Hester Prynne: A Lonely Social Reformer——On Hawthorne's Views About Social Reform

AbstractThe Scarlet Letter is the masterpiece of Nathaniel Hawthome, oneof the great writers in the nineteenth centUry America. Since it waspubIished in the year of l850, it has been read and reread in the circleof literary criticism. In the book, Hawthorne portrays Hester Prynne,the heroine full of rebellious sPirit. From Hester's rebellion,HWome illustrates his view on social reform.In this work, Hawthome describes how a young woman, HesterPrynne, through abandoning her loveless mdriage and fighting for anew mdriage based on true and mutual love, rebels against thein justice of the Puritan society and struggles for a new order of life.Hawthorne sympathetically depicts Hester's efforts to maintain herjust rights as a loving woman and a mother. According to HaWtborne,although Hester's mdriage with ChillingWorth is protected by thePuritan law and religion, it is in essence against Nthee. In the eyes ofthe Pchtan populace, the scarlet letter "A" on Hester's breast is atoken of her shameful sin, yet for Hawthorne, it is the embodiment ofher womanly natUre trampled upon by the Puritan society, and itcovertly presents Hester's affirmation of life. Howevef, Hawhorne'stone is of disaPproval when Hester is too radical to attempt tooverthrow the existing society. In The Scarlet Letter Hester's coldspeculation of the existing institution is wanned by her motLeringheall and her attemPt to escaPe from the colonial Boston fOr a haPpylife based on mutual love ends with a falure. Hwiorne in the endbestows Hester a mission to counsel the multitUde, especially womenWho are troubled by love affairs and to assure them the coming of abrighter age. Hawhome fully illustrates his idea of social reform in hiscreation of Hester Prynne. He is sure that every society has its ownllevil aspects left by tradition, and man should reform society for the better. But any individual抯 radical intention of regenerating society is impossible. In Hawthorne抯 perspective, the evil aspects of society lie not just in the existing institution, but primarily in the hearts of the social members. For Hawthorne, the ideal way of reforming a society is to change the heart of man. If man抯 heart changes for the better, then that society will turn better. 4In the book, Hawthorne indicates that Hester has to pay great price on her way to reform the society. Hester pursues a happy life based on love, yet in her later years, she lives a gloomy life, with no love or laughter. Hester abandons her loveless marriage and struggles for a happy life which is on the basis of true and mutual love. Yet Hester not only fails to get Dimmesdale抯 love, but is cruelly treated by her Puritan neighbors. Hester抯 sufferings are more presented by her extreme loneliness. Hester suffers the pain of being alienated from the ordinary human life, both physically and spiritually. In Hawthorne抯 view, Hester抯 pain indicates the price man pays for human progress:the triumphant of loneliness over love and laughter.With the help of romance writing, Hawthorne intermixes the actual life in the nineteenth century America presented in the preface 揟he Custom House~~ with the imaginative life in the seventeenth century America demonstrated in the tale, and the actual Hawthorne with the imaginative Hester Prynne. In this way, Hawthorne makes Hester抯 experiences present the recurrence of the elemental human patterns: while man is in constant struggle for a better future, he is also in permanent sufferings.