Ambivalence in the Novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Essay

Throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne's book The Scarlet Letter, Hester'sattitudes toward her adultery are ambivalent. This ambivalence is shown bybreaking the book into three different parts. In each part her attitudeschange significantly. Hester starts by seeing her act as a sin that she is sorry forcommitting. She changes and no longer feels sorry for the sin. Finally,Hester sees the act as not sinful, but she regrets committing it.In the first part, covering the first six chapters, Hester thinksof her action as a sin. In chapter four she tells her husband that it washer fault for committing adultery when she says, "I have greatly wrongedthee" (79). In chapter six Hawthorne writes that Hester knows "her deedhad been evil" (92). This evil deed, in Hester's eyes, causes Pearl to actsinful, so Hester feels overwhelming guilt. At this point Hester feelsthat her actions were evil and were her fault, therefore she is sorry forcommitting adultery.In chapter five Hester's attitudes are the same but Hawthorne showsthat these attitudes are not stable and are susceptible to change. Hestermoves to a cottage on the outskirts of Boston, but because her sentencedoes not restrict her to the limits of the Puritan settlement, Hester couldreturn to Europe to start over. She decides to stay because she makesherself believe that the town "has been the scene of her guilt, and hereshould be the scene of her earthly punishment" (84). This belief gives theimpression that she views her action as a sin and feels a need to furtherpunish herself. But this belief only covers her actual feelings. To thecontrary, as Hawthorne describes, her real reason for staying is that"There dwelt, there trod the feet of one with whom she deemed herselfconnected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth, would bring themtogether before the bar of final judgment, and make their that marriagealtar, for a joint futurity of endless retribution" (84). This commentmeans that the real reason for her staying is that Reverend Dimmsdale, thefather...

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