In 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne met a group of transcendentali
In 1842, Nathaniel Hawthorne met a group of transcendentalists, including Emerson, Thoreau, Fuller, and Channing, at Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts and was involved in many of their discussions. These discussions influenced his life and in particular his writing. In Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter (1850), his heroine is an ideal transcendentalist heroine. His heroine, Hester Prynne, possesses a strong obedience to her inner feelings, a powerful relationship with nature, and a daughter who shares a similar relationship with nature, but “[as the] transcendental ideal implies, [she has a tragic flaw]”(Carpenter, 297) which inevitably leads to her downfall; however, some traditional moralists believe Hester was not a transcendentalist heroine with a tragic flaw but was instead merely a sinner. Like all transcendentalist heroines, Hester is close to nature. In nature, light often reveals what is hidden, and to a transcendentalist light represents the revelation of truth. The conflict between light and dark throughout the novel helps to develop Hester’s relationship with nature. In the beginning of the novel, the beadle is attempting to drag Hester and her shame out into the light as part of Hester’s punishment, but the light, instead of punishing Hester, “’makes a halo of the misfortune and ignominy’ in which she is enveloped”(Elder, 128). This halo that the light forms demonstrates that nature does not scorn Hester’s “ignominy” but instead praises it. Even the scarlet ‘A’, which is supposed to symbolize the sin Hester has committed, “[emits] the unholy light of her impenitent soul while in her sombre greyness she outwardly conforms to society’s requirements”(Elder, 128). The light here demonstrates Hester’s feelings about the sin she has committed by flowing from the symbol chosen by society to represent that sin and revealing the fact that in her soul Hester does not regret her actions. Hester’s association with nature is also demonstrated through her relationship with flowers. The prison in which Hester is kept is described as being “the black flower of civilized society”(Hawthorne, 35). In stark comparison to this is the “rose bush [which] seems to offer Nature’s sympathy to society’s criminal”(Colacurcio, 213). This comparison helps to emphasize the conflict between societal law and natural law. Pearl also helps to accentuate the relationship between Hester and nature through her own connection to nature. Since Pearl symbolizes Hester’s sin, Pearl’s relationship with nat..... please continue to read below
ure helps to further develop Hester as a transcendentalist heroine. When Mr. Wilson is questioning Pearl about her catechism, he asks her who made her, and to this question Pearl “[announces] that she [has] not been made at all, but [has] been plucked by her mother off the bush of wild roses, that [grows] by the prison-door”. Pearl’s answer helps to demonstrate the fact that while Pearl may not be able to be accepted by society, she is the product of Hester’s obedience to natural law. Because Hester is a product of nature, nature gladly accepts Pearl. This relationship between Pearl and nature is further emphasized when Pearl is playing in the woods. “Pearl [gathers] the violets, and anemones, and columbines, and some twigs of freshest green, which the old trees [have] held down before her eyes. With these she [decorates] her hair, and her young waist, and [becomes] a nymph-child, or an infant dryad”(Hawthorne, 139). As Pearl is playing a wolf even approaches her and allows her to pet its head, and when Pearl returns from playing, Hester tells Dimmesdale to “see with what natural skill [Pearl] has made these simple flowers adorn her!”(Hawthorne, 140). The natural skill Pearl possesses in adorning herself with flowers is due to the fact that she too is a product of nature. Pearl’s relationship with nature is due to the fact that she is the product of Hester’s being true to her inner truth. Another characteristic of a transcendentalist heroine is that she is true to her own natural laws. The literary critic Frederick Carpenter argues that “not traditional morality, but transcendental truth, governed the conscience of Hester Prynne”(296). Because Hester obeys this transcended truth, he argues that ”[she feels] no conflict between her heart and her head”(296). So, as long as Hester is in synch with both her heart and her head, she feels no remorse. “[Transcendentalists also] insist that Hester’s love was neither blindly passionate nor purposeless”(Carpenter, 295). Hester’s obedience to her inner feelings even though they conflicted with societal laws helps to further develop her as a transcendentalist heroine. However, all transcendentalist heroines possess a tragic flaw, and Hester’s flaw is that she is not fully obedient to her inner truth throughout the novel. This lack of obedience is what leads to her downfall. “Hester Prynne [sins] exactly because she [puts] romantic ‘love’ above ideal ‘truth’... [by deceiving] her lover concerning the identity of her husband”(Carpenter, 296). By
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