， but a symbol looked upon by others with awe and reverence. The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes from “adultery” to “able” “angle” “admirable” and “affection”. Individuals in private life， meanwhile， quite forgive Hester. “Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge？” they would say to strangers， “It’s our Hester - the town’s own Hester - who is so kind to the poor， so helpful to the sick， so comfortable to the afflicted！” The shame attached to her scarlet letter is gone. Women come to Hester for seeking shelter from the sexist forces which they themselves suffer.

Therefore， it’s Hester’s brave and sincere attitude towards her guilt that liberates her from the abyss of suffering. Hester is courageous and steadfast. The scarlet letter cultivates her and makes her strong in mind. It liberates her rather than punishes her.

It appears that Dimmesdale evades the punishment which should have been inflicted on him. Actually， he could not. The scarlet letter is the spiritual shackle put on his heart by Puritanism， and maybe that’s why Dimmesdale always “has his hand over his heart”. While suffering the extreme mental anguish， Dimmesdale bears bad bodily diseases. His rheumatism， catarrh and cough aggravates day by day as a result of his spiritual torture. At last， when Dimmesdale despairs of his new life with Hester， he gets on the scaffold where Hester stood seven years before， confessing his sin in public. Then， he dies exhausted both physically and mentally. Although his confession immediately before his death is still not very clear， Dimmesdale feels the salvation of his soul vaguely， and gets extricated as he dies.

Therefore， it’s Dimmesdale’s timid and hypocritical attitude towards his guilt that leads to his secret punishment and results in his death.

By analyzing the three binary oppositions， the viewpoint on the theme is drawn： different people with different natures and different moral concepts may take different attitudes towards the guilt， and their different attitudes lead to their different results. In the last chapter “Conclusion”， Hawthorne exhorts people “Be true！ Be true！ Show freely to the world， if not your worst， yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred！”

Bibliography：

[1]Lanzen， Harris Laurie， ed. Nineteen-Century literature Criticism， Vol.2. New York： Gale Research Company， 1982.

[2]Nathaniel Hawthorne. The Scarlet Letter[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching Research press， 1994.