Guilt and Punishment

Abstract： The following essay makes a comparison of the three major characters-Hester Prynne， Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth from three aspects， which are guilt， attitudes and results. By making comparison， the author’s viewpoint of the theme is obvious： people are all inevitably guilty and faced with punishments， but different people with different natures and different moral concepts may take different attitudes towards the guilt and punishment， and their different attitudes lead to their different results.

Key words： The Scarlet Letter； guilt and punishment； attitude； result

Ⅰ.Introduction

The Scarlet Letter， one of the masterpieces of Nathaniel Hawthorne， just focuses on the very theme by describing a moving love tragedy in North American colonial time. To clarify his specific viewpoint of the theme – guilt and punishment， Hawthrone constructs carefully his three major characters – Hester Prynne， Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth – who have common guilt， different attitudes and different results. So in order to understand the theme thoroughly， it is necessary to compare their guilt and punishment， to compare their attitudes towards guilt and punishment， and to compare their results as well.

Ⅱ. Common Guilt

Hester Prynne is guilty obviously for she is the principle criminal of the adultery. Hester’s secret love with Dimmesdale is caused by her prurience. Although a female puritan is not allowed to love her minister at that time， 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 and the status of Dimmesdale， Hester reposes her love in the timid clergy bravely but hastily， thus capturing him and committing adultery.

Dimmesdale is guilty. His guilt originates from his being Hester’s partner in their love affair，which is forbidden by scriptural law. Although he attributes love to sin and thinks that his love for Hester is to blaspheme God， he cannot put out the flame of love shining in his mind and cannot resist Hester’s outburst of enthusiasm. As a result， he becomes the performer of the secret love and even produces a fruit of love， Pearl.

Roger Chillingworth is also guilty. Seemingly， he is a victim of a loveless marriage， a poor husband who is betrayed by his wife and finally a tramp who has to keep his identity hidden to prevent himself from encountering the dishonor of having a faithless wife. But actually， he is the very destroyer of love. His character， like his name， is cold and inhuman， which brings a “chill” to Hester. Therefore， the characters mentioned above are guilty in common. Since they are all guilty， they should all receive punishments. However， they take different attitudes towards guilt and punishment.

Ⅲ. Different Attitudes

（A） Hester Prynne

When her adultery is exposed in public， Hester stands out boldly and confesses her guilt. In order to protect her lover’s reputation， she shoulders all the responsibility alone and bravely. The appearance of Hester on the platform is out of the ordinary.

（B） Arthur Dimmesdale

Dimmesdale does nothing but persuading Hester hypocritically to unmark her secret intrigant. Dimmesdale even counts on Hester’s exposing to help revealing the guilt of his own. But actually Hester shoulders all the heavy burden and the guilt of Dimmesdale is concealed by himself as a result. It is the very behavior of concealing that protects his reputation and in the meanwhile aggravates his guilt.

（C） Roger Chillingworth

Chillingworth prefers to devote all his vitality to the punishment of other’s sins rather than redress his own guilt. With the thought that revenge is the only way by which he could gain justice from his enemy， Chillingworth takes revenge as the aim of his life and devotes his whole life to the pursuit of retribution. Moreover， he loses his reason， and even takes revenge as his biggest pleasure.

Every community has its rules and every person has his own moral concepts. These two sides decide people’s different attitudes towards guilt and punishment. And at last， people’s different attitudes result in their different outcomes.

Ⅳ Different Results

（A） Hester Prynne

Hester’s experiences show that a state of suffering leads to her personal growth. 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 “made in fire red cloth， surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread”[17] is no longer a stigma， but a symbol looked upon by others with awe and reverence. “It was the tape of the sick-chamber.”[18]Therefore， it’s Hester’s brave and sincere attitude towards her guilt and punishment that liberates her from the abyss of suffering. The scarlet letter cultivates her and makes her strong in mind. It liberates her rather than punishes her.

（B） Arthur Dimmesdale

Although the punishment Dimmesdale has got is mostly from himself， the torture from both Chillingworth and the misunderstanding of the community also plays a big part. The torture from these two aspects hastens the destruction of both his body and spirit.Therefore， it’s Dimmesdale’s timid and hypocritical attitude towards his guilt that leads to his secret punishment and results in his death. In a way， Dimmesdale’s punishment is even greater than Hester’s， because the punishment he has is grueling and eventually kills him. Moreover， the scarlet letter has been branded on his heart like the spiritual shackle for seven years till his death.

（C） Roger Chillingworth

It’s Chillingworth’s evil attitude and extreme behavior towards guilt and punishment that transform himself into a real devil. He attempts to reveal the sin， but at last he himself becomes a devil， a deformed man who has great sin. He is associated with secular and sometimes illicit forms of knowledge， as his chemical experiments and medical practices occasionally verge on witchcraft and murder. He commits the unforgivable sin – the violation of the human heart. He is interested in revenge， not justice， and he seeks the deliberate destruction of others rather than a redress of wrongs. In order to punish others， Chillingworth dismisses kindness and reason from his mind. Evil， in its most poisonous form， is found in the carefully plotted and precisely aimed revenge of Chillingworth.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter focuses on the theme of guilt and punishment. By comparing the three major characters， his incisive viewpoint of the guilt and punishment can be easily drawn： people are all inevitably guilty and faced with punishment； different people with different natures and different moral concepts may take different attitudes towards guilt and punishment， and these different attitudes lead to people’s different results.

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