Paper 10 American literature

Name: Jankiba Rana

M.A. Semester 3

Roll No. 09

Batch 2014.15

Paper 10 American literature

Topic: Hester Prynne’s journey from letter A to A

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Introduction

            “The Scarlet Letter” is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. He was an American novelist and short story writer. He has presented a mirror image of puritan era by writing this novel. And he has thrown a light to eternal problems of society especially on sin and how a sin can be a teacher of an individual and how one is thinking about ‘Sin and Sinner’. And yes, a punishment, how do puritans used to punish a Sinner. These all questions can be answer by reading this novel.

            Here, by the help of the character of Hester Prynne who is a Sinner and a central can do a journey from darkness to brightness or we can say transformation from

“A” to “A” means

Adulaters to able or Angel

And may  be he wanted 

convey a message to the readers and to society that don’t do this,

‘Childish act’(what is done by his novel’s character) or may be it’s a moral awaking for society or a message to have control over.

‘natural instinct’ especially on ‘sexual intimacy’

According to traditional point of views

            Hester Prynne was a Sinner and she got a letter “A” a symbol of ‘Adultery’

            So now let’s see,

            How she has turned her sign of Adultery….

     Meanings of (Sign ‘A’)

Here, in this novel there are 3 meanings of letter ‘A’.

One is having a negative meaning and other two are positive.

So let’s see:

Her life.

     Symbol of colour red used in letter ‘A’

v For community it is a sign of Sin and shame, a crime of Hester.

v Dull life to colourful life (prison)

v Visible (context)

v Passion

A Symbol of: Adultery Sin Shame

v

 Was a sign of adultery and she was forced to wear it in public and which she has to wear on her bosom for the rest of her life.

v Symbol of colour red used in letter ‘A’

Ø  For community it is a sign of Sin and shame, a crime of Hester.

Ø  Dull life to colourful life (prison)

Ø  Visible (context)

Ø  Passion

Symbol of:  ‘Angel’ and ‘Able’

    

Sign ‘A’ was a symbol of sin to puritan society but for Hester Sign “A” was an indication to change her life from darkness and turn Sin into wealth and respect.

    

Her identity was turned in to an angel by helping people and also by her humble nature,

And yes,

            Money, wealth had a play vital role but we can’t ignore her, hard work, strength, her efforts, passion and her self confidence,

            Which made her able and angel.

Significance & meaning of names:

A.     Hester Prynne

B.      Pearl

A.     Hester Prynne:

Greek meaning: “Star” Seems to be or Sound’s like: “Aster”

     Several interpretation & comparison with Hester:

o   Thinking of star, looks beautiful

She was beautiful:

            

“The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a Large Scale.

            She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that is threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regulatory of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to marked brow and deep black eyes. She was lady like, too, after the manner of the femininl gentility of those days;…”

Sometimes stars can cover with clouds but it can’t hidden for long.

Her life was labelled with letter ‘A’ sign of shame and but she came out of that Shame and Shine like a star.

Star falling is also beautiful

           

Hester falls in one way and for society she was a Sinner.

            And she falls that’s why her journey became interesting and it attracts people to read it.

When she died she became an Angel, and she was died with respect & honour.

Star burns every single night and they are far too, but they inspires and attracts and people do wishes, they asks something from them.

            She was in pain and she was staying far from society, alone with her daughter in forest, but she was so creative that people was attracted towards her embroidered work.

Star removes darkness and shows the way.

            She was became lighting figure. She was able to help people and she did it so well that her past identity was totally changed and she had removed letter ‘A’ (Adulaters) and there was now new meaning of a shame letter and was ‘ A’ (Angel) and like wise she has lighten up her own life too.

B.     Pearl:

Meaning: Beautiful, precious, rare, natural

She was a bridge between her parents and because of her we came to know about puritans rules, etc.. and rigidity of thoughts and about sins and sinners, and their behaviour towards humans & humanity.

      So we can say this too, that she was not only a bridge between her parents but of two worlds.

Puritans world & individual world

She was hidden danger of Hester & dimmesdale’s love affair.

And may be these kinds of things (relations) were rarely helped in their time, so she was a symbol of rare and hidden as her name ‘Pearl’

She was a new world for Hester but one can say that she was the reason for Hester’s Shame and she was living letter ‘ A’. it was her indispensable identity. Even she recognise her mother with letter ‘ A’ .

She was aggressive and wild by her nature because she was living in natural surrounding and nature is also wild and sometimes innocent so her behaviour is like nature. And she may differ from other child in behaviour, but I think child has their own natural flow and they can be aggressive and its natural, because they are so innocent and they really don’t know how to behave in pubic and sometimes they ask so many questions because (out) of curiosity.

What is sin?

There are two interpretations:

A)     

According to Hester may be she not be a sinner and what she has done it was out of love,

So, can love be a Sin?

Or to love someone considered as a sin?

   

  Natural instinct:

Food to sex what we do is called our natural instincts.

So, if she has satisfied her instinct, then what is wrong in those?

   

  Her love or need of love:

Love is natural thing and love shows humanity in you, but at the same time you became selfish too,

But if we think over all, we may feel that how long she should wait for her past?(Husband)

And even she was not known that weather he was alive or not?

Now let’s see what was her Sin according to puritan society..

           

‘Hester Prynne a fair young maiden whose husband has disappeared two years prior to the opening of novel, has an affair with the pastor of her puritan church, resulting in the birth of her uncontrollable child pearl.’

            So she was labelled with a sign ‘ A’ (Adulaters). She was victim of puritan life style for an unholy act.

            Puritans tried to cage Hester, but they can’t change her:

            Nature

            Heart

            Humbleness

People can cage person but they cannot cage her inner identity

     

Her punishment:

There were three scaffold scene, which shows her humiliation and her sin and also her punishment each Scaffold Scene has its own significance.

     She was sent to prison with her unborn child.

     Tried to change her identity forced to wear red Scarlet Letter ‘A’

     Forced to hide her beauty and humiliated by all people around her.

     She was not hanged for her sin may be they wants her to die every day from within and they wanted to teach her a lesson for others too, and others cannot follow her steps.

She was punished to live far from community.

  

   Social status of women in puritan society:

Here , we’ll take e.g. of Hester Prynne because she is central figure and she represents most of the actions which we wanted to add in this and we get idea of women’s condition in puritan time.

How do men, or authorised group treated a women?

Now we have already get idea how Hester was treated and how she was punished.

            Her suffering was but obvious dew to her humiliation in public.

She was forced to be quite by a sign from her (past) husband.

“When he found the eyes of Hester Prynne fastened on his own and saw that she appeared to recognise him, he slowly and calmly raised his figure, made a gesture. With it in the air, and laid it on his imps.”

None stood besides her she was alone without fellow sinner and her husband came back but he was also not supporting or accepting her.

So, we can say it was all about male power but women was also able to face this situation alone she don’t need anyone’s help.

“She was woman with past”

That’s why she was called adulaters.

Nature’s connections with Hester:

            

As the punishment was given her to live far from community so she was living in forest.

            So, nature had played a vital role in her life. She was nourished rather than becoming insane.

            She became calm, peaceful, self reliant, confidant and more courageous.

            She had not get only a shelter from nature but she had learned so many things and she became able to face the world. She get more time to understand her own self.

          

  She was in solitude not alone or lonely.

     Birds, stars, moon, sun had became her friends.

     Nature can’t be perfect at all it has imperfection too.

e.g.

Dark &wild

Human’s also face these…

Nature also wears a musk as humans

But here if we take it as positive element than it has played wonderful role in Hester’s and Pearl’s life.

     Hester as,

Nourished, beauty of her own self.

§  She was beautiful & humble.

§  She was a good mother.

     Inner beauty of her character was notable.

She was ready to accept her punishment without revealing his fellow partner’s name.

She was strong enough to face the world alone.

     Some questions:

Why she was not revealing the identity of her fellow?

Ans:

May be: out of her love towards him.

                Out of fear that he  were to step down from a high place.

     Rigidity & Hypocrisy of puritans:

There was a strict rules for puritans, they were very rigid, and sinner were punished greatly for his/her sin.

They believe in God and in his laws:

“ A young puritan’s code”

Was,

Being sensible, that I am unable to do anything without God’s help I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions so far as they he agreeable to his will, for Christ Sake”

“Jonathan Edwards” Hypocrisy in Arthur Dimmesdale:

            To symbolize moral or spiritual disease of body:- thus, when a person committed any sin, it might cause a sore to appear on the body:- this to be wrought out.

In the Scarlet Letter, the suggestions of the flaming Scarlet letter on Dimmesdale’s breast is a striking use of this idea.

“Thou hearest what this good man says, and sees the accountability under which I labour. If thou feeless it to be made more effectual salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow. Sinner and fellow sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him; for, believe me, Hester, though he were do step down from a high place and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy silence do for him, except it tempt him Yea, compel him, as it were to add hypocrisy to Sin?”

He knows that he is the one who is her ‘fellow Sinner and fellow suffer than why he want to listen a name from Hester only,? Can’t he speak up or can’t he speak up or can’t he confess his sin among people?

Society and authoritative groups:

     Power:

Power is always being at the center and authorities decides punishment and they pass a judgement on to sinner.

So if someone has sympathy than also he or she will not reuse their voice against them. No one will question, and they will follow them blindly.

Here, in Hester’s case,

Sympathy will occur for an individuals not for lovers.

But if people has a sympathy for an individual than also they can’t do anything for her/him.

Her behaviour towards society and

Society’s behaviour towards her:

She was very humble and helpful after her punishment also she was like this by her nature.

But society’s behaviour was changed towards her , they used to say bad words towards her and she was not respected.

“At the very least , they should have put the brand of hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead.”

“ This woman has brought shame upon us all…..”

Her creativity:

         

   Hester has embroidered Scarlet ‘A’  for herself and people were amazed to see her mastery of the stitching ,her imagination & Creativity.

            

She was supplying government officials and most of the town with ornate, beautifully crafted garments.

            With the creativity of embroidery of ‘A’ she has creatively created her new identity.

Her strength:

         

   She was a fighter and her real strength we can see here:

            “Ye shall no take her!

             I will die first”

            “God gave her into my keeping”

            “ I will not give her up!”

            Look for her daughter and her strength is shown her, she is not allowing them to take her daughter away from her.

            She was so fearless that she was standing at scaffold but than also she refuses to reveal fellow sinner identity, and also said that:

            “My child must seek a heaven father: she shall never know an earthly one!”

Hester

Hester as an “Angel”

           

After facing so many problems she had finally created her own identity.

“Her breast, with its badge of shame, was but the soften pillow for the head that needed one. She was self ordained a Sister of Mercy: or , we may rather say, the world’s heavy hand had so ordained her; when neither the world nor she looked forward t this result. The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize,- that many people refused to interpret the Scarlet ‘A’ by its original signification.”

“It is our Hester,-the town’s own Hester, who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicate!”

So now, she has became Able? Angel for town and now she is no more Adulteress.

Conclusion:

        

   Ambiguity is charm of the novel. It is a journey of:

Mother

Lover

Wife

And so, it is not a journey of her alone, but with her these identity and of puritans too.

Sin, punishment, community, rigidity? Hypocrisy was hurdles of her life but she came out and became a ‘love star’ real Hester.

“She had wandered without rule or guidance into a moral wilderness. Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were in desert places, where she roamed as the wild Indian in his woods. The Scarlet letter was here passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, despair, solitude! These had been her teachers…”

“Weak, poor, helpless young girl into a strong, mature, rich, courageous and helpful woman in society”

A lot of things were changed in her journey.

     she have lost her name under the identity of ‘Adulteress’ or in an Angel.

     Lost her love Dimmesdale he died with ‘A’ of guilt.

     Pearl found a Home in New England in unknown region.

     While Hester Returns back Boston.

Story narration was started from custom house in Salem masachuselts and with story it ends in grave yard.

            

She was buried next to Dimmesdale. The two share a single tombstone, which bears a Scarlet.

After dying also she was not free from Scarlet ‘A’ though the meaning was changed but she was still labelled with ‘A’ http://goo.gl/forms/Pp8pdXwWK9http://goo.gl/forms/Pp8pdXwWK9