Nathaniel Hawthorne uses romanticism to portray the human soul under extreme pressures. Romanticism emphasizes individuality, imagination to discover truth, and values intuition over reason. Then, Romanticism branches out into Dark Romanticism, which embodies horrific themes, presents that individuals are prone to sin and self-destruction, affected psychologically from sin and guilt. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Nathaniel Hawthorne employs elements of romanticism and symbolism to communicate the idea that sin and guilt has a great impact in the manifestations of humans.
Hawthorne utilizes symbolism to demonstrate what effects sin and guilt has on humans. Hester Prynne has to wear a scarlet letter on her chest, walking in her own shame. This has positive and negative effects on her. She wears the letter to burden herself with punishment throughout her life. First, the letter has a negative effect on Hester, putting her through torture. In the book, “She had fortified herself to encounter the stings and venomous stabs of public contumely… in every variety of insult… uch more terrible in the solemn mood of popular mind, that she longed rather to behold all those rigid countenances contorted with scornful merriment and herself the object. ”
The Puritan society banishes her and isolates her, reminding her that her sin will always be remembered and cannot be ignored that easily. Later, in the passage, “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter ‘A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony. ” This letter has a positive effect on her, allowing her to show her talent, and shows that she took control of her own punishment. Since Hester isolates herself, she builds a new life, and begins doing good deeds.
Her good deeds ends up altering the actual symbolism of the letter and the community starts to forget that the letter is a symbol of her sin. Although she isolates herself for awhile, she believes that it would be best to fulfill her punishment in the place where she had sinned because that is what she feels is right, so she comes back. The scarlet letter is supposed to have a negative effect on Hester, impacting her physically and emotionally due to her sin, but things took a turn, in the end. Hawthorne emphasizes the Romantic element that humans are prone to sin and shows negative psychological effects.
Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, undergoes changes. He gains suspicion of Dimmesdale and becomes obsessed with learning about his past. In the book, “At first his expression had been calm, meditative, scholar-like. Now, there was something ugly and evil in his face. ” Chillingworth stays in Europe for “business” and lets Hester travel to America on her own. This gives enough time for Hester to commit her sinful act because she does not actually love Chillingworth, so in his absence, Hester finds romantic love with Dimmesdale, which is based on mutual respect and attraction for one another.
When coming back and hearing about Hester’s sin, Chillingworth is so angered that he becomes so consumed with revenge to find out who the father of Pearl is. Later, “he has begun an investigation… with the severe and equal integrity… desirous only truth. ” Chillingworth goes into investigation to find out what Dimmesdale’s secret sin was and who the father of Pearl. Chillingworth appeared innocent, caring for Dimmesdale when he was sick, but one incident with him attempting to drug Dimmesdale, Chillingworth is caught by Hester.
This is ironic because they were friends and Dimmesdale turns on his friend and is the father of Chillingworth’s wife’s illegitimate child. This builds up a fiery deep seeded hatred towards Dimmesdale and Chillingworth seeks revenge. He begins to manipulate Dimmesdale, causing him to torture himself due to the lingering effect of his sin. Chillingworth does this to have some sense of justice and pride, in which his revenge turns into an obsession, which causes evil to dominate his life. Hawthorne distinctly portrays good versus evil through Chillingworth and Dimmesdale.
Never taking account of the nature of Dimmesdale’s sin, he is enraged that his former wife, Hester had an affair with the reverend. In the book, “In a word, old Roger Chillingworth was a striking evidence of man’s faculty of transforming himself into a Devil… This unhappy person had effected such a transformation by devoting himself… heart a full of torture, and deriving his enjoyment thence, and adding fuel to those fiery tortures. ” He is so consumed with his anger that he devotes all his time and effort as a retribution for the sin of his wife, transforming from human to pure evil.
He manipulates Dimmesdale for over seven years while Hester stays silent about the fact that Chillingworth is her husband. Chillingworth never really takes an account of the nature of Dimmesdale’s sin and this where good and evil clash together. Even though that sin goes against Puritan beliefs, it comes through actual love and compassion, which results in the birth of Pearl, a child born from sin. As the storyline progresses, Chillingworth becomes twisted and evil. He manipulates Dimmesdale, trying to bring him closer to death as his attempt for revenge. This leads to psychological and physical torture.
He begins to whip himself and psychologically, he thinks that he was not good enough, so he thinks he should leave. Dimmesdale becomes weak internally and struggles with his guilt and begins to torture himself. Seeing the effects Chillingworth’s manipulation has on Dimmesdale, she reveals Chillingworth’s identity and intentions. This helps Dimmesdale realize what effects his sin has brought upon him and although he is about to die, he believes he is able to reconcile himself. In the book, “God knows; and he is merciful! He hath proved his mercy, most of all in my afflictions. By giving me this burning torture to beat upon my breast.
By sending yonder dark and terrible old man to keep the torture always at red-heat? ” Dimmesdale finally purifies his soul from the suffering, while Chillingworth’s life was a wasted attempt to destroy Dimmesdale. These destructive tendencies prove that the consequences of sinning can lead to extreme measures. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Dark Romantic elements to show that sin and guilt can lead to psychological manifestations. The main characters faces problems and are affected by their wrongdoings. Essentially, Hawthorne proves that through true nature, the individuals of this book break free and show their true identity to the world.
