The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne - Significance of the Title

The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter - Significance of the Title

The significance of the title of The Scarlet Letter is that the letter is a symbol of adultery and sin that Hester Prynne is clearly ordered to wear to show the world that she is a sinner. The letter "A" refers to the adulteress. The scarlet refers to how the Puritans wear plain clothes in dark flavored colors, Hester.

Incredibly, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel about what happens when there is a social taboo among its members of a strict, tight-knit community and shameful work in both public and private spheres of life. In telling the story of the adulterous but virtuous Hester Prynne; Her weak, tormented lover Dimmesdale; and her vengeful husband Chillingworth, Hawthorne explored ideas about individuals vs. groups and the nature of sin.

The first person, written two hundred years after the events of the novel, the introductory chapter indicates that the story will discover evolving attitudes and beliefs from the moment the story is set. In the next chapter, the protagonist introduces Hester to a red-colored "A" in a dress that comes out of the prison and carries her baby Pearl. Hawthorne has already established the book's themes as sin, guilt, and remorse, rather than forbidden emotions, by opening the book's action after Hester and Dimmesdale's blasphemy.

After introducing Hester as the protagonist of the book, Hawthorne brings her into direct contact with her opponent, Chillingworth, and arouses the central contradiction of the book, that the husband who committed adultery has betrayed her. Chillingworth promised to discover the identity of Pearl's father, acting as a proxy for the reader, who at this point was equally curious as to Hester's lover and why he was desperate to save her.

The reader strongly suspects that Dimmesdale is the father, so the excitement is heightened, as the reader is surprised that Chillingworth has realized the same, or if Dimmesdale keeps his privacy. Dimmsdale, Hester and Chillingworth all have their relationship with each other's privacy, so all three characters exist in isolation within the community, although Hester is the only person who has been legitimately banned. This dramatic embarrassment, so that the reader knows the secret motives of each character but the characters remain ignorant of each other’s real feelings, also widens the excitement.

As time goes on, the conflict between Chillingworth and Dimmesdale grows with increasing friendship and dependence. While Dimmesdale was asleep, Chillingworth took off his (Dimmesdale’s) shirt and saw a sign that reminded him of Pearl's father. Hester, meanwhile, lives a lonely life with her daughter, becoming philosophical about the nature of her crime and the role of women in society.

In the book's climactic scene, the forces of repression and secrecy face the direct need of humanity for confession and forgiveness when they join Hester and Pearl Dummsdale in the middle of the night. Dimmesdale, however, admits that he is too weak to publicly express himself as the father of Pearl, and Hester realizes that Dimmesdale, although he has been able to remain a member of society, has probably suffered more than she has. Unlike Hester, Dimmesdale keeps his sin a secret, and wears one face in public and the other in secret. Hester realizes how Chillingworth is involved in Dimmesdal's suffering and questions whether Chillingworth is to blame for concealing his identity. Hester and Dimmesdale meet in the woods, Hester reveals that Chillingworth is her husband, and the couple decides to run away together.

However, everything was not going according to the couple's plan. When Chillingworth learns of the couple's plans, he decides to follow them and repeatedly reminds them that no matter where they go, their guilt will never go away. After preaching the final sermon, Dimmesdale reveals his identity as Pearl's father, reveals the mark on his chest, and then dies, perhaps aware that his plans to make a fresh start with Hester were always doomed.

Although Chillingworth seeks revenge for pushing Dimmesdale to the brink of death, he is disappointed with Dimmesdale's public expression: "You ran away from me!" As soon as he died in Dimmesdale, Chillingworth said. "God forgive you!" Dimmesdale replies, "You too have sinned deeply." The statement implies that Chillingworth's smooth pursuit of revenge, and, more broadly, the city's thirst for punishment, are equal if not greater sin than the adultery of Hester and Dimmesdale.

After Dimmsdale's death, Hester leaves the community but returns for unknown reasons, choosing her life in quiet solitude after her red 'A' and acting as a traitor to other women who violate social norms. The title of the novel is, thus, definitely significant because Hester fails the human skills, her skill is to embellish it and even make it beautiful.

*****

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