What is the 'Moral'of The Scarlet Letter

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Recommended: Literary analysis of scarlet letter

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was written when public punishment was common in all over Europe. People were following the Puritan religion that got many restriction and people who ever broke the rule were liable for punishment and was either put behind the bar or were being executed. In the Scarlet Letter the character Hester Prynne is being punished for Adulteress for which the modern society would look as a common mistake committed out of love. However the people during that age saw it as a great crime and the religious people believed it as a sin and were liable for punishment. The Scarlet Letter is basically a story of sin, guilt and identity. It tells about the woman who broke the law of authority and even society. By the mistake, Hester Prynne is forced to wear the letter “A” which represents adulteress. The moral of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne would be Sin, Guilt and identity as the story revolves around these three and Hester is being punished for the same reason.

In according to the Puritan people of Massachusetts Hester Prynne has committed a sin by having a child of another person though she was already married to someone else. Hester Prynne had been married to Roger Chillingworth before moving to Europe. However after moving to Europe she meets Dimmesdale and the result of the sin they commits is in the form of Pearl. (From Chapter 6, The Scarlet letter by Hawthorne) it says that “Pearl was a born outcast of the infantile world. An imp of evil, emblem and product of a sin.” Pearl who represents a girl with wisdom is a product of sin. The sin committed by Hester is known by the people all over the Massachusetts while sin partner remains in silent. (Fider,C,J) says that “While Hester’s sin is v...

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...e feels guilty of what he did and dies at the end. Hester is also seen as sinner for betraying her husband and Chillingworth sinner for seducing Hester’s youth. The result of Dimmesdale and Hester comes in the form of Pearl. The identity of Hester changes gradually in the story as she becomes a acknowledge person while the identity of Dimmesdale is lost in the eye of the people of Massachusettes

Works Cited

Acklin,L., Hesterburg,C., Poulter,J. Themes/Morals. Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site
/thescarletletterforthebetter/themes-morals

Fider,C,J. Northern Caribbean University, Jamaica, West Indies. Moral and Ethical Issues in the
The Scarlet Letter. Retrieved from http://ict.aiias.edu/vol_24/24cc_117-
135.htm

Hawthorne,H. (1998). The Scarlet Letter. (Harding,B.ed).Great Britain.

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