An Analysis Of Puritanistic Elements In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

AN ANALYSIS OF PURITANISTIC ELEMENTS IN

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE’S

THE SCARLET LETTER

A PAPER

WRITTEN

BY

STEFANUS NATANAEL SEMBIRING

NIM : 102202032

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH SUMATERA

FACULTY OF CULTURE STUDIES

DIPLOMA III ENGLISH STUDY PROGRAM

MEDAN

APRIL 2014

Approved by

Supervisor,

NIP. 19630216198903 1 003

Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M.Hum

Submitted to Faculty of Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for Diploma – III in English study

program.

Approved by

Head of Diploma III English Study Program

NIP. 19521126198112 1 001

Dr. Matius C. A. Sembiring, M.A.

Approved by the Diploma – III of English Study Program

Faculty of Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera

As a

Paper for the Diploma – III Examination

Accepted by the Board of Examiners in partial fulfillment of the requirements for

the D-III Examination of the

Diploma III English Study Program, Faculty of

Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera.

The Examination is held on April 2014

Faculty of Culture Studies, University of North Sumatera

Dean,

NIP. 19511013197603 1 001

Dr. Syahron Lubis, M.A.

Board of Examiners

Signature

1.

Dr. Matius C.A. Sembiring, M.A. (Head of ESP)

________

2.

Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M. Hum (Supervisor)

________

AUTHORS DECLARATION

I, STEFANUS NATANAEL SEMBIRING, declare that I am the sole author of

this paper. Except the reference is made in the text of this paper, this paper

contains no material published elsewhere or extracted in whole or in part from a

paper by which I have qualified for or awarded another degree.

No other person’s work has been used without due acknowledgement in the main

text of this paper. This paper has not been submitted for the award of another

degree in any tertiary education.

Signed

: ………….

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION

Name

: STEFANUS NATANAEL SEMBIRING

Title of Paper

:

An Analysis Of Puritanistic Elements In Nathaniel

Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

Qualification

: D-III/ Ahli Madya

Study Program

: English

I am willing that my paper should be available for reproduction at the discretion

of the Librarian of the Diploma III English Department Faculty of Letters USU on

the understanding that users are made aware of their obligation under law of the

Republic of Indonesia.

Signed

: ………

Date

:

2014

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an anylysis about the negative impacts of putitanistic

teachings as expressed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel

The Scarlet Letter

. The

title itself implies cultural sense that ‘scarlet’ means a warn of danger’ about the

absolute teachings that ‘man must be pure’ is so contrast with the reality of life.

The main character’s adultery, Hester and the preacher, Arthur, suggests the

betrayal on the teaching because it results hypocricy and arrogance manner or

behavior. The method applied in describing these phenomena is descriptive

method of analysis. As the name suggests, the description is done by interpreting

the text of the novel that is focused on arrogance and hypocricy behavior through

the characters in the novel. The attitude of arrogance and hypocricy happens

because man is afraid of telling the truth. This cowardice results an escape by

pretending to be right in terms of hypocricy and arrogance.

ABSTRAK

Paper ini memuat analisis tentang dampak negatif dari ajaran puritanisme

melalui karya sastra novel Nathaniel Hawthorne yang berjudul

The Scarlet Letter

.

Judul novel itu sendiri memaknai simbol budaya “merah yang berarti

‘bahaya’ karena ajaran puritan yang menuntut kemurnian perilaku tidak sesuai

dengan realita kehidupan. Perselingkuhan yang terjadi antara Hester dan Arthur

mengindikasikan penyangkalan terhadap ajaran tersebut karena memiliki

pengaruh yang tidak baik dengan adanya perilaku kemunafikan dan keangkuhan

dari pengikut aliran pruritanisme. Metode yang digunakan adalh deskriptif karena

penomena kemunifakian dan keangkuhan digambarkan melalui interpretasi makna

teks dari novel. Penomena ini terjadi karena manusia memiliki keterbatasan untuk

berbuat kemurnian tindakan secara absolut dan untuk menutupi kebenaran yang

ada dilakukan dengan sikap munafik dan angkuh.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

For words.

First of all, I would like to thank and praise to the God for blessing and giving me

health, strength and ease to accomplish this paper as one of the requirements to

get Diploma III certificate from English Department Faculty of Letters, University

of North Sumatera.

Then, I would like to express a deep gratitude, love and appreciation to:

•

My beloved parents,

Drs. Aswan Sembiring, M.Si and Mantharia

Bukit

. Thank you for all your motivations, advices, prays, and loves for

me. I present this paper for you.

•

Dr. Matius C. A. Sembiring, M.A.

as the Head of English Diploma

Study Program, who gives me a lot of advice and knowledge.

•

Drs. Parlindungan Purba, M. Hum.

as my supervisor. Thank you for the

valuable time in giving the correction and constructive critics in

completing this paper.

•

Dr. Syahron Lubis, M.A.

as the Dean of Faculty of Letters, University of

North Sumatera.

•

All

lectures in English Diploma Study Program for giving me advices and

knowledge.

•

My lovely sibling,

Deci Kinita Sembiring,

thank you for your motivation

and support until I finished this paper.

•

My Entire friends in

Solidas (Student Of English Diploma Association).

Thank you for the nice friendship during us together.

•

My best friend:

Andre, Horas, Basten, Habib, and Wahyu.

Thank you

for the nice friendship during our study. I will never forget your kindness

to me and I will be missing the days we spent together.

Finally, I do realize that this paper is still far from being perfect. Therefore, I

welcome any constructive critics and suggestions towards this paper. I hope this

paper will be a worthwhile for the readers.

Medan,

April 2014

The writer,

Reg. No. 102202032

Stefanus Natanael Sembiring

TABLE OF CONTENTS

AUTHOR’S DECLARATION ………..i

COPYRIGHT DECLARATION ……….ii

ABSTRACT ………..iii

ABSTRAK ………....………...iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ………...v

TABLE OF CONTENTS ……….……..vii

1.

INTRODUCTION ………..1

1.1

The Background of the Study ……….…1

1.2

The Problem of the Study ………....3

1.3

The Scope of the Study ………....3

1.4

The Purpose of the Study ………....3

1.5

The Significance ………...4

1.6

The Methodology ………..4

2.

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE ………...6

2.1

Novel ………...6

2.2

Puritanism ………...8

3.

A BRIEF VIEW OF PURITANISM ………..13

3.1

Belief and Practice ………...…...13

3.2

Puritanism in England ………..….17

3.3

Puritanism in America ………...20

4.

AN ANALYSIS OF NEGATIVE SIDE OF PURITANISM ………...24

4.1

Hypocrisy As The Negative Side of Puritanism ………...24

4.2

Arrogance As The Negative Side of Puritanism ………...31

5.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION ………...40

5.1

Conclusion ………...40

5.2

Suggestion ………...41

REFERENCES ………....42

APPENDICES ……….43

ABSTRACT

This paper provides an anylysis about the negative impacts of putitanistic

teachings as expressed in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel

The Scarlet Letter

. The

title itself implies cultural sense that ‘scarlet’ means a warn of danger’ about the

absolute teachings that ‘man must be pure’ is so contrast with the reality of life.

The main character’s adultery, Hester and the preacher, Arthur, suggests the

betrayal on the teaching because it results hypocricy and arrogance manner or

behavior. The method applied in describing these phenomena is descriptive

method of analysis. As the name suggests, the description is done by interpreting

the text of the novel that is focused on arrogance and hypocricy behavior through

the characters in the novel. The attitude of arrogance and hypocricy happens

because man is afraid of telling the truth. This cowardice results an escape by

pretending to be right in terms of hypocricy and arrogance.

ABSTRAK

Paper ini memuat analisis tentang dampak negatif dari ajaran puritanisme

melalui karya sastra novel Nathaniel Hawthorne yang berjudul

The Scarlet Letter

.

Judul novel itu sendiri memaknai simbol budaya “merah yang berarti

‘bahaya’ karena ajaran puritan yang menuntut kemurnian perilaku tidak sesuai

dengan realita kehidupan. Perselingkuhan yang terjadi antara Hester dan Arthur

mengindikasikan penyangkalan terhadap ajaran tersebut karena memiliki

pengaruh yang tidak baik dengan adanya perilaku kemunafikan dan keangkuhan

dari pengikut aliran pruritanisme. Metode yang digunakan adalh deskriptif karena

penomena kemunifakian dan keangkuhan digambarkan melalui interpretasi makna

teks dari novel. Penomena ini terjadi karena manusia memiliki keterbatasan untuk

berbuat kemurnian tindakan secara absolut dan untuk menutupi kebenaran yang

ada dilakukan dengan sikap munafik dan angkuh.

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1

The Background of the study

Literature is a kind of media through writing in expressing idea or ideas

imaginatively.

Literary writer such as novelist, poet, or dramatist is an individual and

social being who wants to express his or her understanding towards lives by his or

her works. By doing so, the literary writer is a mediator to his or her reader

through the text or language he or she writes in their work. That is why rene

Welleck (1976 : 1) states that literature is a reflection of life or the mirror of life

that needs understanding wholly.

Nathaniel hawthorne’s

The Scarlet Letter

is a novel that tells about man’s

life experience during the time of Puritanism teaching was dominat. Puritanism is

a religious belief that represents absolute rule to praise Lord as the creator of the

universe. The teaching sounds so perfect that beyond the man’s ability to follow.

For instance, a man must be free from sin whatever he has done in his life. A

woman is not allowed to wear lipstick because it is supposed a kind of affection

from the satan. In short, man must live heavenly on the earth living.

This paper writing provides an analysis of hypocricy of human beings

under the mask of puritanistic teaching . besides, the man becomes so arrogant in

their action because everyone thinks that he the very clean man out from doing

sinful deed. These phenomena are very smoothly expressed behind the text of the

novel. Of what has been portrayed in the novel directs the paper to discuss the two

points that is hypocricy and arrogance. Each of the terms sounds the negative

effect of puritanistic teaaching that disturbs the novelist’s social response. That is

why this novel is received as a social novel which implies social matter that

happens in the society.

The theme of the novel has been the reason why the focus of analysis is

addressed to negative effect of puritanistic teaching. As the name suggests that

man should be pure in his life conduct, the novel presents the contrast in social

real life. The story goes that a woman named Ester has a scandal with a preacher

named Arthur. The scandal has made ester pregnant and the preacher just keeps

silent on what has happened. Ester must come through the punisment by wearing

a leeter A for Adultery on her neck. It informs publicly that Ester has committed

an adultery that needs knowing by anyone.

The novelist, Hawthorne, seems not to agree with such sadistic punisment.

On the half of Puritanism, there must be a humble heart in the sense of forgiving

to any wrong doing, whatever the deed is. As a matter of fact, it is so far different

from human sense that destroys one’s normal life socially. Ester has her option in

running her life out of what she has done. She has her own reason towards her

decion in the way she runs her wants and diswants in her lives, at least. This is the

reason as well as the background of this paper writing.

1.2

The Problem of the Study

The novel

The Scarlet Letter

is a social novel that pictures specifically

social problem under the influence of Puritanism. Puritanism is a kind of religious

dogman under Chrisyianity that teaches a man must be pure in his life which is

free from sinful deed. Since the teaching is beyond man’s limited power, the

impact of the teaching is so contrast with the reality. Therefore the problem is

addressed to :

1.

How is hypocricy so dominat in the character’s living ?

2.

How is arrogance happened behind the hypocrite manner on the

character’s living?

1.3

The Scope of the Study

The scope of the study in this paper is limited to the characters, Hester

Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, who become the victims of puritanistic negative

effects. The former is the weak victime, and the latter is the strong one. Hester is

one of female congregation under the preaching of Arthur whi is the preacher of

the church.

1.4

The Purpose of the Study

The purppose of this study is : (1) to explain the hypocrite manner under

the teaching of puritanistic dogma through the character; (2) to describe how

arrogance happens under the puritansitic dogma as expressed in the novel.

1.5

The Significance

Theoritically, the significance of this study is to enrich literary insights

through analysing the novel. It is done for scientific understanding of how literary

work is analysed for better understanding of what novel is and its theme. Next,

practical significance of this study is to understand the novel

Scarlet Letter

as well

as its writer of how the novelist pictures the effects of puritanistic dogma. In

addition, this study can be applied by other students as reference for further study

related to this novel or other works.

1.6

The Methodology

•

Method

The method of this paper writing is descripive in terms of describing the

phenomena found in the novel

Scarlet letter

written by Nathaniel Hawthorn. The

phenomena are related to the negative sides of puritanistic teachings addressed to

congregation of a church or churches. The phenomena themselves are selected

from the quotations taken from the text of the novel. The texts are selected

through reading and then noting important and related quotations to the

puritanism elements. The selection of the text is made in order to make specific in

doing the analysis. After that, the interpretation comes before the analysis on the

quotations selected. Finally, the conclusion is done as the summary of the whole

analysis.

•

Source of data

The source of data is devided into two categories : primary and secondary

source data. The primary source data is the novel

The Scarlet Letter.

The

secondary source data is books that related to the study especially literary books.

Besides, the internet is also applied in order to get more information about the

novel and the data.

•

Data

The data of this paper research is the text of the novel in the form of

quotations. The novel has been read several times and then the text of the novel is

selected by identifying quotations which are connected to the analysis.

•

Data Analysis

The selection of the text is done by reading the text and then making some

notes which are supposed to support the analysis. The step follows by classifying

that the text is reliable to point or analysis of the paper. After selecting, the

interpretation is needed in order to get the idea of the text and then comes to a

conclusion, after all.

2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE

2.1

Novel

Shaw (1972:189) says, “Novel is a lenghty ficitious prose narrative

portraying character and presenting an organized series of events and settings. “A

work of fiction with fewer than 30.000 to 40.000 words is usually considered as a

short story, novellete, or tale but the novel has no actual maximum length. Novels

typically have more characters than a short story and a more complicated plot that

might take place in various settings, sometimes over a period of months or years.

Novels do not present a documentary picture of life. Alongside the fact

that novels look at people in society, the other major characteristic of the genre is

that novels tell a story. In fact, novels tend to tell the same few storied repeatedly.

A novel is an extended work of prose fiction, longer than a short story or a

medium-length fiction. Called a novelette or novella. Novel is a work of someone

who is the outpouring of ideas and feeling. To devote ideas and feelings, the

author is authored by considering the elements of novel such as plot, character,

theme, setting, point of view, and style are used to development of novel. Through

of these, the readers can understand and analyze the novel. They have a linked and

always effect the character. Therefore, we must understand the elements of the

novel.

The first element of novel is plot. Shaw (1972:211) says, “plot is a plan or

scheme to accomplish a purpose”. Sequence of a story or event is organized very

well. So, the plot is the way of the author to build a row of events with respect to

the cause and effect so it is a part of unity. Rounded, and completely to achieve a

goal. In literature, plot refers to the arrangements of events to achieve an intended

effect. A plot is a series of carefully devised and interrelated action that progresses

through a struggle of opposing forces to a climax and a denouement. Plot is linked

to character development. There is an important difference plot and story. Story is

a simple sequence of events in time, event plot is the way these events are

rendered and organized so as to achieve their particular effects.

The second element of the novel is character. Character is person used by

to author to carry the action, ideas, language and emotion of the story. Character

was a formal sketch or descriptive analysis of a particular virtue or vice as

represented in a person, what is now more often called a character sketch. The

author can describe the character from physical appearance and attitude. Through

the character, the author tells the story to the readers. The readers need to observe

the action, to listen what the character say and how they say it, to understand how

they relate to other character and how other character respond them.

The third element of novel is theme. Shaw (1972:273) says that theme is

the central and dominating idea in a literary work. In the novel, the theme is the

central idea that develop in the plot. Almost all the major ideas that exist in life

can be a theme such as : ambition, loyalty, jealousy, frustation, hypocricy,

fortitude, and other. Theme has to do with that the readers read as the story’s

point, message, function or implied view of live and conduct.

The fourth element of novel is setting. Setting is simply the time and the

place of story, and in most of cases the details of description are given to the

reader directly by the narrator. Setting is a description of the time, place, and

atmosphere that occurs in the novel.

The fifth element of novel is point of view. Point of view refers to the

position and stance of the voice, or speaker, that author adopt for their works.

Point of view is a specified position or method of considered on and appraisal. It

suppose a living narrator or person who tells.

The sixth element of novel is style. Stanton (2007:1800) says the style

from the Latin word

stillus

, means the way author assemble words to tell the

story, develop the argument, dramatize the play, or compose the poem.

2.2

Puritanism

In this thesis the writer applies library research to explore her analysis and

she has an opinion that it is very important to have good related reading materials.

Since the story in this novel deals much with puritan society of seventeenth

century in America, the writer feels necessary to, firstly, define what puritan is, as

can be seen below :

“Puritan is (16

th

and 17

th

cc, in England) member

of a division of the Protestant Church which

wanted simpler forms of church ceremony. 2.

Person who is strict in morals and religion, who

believes that all people should work hard

always”.

(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of

Current English. 1974 : 679)

And to give a light for better understanding and better appreciation of the novel.

The writer thinks that it is advisable to quote information, about who the puritans

are, what they did and the reason why they emigrated to the colony where the

setting of the novel is scened, as follows :

“The founders of Massachusetts wanted freedom

to practice their religious beliefs. Leaving

England at a time when Charles I seemed

completely in control, they believed that their only

chance for freedom lay in moving elsewhere. In

their view, the Church of England was a true

church. Leaving England was simply their means

of avoiding a conflict between their loyality

puritanism and their loyality to the king. Another

reason for leaving England was their belief that

God was about to punish the nation for refusing to

obey his commands to reform”.

It is understood that puritanism originally concern people with high status like

kings, member of parliament, congregational parties, etc, as can be seen in above

quotation. They play big roles in “The Scarlet Letter” and they make the novel go

ground. Puritans believe very much in a doctrine of predestination, that is, God

only elect certain people like priest, minister, etc to possess Hisgrace. This

doctrine then causes them to practice ackward rules that they always treat or

punish those do wrong or commit deed sinful especially those of low status

unfairly and cruely like what happens to Hester Prynne, the hero of the novel.

As the little suggests, this thesis touches a lot about puritanistic values and

teachings. Hester Prynne has to burden the disgrace due to her adultery of which

the society regards it as a severe and unpardonable sin. Her fellow sinner, Rev.

Dimmesdale, a man of dignity and honor, who is supposedly “stainless”, tempted

and has to live in hypocrisy as he has to hide his sin. Here the novelist,

Hawthorne, who was born in the Massachusetts colony, into a family descend

from influential seventeenth century New England Puritan, examines Puritanistic

rules and values :

The Scarlet Letter, which is the best as well as the

best known of his novels, is beautifully written and

beautifully constructed, mounting from one

dramatic scene to another until it reaches its

Seven Gables, which followed The Scarlet Letter,

also scrutinizes Puritanism but in a quieter

fashion.

(The highlight of American Literature, 1969 : 77)

Hawthorne also expresses his disagreement with ecclesiastical-corrupted-system.

He shows us that one of the characters in the novel, Rev. Dimmesdale is really not

“purified”. This is in accordance with the reality found in puritan society of the

time in which men of high position are actually dirty :

In 1584 it drew up a petition for ecclesiastical

reform which . . . in 1604 and 1610 reiterated

its request for a purification of religion and the

abolition of the Court of High Commision.

(Enciclopaedia of the Social Science, vol 9: 3)

Puritanistic movements of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries in England and

the United State attempted to arrive at a purified version of Reformation teaching

because people have found a lot of the doctrines are not suitable anymore and the

practices in society are againts holy guidance. In the novel, Hawthorne tries to

pass a criticism on the existing system of church government. He protests that the

system hinders Rev. Dimmesdale to confess and causes him to be a hypocrite and

their cruel treatment like what they do to Hester Prynne is a proof of corrupted

values of puritan society.

From the facts and quotations above it can be known that the novel, The

Scarlet Letter, which tells the story of puritan society is the novelist’s criticism on

the rules and values of puritanism. Rev. Dimmesdale is characterised to perform

the hypocrisy which always practised by the puritans. And the reality that puritan

society have ackward rules, in the novel is shown by their cruel and unfriendly

treatment to Hester Prynne.

3. A BRIEF VIEW OF PURITANISM

3.1

Belief and Practice

Puritanism was a refore movement within English Protestanism that

emerged in the 16

th

century. The movement proposed to purify the church of

England and to invigorate the daily practice of religion. For their program of

reform, the puritans were indebted to John Calvin and the example of the

Calvinist tradition. Another source of puritanism was the Bible, considered to sole

authority in matters of faith. Puritans believed that roman Catholics has perverted

Christianity from the doctrine and worship, and they wanted the Christian church

restored to its original condition, as described in scripture.

The movement remained frustrated until the reign of Charles I

(1625-1649), when a political crisis led to civil war and puritans took control of the

English government. Meanwhile, Puritan emigrants had colonized New England

founding Plymouth in 1620 and Massachusetts in 1626-1630. The period of the

English Revolution of 1640-1660 also known as the “Puritan Revolution” marked

the height of puritan influence. Decline quickly followed as the movement split

into several sects and denominations. An enduring legacy was evangelicalism, and

the many waves of revivalism and reform that have swept America since the 16

th

century all stem from the Puritan movement.

In demanding greater purity and stricter obedience to the will of God.

Puritanism resembled other reform movements in the history of Christianity. A

type of person like the Puritan, the purist who rejects the compromises of

everyday life, has often appeared within the church. Englishmen in the 16

th

century called such persons “Puritans” a name derived from the Latin word for

pure, and intended as a criticism of the reformers for being too extreme in their

demands. Puritans would not accept the status quo. Because they were disrupters,

they were constantly criticized in England and America.

Originally Puritanism was a phase of the Protestant Reformation, and the

Puritans wanted England to be reformed as John Calvin (1509-1564) had

reformed Geneva. Most of their religious doctrines were also taken over from

Calvinism, including their belief in all-powerful God. In the 16

th

century no

Protestant doubted the authority of scripture, the reality of heaven and hell, or the

sinfulness of man. Every living person was guilty of sin because of Adam’s

disobedience in the garden if Eden. Like other Christians of their time, the

Puritans also thought the doctrine of a risen Christ who saved mankind from

eternal punishment.

Some of the Puritans were millenarians, which means that they thought of

history as coming to the end with the return of Christ, the last judgement, and the

establishment of the kingdom of God. The millenarians please for reform were

based on the expectation that these events would occur fairly soon.

The Puritans differed from most Christians in their description of the

process of attaining salvation. They held that God elected or predestined certain

persons a limited number, not all mankind by any means to be saved and this

solely out of his mercy. The doctrine of election was the Puritan’s way of

emphasizing that no one earned salvation by performing good works. Man was so

tainted by sin, they reasoned, that his works could never please God saving grace

came as a gift, not as a reward for anything that man had done.

A person knew that he was elected to salvation if he went process of

religious conversion. For the puritan, the conversion experience was the centre of

religious life. Conversion was the extraordinary moment when salving grace

entered the heard releasing in from bondage to sin. Those who had this experience

took on a new identity. The become “visible saints”, a person who showed by

their behavior that their whole way of living was based on serving God.

Countless puritans offered descriptions of the conversion process, but none

with more insight than John Bunyan in The Pilgrim’s Progress (1678). The hero

of Bunyan’s allegory sets out from City of Destruction for Mount Zion, bearing

on his back a great burden the emblem of his sins. On the way he falls into a

swamp (despair). He turn aside from the straight and narrow path (religions truth).

Arriving at the Cross, he feels the burden tumble off, and his heart leaps for a joy.

But troubles lie ahead. He will doubt his faithfulness to Christ, and he must face

the temptations of Vanity fair.

In this homely fashion, Bunyan dramatized the lifelong effort of the

puritan to move from sin to grace, and having received grace, to live as a visible

saint “in but not of the world”. It was the characteristics of the Puritan that he

worried about his spiritual condition. Daily the saint examined himself to see

whether his heart were truly seot on Christ. One Puritan minister drew up a list of

60 rules to guide himself in making this examination, while others kept diaries as

a record of their self-scrutiny. Often the diariest found much to complain of, and

such journals suggest that the Puritan could lead a melancholy life. But the

sombre side of Puritanism can be overstressed. Puritans did not wear black

clothes, as popular image implies. They liked their spirits, were far less prudish

than the victorians, and in many ways behaved like other middle-class

Englishmen of the period.

As reformers, Puritan proposed to change the basis of current membership.

They regarded the church as a special place because it was here that the saints

gathered to create a new kind of community. People were to enter the church

voluntarily, but only after promosing to “walk in the ways” of Christ. Each

congregation was empowered to dismiss any member who fell from grace. Every

adult male in the church had the right to vote on such matters as choosing a

minister, admitting new members, and deciding cases of church discipline. The

community of the saints was set a part from the world both in being pure and in

practicing a certain degree of democracy.

What held this community together was a conception of history. Puritans

believed that God by His providence determined the course of human events.

They assumed that providence would favor people who entered into a covenant

with God to obey His commandments. Reading themselves as covenant people,

Puritans often compared their relationship with God to that of the children of

Israel as a chosen people. They too had a special role to play in history, to prepare

the church fo Christ’s return to earth.

In the course of English and American history, the Puritan out look had

many consequences. It stimulated the rise of nationalism, as Englishmen came to

regard themselves as being an “elect nation” and Americans absorbed the idea of

mission. It is not clear that Puritanism led straight to democracy. Yet puritan

church government taught people to practice responsible citizenship, and it

obliged rules to serve a higher law than self-interest. On the whole, the movement

helped to weaken traditional elites and ideologies. As an expression of the middle

class in England, Puritanism also encouraged capitalism and individualism.

3.2

Puritanism in England

Puritanism arose during the reign of Elizabeth I. The religious situation

was in flux when Elizabeth took the throne on 1558. The church of England had

changed from Catholic to Protestant under Henry VIII, her father. But with Mary

Tudor, Catholicism was restored. During Mary’s reign (1553-1558) Protestants

were completed to conform or go into exile. No one believed in religious

toleration. The religion of the head of the state was official religion of the nation.

To disagree was commit an act of treason.

Elizabeth I was a Protestant. But what kind of Protestantism would the

church of England represent when Elizabeth gained the throne. The english who

had been exiles in Europe came back advocating different conceptions of the

church. The queen, a conservative, did not favor the Calvinists, who a through

change from Catholicism. Her rejection of the radical party, or Puritans, as they

came to be called stopped the reform movement short of success. But the Puritans

hoped that Parliament or the queen would agree of their demands. As put forward

by the leader of the party in the 1570’s, Thomas Cartwright, these included

abolition of the bishops, stricter enforcement of church discipline, elimination of

most ceremonies and rituals, and higher standards for the clergy.

Puritans had no intentions of establishing their own church. Theirs was a

movement of reform within the church of England but with the queen preventing

reform, some Puritans choose another road. Claiming their salvation was

threatened because the church of England was not a true church, they set up

purified congregrations of their own. The most important of these Separatists,

Robert Browne, withdrew from the church in 1579. A handful of others followed

Browne’s example. Separatism had little impact on the Church of England, but it

revealed that Puritans suffered from intense frustation.

Elizabeth I was succeeded in 1603 by James I, whose son, Charles I

became king in 1625. The Stuart kings disliked Puritanism as intensely as

Elizabeth, and refused to satisfy requests for reform. Both kings claimed more

privileges and powers for their office than Parliament was willing to concede. The

conflict between Charles and Parliament exploded into civil war in 1642. Puritans

gave strong support to Parliament, which, after its victory over the crown, ordered

many of the Puritans reform into practice.

At long last having power to do as they pleased, the Puritans suddenly

discovered that they could not agree. Many favored the Presbyterian model of

church government as practiced in Scotland. In 1643, Parliament summoned the

Westminster Assembly of Divines, which approved the Presbyterian standards. A

counterplan was put forward by minister who became known as Independents of

Congregationalists. The preferred a system of government gave that independence

to each congregation and restricted church membership to visible saints.

Congregationalists had an importantly in Oliver Cromwell. A leading

general in the civil war, he assumed control of the government after the execution

of Charles I in 1649. Cromwell allowed a degree of religious toleration, however,

and during his rule, Puritanism broke into sects as some Puritans became

Presbyterians or Congregationalists and other turned baptists or quakers. Never

again would the movement achieve unity in England see also civil war, English.

The restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660 ended the role of

Puritans in government. A period of persecution followed, with most Puritans

having to practice their religion in secret. As toleration slowly became state

policy, these groups, known collectively as Nonconformists, reemerged.

Nonconformists supported the Glorious Revolution of 1688 when last of Stuarts,

the Catholic James II, lost the throne to a Protestant, William of Orange. The new

king granted Nonconformists the right to have their own churches. There after,

Puritanism existed mainly outside the church of England in separate

denominations.

Yet, within the church, the movement stirred to life in the middle of the

18

th

century. Three extraordinary minister, the brothers John and Charles Wesley

and George Whitefield, inspired a vast revival of religious fervor that led

ultimately to the establishment of Methodism. In the early 19

th

century a fresh

wave of reform stirred the church. The Evangelical movement, as it was called,

took up social causes such as temperance and anti slavery. Nonconformists and

Evangelicals became mainstays of moral and social reform in 19

th

century Britain.

3.3

Puritanism in America

Puritanism was entirely English in its origins, yet the movement achieved

it greatest influence in America. Here the Puritans were able to carry their

program without interference and with less disagreement among themselves. The

17

th

century colonies in New England represent the fullest development of the

movement.

The first puritans arrive in America were Separatists. A new group of

Separatists fled England in 1607-1609, among them the Reverend John Robinson

and members of his congregation. They found refugee in Leiden, Holland, from

where a portion of the group known as Pilgrims, emigrated to America, landing at

Plymouth in December 1620. The colony was never large, yet its founding is

commemorated more than of any other colony in American history. One reason in

the moving history of the venture written in 17

th

century by William Brandford,

governor of Plymouth Colony. His history of Plymouth plantation is a literary

masterpiece of the American experience.

To the north of Plymouth, in the area around Boston, other Puritans began

arriving in 1628-1630. they came over under the auspices of the Massachusetts

Bay Company, a corporation with rights to the area of land lying between the

Charles and the Merrimack rivers.

The founders of Massachusetts wanted freedom to practice their religious

beliefs. Leaving England at a time when Charles I seemed completely in control,

they believed that their only chance for freedom lay in moving elsewhere. In their

view, the Church of England was a true church. Leaving England was simply their

means of avoiding a conflict between their loyalty to the king and their loyalty to

Puritanism

Another reason for leaving England was their belief that God was about to

punish the nation for refusing to obey his commands to reform. It seems

particularly true of the colonists that they felt the final day of judgement was near.

They would take refugee in New England, they reasoned and waited for Christ to

return and restore His kingdom. John Winthrop, first governor of Massachusetts

Bay Colony, who believed that the colonists were to act as an advance guard is

setting up the kingdom, told them in 1630 that their mission was to build a “city

upon a hill”.

Free to build as they wished, the founders of Massachusetts began by

enacting the basic program of the reform movement. Eliminating bishops,

ceremonies, and much else. But they also took more radical steps, limiting church

membership to visible saints, and choosing democratic Congregationalism as the

fomr of church government. There was an argument about these matters before

the ministers, led by John Cotton, drew up the Cambridge Platform (1648), a

summary of Congregational theory and practice.

Another step was to make government a theocracy. In such a government

the political leaders are supposed to protect the church from harm. Puritans

believed that church and state should cooperate in serving God. To ensure this

happening, the founders of Massachusetts restricted the right to vote for officers

of the colony to church members. John Winthrop feared that unless the saints held

political power, wrong kind of person would get elected to office and divert the

colonists from their mission.

Protest againts the policies of Winthrop and Cotton came from several

groups. Some colonists complained that Congregationalism was too democratic in

permitting every church member to participate in decision. Others declared that

the basis of church membership was too narrow: they wanted it open to anyone of

goor behavior. Anne Hutchinson called for more radical change. The antinomian

controversy (1836-1838), involving the issue of obedience to moral or religious

law versus inner grace as the basis for judging who were saints, pitted Hutchinson

and her followers againts Governor Winthrop and the majority of the clergyman.

She lost, and was banished. Roger Williams argued againts identifying

Massachusetts with Israel and giving the government any authority over the

church. In 1635, William was forced to leave Massachusetts for Rhode Island.

For 30 years the New England colonies paid little attention to England.

The restoration of Charles II in 1660 meant a loss of independence, for the king

demanded that the colonies allow other groups to set-up churches. Baptists

organized a congregation in 1663 ; Anglicans, in 1666. Toleratioin emerged

slowly, with many colonists resenting change and the ministers worrying about a

decline in church membership. A synod met at Cambridge in 1662 and decline in

church membership passed from generation to generation in a family. The

Halfway Covenant, as this declaration was called, allowed children to be baptized

whose parents were not really visible saints. Membership was widened, but on the

basis of lower standards.

The leading minister of the second generation of New England Puritans

was Increase Mather. Together with his son, Cotton, he tried to prevent decline by

holding up the example of the founders. Cotton Mather wrote more than 400

books and pamphlets, among them Magnalia Christi Americana (1702), a lengthy

history of New England that extolled the first generation of settlers.

A new champion of puritan belief and practice, Jonathan Edwards, led the

first revival movement in America, which is known as the Great Awakening, in

the 1740’s. But some ministers considered the revival a sham and abandoned the

historic puritan emphasis upon the convertion experience. The doctrines of

election and original sin were gradually put aside, and through a slow process of

evolution Unitarianism emerged out of Congregationalism. The process was

completed in 1825.

Yet most Congregationalists remained faithful to evangelical tradition of

Jonathan Edwards. In the 19

th

century, Yankee evangelists sponsored a series of

revivals out of which emerged reform movements aimed againts slavery,

intemperance, and immortality. Yankees moving west carried this zeal for reform

to upstate New York and the Middle West. In these areas the Republican party

developed in the 1850’s as the heir of Puritan morality.

4. AN ANALYSIS OF NEGATIVE SIDE OF PURITANISM

4.1

Hypocrisy As The Negative Side of Puritanism

Another figure who plays important role in this drama of hypocrisy is

Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Among puritan society he is known as a minister,

clergyman as well as a reputable scholar. His close study in Biblical text and his

profession as a clergyman make him a very respected and prestigious man amidst

his society.

. . . a young clergyman who had come from

one of the great English universities, bringing all

the learning of the age into our wild forest land.

His eloquence and religious fervor had already

given the earnest of high eminence in his

profession.

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 72)

Because of his understanding if the bible supplemented with his godly guidance

and pastoral cares to his congregation, Rev. Dimmesdale appears to be a holy man

in the eyes of puritan society and he wins public affection. This image that creates

an assumption that he is not likely to do wrong nor to commit any sin. Perhaps

this situation has made it possible to him and to other magistrates to punish Hester

less severe compared to sanctions given to wrongdoers long before Hester’s time.

However, public opinion which regards him as having divine characters put him

into a dillema because himself, beyond their knowledge, is involved in adultery

case of Hester Prynne.

Rev. Dimmesdale’s life is always confronted with the dilemma and this

poor clergyman is invisibly sorrounded with complicated situation. First

complication which strikes his heart and soul is shown when he is invited by his

elderly Rev. John Wilson to handle Hester’s case and to persuade her to name her

sinner pertner, as can be seen in following quotation :

. . . here Mr. Wilson laid his hand on the

shoulder of pale young man beside him “I have

sought, I say, to persuade this godly youth that he

should deal with you.

. . .

“Good Master Dimmesdale,” said he, “the

responsibility of this woman’s soul lies greatly

with you. It behooves you, therefore, to exhort her

to repentance and to confession as a proof and

consequency thereof.”

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 71-72)

Above quotation also reveals his unreadiness in facing the reality. He is too scared

to be responsible for what he has done with Hester. He would rather keep the

secret inside him and let the fear take control of himself, which one of the

indications is reflected on his pale face.

Contrary to his intellectual life and his dignity in Puritan society, Rev.

Dimmesdale shows himself a coward, unresponsible scholar. He does not have the

courage to be responsible for his sinful deed. His cowardice defeats the

enthusiasm; He always encourages to his congregation whenever he gives sermon

in his saintly church; His fear of the responsibility goes on preventing him for

making confession of his sin and makes him a perfect hyprocite. The fear than

becomes an illness and is reflected on his countenance :

Not with standing his high native gifts and scholar

like attainments, there was an air about this young

minister-an apprehensive, a starled, a

half-frightened look . . .

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 72)

The honor that Rev. Dimmesdale receives from his society, especially his

congregation obviously forces him to conceal his darkside. There is a continous

fight inside him. The fight between the will to confess and the fear of spoiling his

reputation or public trust. He is aware that as a respectable clergyman he must not

commit any sin and if he still does one, he is to confess immediately. But as an

intellect he also realises that if he makes a confession that means he will not be

able to continue his ministery nor keep up with his pastoral profession. What

worries him most about making the confession is the prospect of his society’s life.

Their love and compassion have been heavily dedicated to him.

Time and perseverance Rev. Dimmesdale spends for years in Biblical

study also compells him to retain his holliness and since public opinion on him is

tendentiously high, he chooses to keep secret unrevealed. He has a vision that

public life is more important than his private life. So he keep the hypocrisy alive

within himself by neglecting his moral feeling that he should share Hester’s

shame. However, Rev. Dimmesdale is fully aware about his being hyprocite as

can be seen in the following quotation :

I charge thee to speak out the name of thy

fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any

mistaken pity and tenderness of him; for, believe

me, Hester, though he were to step down from a

high place, and stand there beside thee on thy

pedestal of shame, yet better were it so, than to

hide a guilty heart through life. What can thy

silence do for him, except it tempt him—

yea, compel him, as it were-to add hypocrisy to

sin.

Rev. Dimmesdale realises his hypocrisy but he does not have the galantry to

confess. From above quotation we can also see that he asks Hester to confess first

while himself, although he say he is ready to lose his reputation, he is afraid

giving the first confession. The veneration he obtains from the public has caused

fights inside is very deep soul and it severely tortures him. He wishes he could

speak out from his pulpit at full height of his voice and tell the people who

himself is. He longs to tell the public that the pastor they revere and trust is not

more than just a pollution and a liar. Many time he tries to utter those words of

confession from the pulpit and promises to himself that he will not step down

before he can do it but he never makes it after all.

The conflicts inside Rev. Dimmesdale’s soul then transform themselves

into an invisible insecurity and cristalized an illness. His illness could physically

be seen from his frequent gesture of putting his hand upon his breast. The gesture

which he always makes whenever he appears before the public could be

interpreted as his suffering from torments of the guilt or as his effort to hide his

sinful deed. Obviously, his feeling of guilt tails him wherever he goes and

whatever he does and the poor clergyman who, basically possesses an over

softness, becomes very weak figure as he personally admits it :

“And I-how am I to live longer, breathing the

same dale, shrinking within himself, and pressing

that had grown involuntary with him. “Think for

me, Hester! Thou art strong. Resolve for me!”

. . .

“Be thou strong for me!” answered he, “Advise

me what to do.”

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 187)

His weakness in facing the reality and the consequence of his sinful deed which,

at the beginning, is shown from his reluctance to interfere in Hester’s adultery

case, than becomes extensive after the arrival of Roger Chillingworth whose real

identity is revealed by Hester to him. And as we can also see from above

quotation, Rev. Dimmesdale can only rely on Hester. Fearing Roger

Chillingworth’s further torments and terrorizing vengeance, Rev. Dimmesdale and

Hester plan a runaway to Bristol by sea.

One of the hidden positive impact found in Rev. Dimmesdal is that he

actually hates hypocrisy and loves the truth. That is why he hates himself for

being unable to fight againts fright and hyprocisy. His feeling of love and care do

not fade from his heart, either. He shows that he loves Pearl and Hester and sides

them when he and his fellow magistrates have a dispute over Pearl’s education.

He kisses Pearl when they take a walk in the forest and when he is about to release

his last breath on the scaffold.

Following quotation presents Rev. Dimmesdale’s love and responsibility

to his congregation and his duty as a clergyman :

“it cannot be!” answered the minister, listening

as if he were called upon the realize a dream. “I

am powerless to go! Wretched and sinful as I am,

I have had no other thought than to drag on my

earthly existence in the sphere where providence

hath placed me. Lost as my own soul is, I would

still do what I may for other human souls! I dare

not quit my post, though an unfaithful sentinel,

whose sure reward is death and dishonor, when

his dreary watch shall come to an end!”

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 168)

His faithfulness to his profession and his fear of God the defeat his feeling of guilt

and nightmare of Roger Chillingworth’s vengeance. He still retains a positive

impact and his saintly quality finally regains a strength to confess his sinful deed

on the scaffold, accompanied by his fellow sinner Hester, and the result of their

shame, Pearl, before his last breath.

4.2

Arrogance As The Negative Side of Puritanism

As a woman brought up by a puritan family, Hester actually possesses

substantial faith and strong moral values implanted by her parents. Her happy

childhood in Old England, a city in Europe, was surrounded by religious people

living in houses pf gray stone and huge cathedrals in their environment as

symbols of their godly lives. However, as ordinary human being at an early stage,

she cannot resist the temptation when, for about two years she has to live alone as

a emigrant in New England without the control of her legal husband and she

commits an adultery. The adultery then become a black episode in the history of

Puritan society in the colony and to herself, it is a shame that she must burden int

her life time.

In spite of all the torments and disgraces acquired form her sinful deed,

Hester carries on. She does not lose the positive values of the teachings trained by

her parents. She still retains some through accounts, first, significant impact of the

Puritanistic teachings found in herself, is the courage to take the consequence of

her sinful deed.

Hester is not all afraid of the punishing and hostile eyes of the public

when, for the first time she is proclaimed an adulteress with the revelation of The

Scarlet Letter upon her bossom. She is so determined to take the punishment as

can be seen in the following quotation :

Stretching forth the official staff in his left hand,

thus drew forward; until, on the threshold of the

prison door, she repelled him, by an action

marked with natural dignity and force character,

and stepped into the open air, as if by her own

free will.

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 60)

From above quotation, we can also see that Hester is very prepared to face the

punishment. She also wants to show that she still has the dignity and does not

want to be treated low although she is a sinner woman.

Despite the severe punishment enforced by the society, Hester develops

her strong personality. She thinks what she has done is nothing wrong againts

God.

She believes that God is the Supreme being who predestines everyone’s

destiny. Thus, to her, the punishment comes from God not from the society and it

is just something that becomes a part of her life. So she lives her life as if nothing

has happened. She doesn’t feel humble or ask the society around her to be

symphatized with her, either. She proves to be a tough woman who is not easily

shivered by curse of the public every time they stare at The Scarlet Letter on her

bosom or by the mockery of Puritan children whenever she and her daughter goes

out to take a walk.

A noticeable impact of puritanism Hester holds after she performs the

punishment is her responsibility for the consequence of the adultery she commits.

She does not object to be kicked off the society and live in exile as an outcast. She

brings up her baby all by herself and earns a living with no one’s help nor

assistance. She could have asked Rev. Dimmesdale, her lover, to be responsible

and burden the disgrace together she does not do so. She looks onward herself and

realises that it is herself that is unable to resist the temptation and she tells herself

that what has happened is impossible to be altered. She would rather forget the

past and start all over again to build her future, especially for her daughter, than to

be drowned in gloom and misery. Hester is also very conscious that she cannot

depend on anybody because she has no relarive in the colony. But she is very

good at needlework. So with this talent, Hester earns a living and leads her

mournful life day by day.

Lonely as was Hester’s situation, and without a

friend on earth who dared to show himself, she,

however, incurred even no risk of want. She

possessed an art that sufficed, even in a land that

afforded comparatively. Little scope for its

exercise, to supply food for her thriving infant and

herself.

Above quotation shows us how Hester is so duty-bound for her daughter and she

indicates that anybody must be responsible for he or she has done no matter how

hard the situation is.

It is also noted that Hester pays special attention to the education of her

daughter. She is very sure that even a condemned and dirty women like her still

can give proper education to her daughter as a part of her responsibility. Hester

shows this by insisting on having her daughter, Pearl, educated by herself rather

than let the authority takes care of Pearl, as can be seen in the following quotation

:

“I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned

from this!” answered Hester Prynne, laying her

finger on the red token.

. . . .

“Nevertheless,” said the mother calmly, though

growing more pale, “this badge that taught me-it

daily teaches me-it is teaching me at this

moment-lessons where of my child may be the wiser and

better, albeit they can profit nothing to my self”

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 110)

By taking the responsibility to rear her daughter by herself, Hester has erased one

of the doctrines of puritanism that women are lower than men and she has shown

to the society that women are also able to do what men can do and she proclaims

that both men and women have the same right to do what they want.

Apart from puritanistic teaching that one should be educated to avoid

illiteracy and to be able to read Bible, Hester wants to educate her daughter in the

right way so that her daughter will not do the same mistake and inherit the

disgrace commited by her mother. To Hester, the teaching of moral values is more

important that secular indoctrination which always blinds the society around her

who frequently punish the sinners with the laws, the constitute awkardly. Hester

has seen that the punishment carried out by the society are nothing but

enforcements the power of the magistrates or authority which always torment and

causes mental breakdown to the culprits instead of correcting their conduct or

attitude.

As time goes by, the effect of the punishment gradually vanishes form

Hester’s potrait and her routine. The Scarlet Letter on her bosom is no more than

just a symbol of her past. Now the punishment has made her a woman of patience

and she fills her day to day life with perseverance. The needlework that she does

to earn her living is a symbol of her patience. Obviously she is very good at

needlework and perhaps she is the only woman out of her society possesses this

talent. Nevertheless, her skill does not make her proud. Using her creativity, she

makes gloves of puritanistic modes of dress for magistrates of richmen although

they hardly show appreciation of her creativity. What they remember when

wearing Hester’s handwork is only her dirty hands as a sinner. Anyway, Hester

does not take this ungratefulness to her heart. She is aware that she must persistent

in facing her life and take it as a sacrifice that she must offer. She understands

why people behave in such ways to againts herself and she restrains herself from

responding too much or too far to want people do to her because she is afraid that

her utterance or acts would turn into a curse instead. This can be seen in the

following quotation :

She was petient-a martyr, indeed but she forbore

to pray for her enemies lest, in spite of her

forgiving aspirations, the words of the blessing

should stubbornly twist themselves into a curse.

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 88)

So, there goes Hester tranquil life in her decayed cottage. She does not care too

much what people say or do to her. She has gathered all patience as a shield to

protect her from public despise and condemnation.

Hester’s being an outcast, living away from the society then amazingly

turns to be a blessing in disguise. She becomes a humble and charitable woman.

Her charity is noteable from following quotation :

Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in

charity, on wretches less miserable than herself,

and who not unfrequently insulted the hand than

fed them.

Hester could have applied her time on doing her needlework for money but she

makes clothes for the poor. She does so because she wants to pay for her sin. She

is ready to sacrifice everything including her worldly happiness and no matter

how much it takes. Until then people change the image of the Scarlet Letter from

originally a symbol of adultery into a more reputable one, “Able”. This is all

because of the feminim ability which she has. Even, then people forgive Hester

for her weakness and mistakes when commiting adultery and immediately they

welcome her as a part of the society:

The change of public image about Hester can be seen in the following

quotation :

Such helpfulness was found in her so much power

to do and power to symphatize-that many people

refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original

signification. They said that it meant “Able”; so

strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s

strenght.

. . . .

“it is out Hester-the town owns Hester-who is so

kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so

comforting to the afflicted!”

Cruel treatment of the society and the authority does not influence Hester’s

character. She goes on proving herself to be a forgiving and compassionate

woman. She fully understands that Rev. Dimmesdale has a share in the shame she

burden from the Scarlet Letter which everlastingly sticked upon her bosom but as

she can feel ho Rev. Dimmesdale has to fight againts the torment and suffering,

she declines from taking any revenge on anybody and shows her compassion

instead. She knows that there is only one way out to save her lover, Rev.

Dimmesdale, from the torment which gradually kills him. Her compassion then

defeats her and she breaks her promise to her ex husband, Roger Chillingworth,

by revealing his identity to her lover, Rev. Dimmesdale. Following quotation

shows how much Hester concerns about Rev. Dimmesdale and how sorry she

feels for him :

She had witnessed the intense misery beneath

which the minister, struggled, or, to speak more

accurately, had ceased to struggly. She saw that

he stood on the verge of lunacy, . . .

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 160)

A prominent blunder Hester has made in her life is unfaithfulness to her marriage

to her legal husband, Roger Chillingworth. As a congregation of puritanic society,

she has spoiled the values of puritanistic teachings by commiting adultery with

her spiritual guide, Rev. Dimmesdale. Her sinful deed which then brings shame to

her whole life is really againts the laws of puritan society although later she

consciously admits her betrayal as can be seen in the following quotation :

“I have greatly wronged thee,” murmused Hester.

. . .

“Wherefor does thou desire it.” Inguired Hester,

shrinking, she hardly knew why, form this secret

bond.

“Why not announce thyself openly, and cast me

off at once”.

(Nathaniel Hawthorne, 1959, p. 64)

From above quotation, we can also see that Hester honestly admits her mistake to

her ex husband and asks him to punish her as well although she knows that it was

entirely hers. Roger Chillingworth also has a share in it. He lets Hester live alone

in New England and knows about the affair, he does not try to correct it or regret

himself. This then makes Hester a bit reckless and selfish, she only thinks about

her lover, Rev. Dimmesdale. Finally, she is provoked to betray Roger

Chillingworth for the second time by helping Rev. Dimmesdale making the

confession on the scaffold together with her daughter, Pearl.

5.

CONCLUSION AND SUGGESTION

5.1

Conclusion

Hypocricy is a kind of dishonest manner which is similar to lying concept.

It is a coward attitude that stands behind the truth of what is done wrongly.

Hypocrite manner is an escape from what should be by pretending to do

something right. It can be seen from what Arthur Dimmedale has done. He

preaches that man must be free from sin to his congregation from the pulpit,

anyhow, he is not tightly doing what he has said. He fails to understand what life

is by directing Hester Prynne as his victim.

Hester is the target of big lies of the puritanistic teaching which are not

consequently performed in the real life. Hypocricy has destroyed her life because

of her weakness to sustain her marriage life. The adultery is asymbol of betrayal

towards the hypocricy of man’s behavior under the puritanistic dogmas.

Arrogance relates to authority that victimizes the weak. It is a sort of pride

that shows one’s authorized power on the other. Arthur Dimmedale’s arrogance is

to let Hester comes throuh the temptation without any defense from him as a

preacher. He enjoys his authority because of his power towards the weak. The

sense of arrogance has the negative tendency on overturning what is righ to be

wrong and vice versa. It is a social sickness that tends to break the rule only

because of having authrity and power.

Hypocricy and arrogance are the side effect of puritanistic teachings. They

happen because the characters or people want to hide what their weaknesses are.

They are supposed to be natural because they are not afraid anymor to God’s

power. What they fear is the people around them. Thus, hypocricy and arrogance

attitudes are the negative sides of puritanistic teachings because people are nnot

able to be pure or free from sinful deeds absolutely.

5.2.1

Suggestion

Literary work is a kind of social communication that needs reading

seriously. It summarizes the man’s life experience that needs to be shared here

and after. It is a product of the

past

that needs understanding

now

so we can

anticipate the

future

.

The Scarlet Letter

is a humanistic novel that concerns with

man’s life and problem. So, it is full with insights to deal with.

This study is just a part form many possibilities that can be traced. For

further study, the paper persuades its readers to move ahead by studying

something differently from what has been done in this paper.

REFERENCES

Bode, Carl. 1969.

The Highlights Of American Literature

. Washington: Usis.

Dryden, Edger A. 1977.

Nathaniel Hawthorne.

United Kingdom: Cornel

University Press Ltd.

Fleming, Andrew I. M. 1921.

The Founding of New England.

England:

Gower

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. 1959.

The Scarlet Letter.

Boston, Massachusetts: The

New American Library.

Leary, Lewis. 1971.

Criticism Some Mayor American Writers.

U.S.A: Holt.

Rinehart and Winston Inc.

Martin, Jay. 1967.

A Critical Study of Nathaniel Hawthorne and His “The

Scarlet Letter”

. New York: The Macmillan Company.

Seligman, Edwin R. A. 1935.

Encyclopedia of the Social Science vol. 9.

New

York: The Macmillan Company.

Shaw, Harry. 1972.

Concise dictionary of literary terms

. New York:

McGraw-Hill.

Stanton, Robert. 2007.

Teori Fiksi

. Yogyakarta: Pustaka Pelajar Offset.

Wellek, Rene, and Warren Austin. 1976,

Theory of Literature

. New York:

Penguin Books Ltd.

APPENDICES

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Biography

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born at Salem in Massachusetts on July 4, 1804.

He was a direct descendant of William Hawthorne, notorious for his persecution

of the Quakers, and of his son John, a prominent figure in the late seventeenth

century witch hunts. When Nathaniel was four years old his father, a sea captain,

died of yellow fewer while in Dutch Guiana. Then he lived with his mother

family, manning family in Maine. He was a very serious man. When he was

fourteen years old, Hawthorne sometimes went to Salem for studying and working

as a keeper book here and sometimes he was thinking of becoming an author.

Hawthorne went to Bowdoin college in 1821, a small college not far from

Raymond, Maine. He got his friends Horatio Bridge and Franklin Pierce in this

college and graduated in 1825. Under the Manning generousity Hawthorne lived

mostly at home, earned very little money, kept largely apart from society, and

kept reading and writing. When he was twenty four years old in 1824, he

published Franshawe by his own experience. In 1830, he published five tales and

sketches in the Salem Gazette. Although some of his works had got no readers but

he got an increasing reputation, especially from the publisher, and this situation,

made him live approximately in the visible world, and keep writing some literary

works. In 1836, he regarded as an editor for a few months of American Magazine

of Useful and Entertaining Knowledge. In this association Hawthorne not only

to go to the wicked old doctor, Chillingworth, and have a talk with him. With all strength and courage she owns, Hester goes to have a talk with her ex husband, doctor Chillingworth. She is a bit surprised to find that Chillingworth who used to be of little words, calm and a man of faculty now has transformed himself to be eager, searching yet carefully guarded look. Hester tells him that she will not keep the secret about himself anymore and she will disclose, especially to Dimmesdale, who actually Chillingworth is.

After her meeting with her ex husband, Chillingworth, Hester soon decides to see Dimmesdale. She determines to tell him the secret of Chillingworth at any risk. So when she hears that Mr. Dimmesdale has gone to visit Apostle Eliot the day before, she takes Pearl to a walk in a forest because she knows that Dimmesdale will pass by the path in the forest when he comes back. In the forest they sit down to rest and talk about the Black Man. Hester also let Pearl plays by herself near the stream. Pearl runs here and there and sometimes teases her mother with the scarlet letter in her bosom. From the talk between both mother and child it is noted that Pearl always notice that Dimmesdale always put his head on his chest as if to feel the pain in his heart.

Finally Dimmesdale passes by the path in the forest where Hester and Pearl has been waiting. They sit on a piece of wood and have a talki while Pearl is busy playing by the stream and something notice the two adults. Both Hester and Dimmesdale ask about each other condition and tell each other suffering. Until Hester mention her main purpose of meeting Dimmesdale, to tell Dimmesdale that doctor Chillingworth who is staying with him is an enemy.

Dimmesdale is shock with the fact that Chillingworth is her ex husband. However, Dimmesdale at last could forgive Hester for keeping the secret so long.

Shocking by the secret Hester has just told him, Dimmesdale’s condition becomes weaker and he please to Hester for the way out to save him. Hester pumps up the spirit of Dimmesdale. She recommends that Dimmesdale is not stay with Chillingworth anymore and better leave for somewhere as soon as possible.

Hester relieves all the burden and pain in Dimmesdale’s heart. She tells him to wake up and be someone new, forget about the past and create something new. And she makes Dimmesdale alive with spirit again. Hester next duty is to introduce Dimmesdale to her own child, the child resulted from his sin and Hester’s disgrace. But her first try to unite the wild Pearl and his sick father is unfriendly attitude by washing the mark of Dimmesdale’s kiss upon her forehead.

After the meeting in the forest with Hester, Dimmesdale shows some changes and physical improvements. His heart is covered with joy that Hester is willing to help to him and now she will arrange for their flee to Bristol. It happens that a ship is just arrive from Spanish Main and will depart in three days time. Dimmesdale thinks this very fortunate because in three days time he will given his Election Sermon, a very significant time in the carreer of a clergyman in new England and he will take opportunity to resign from his service as well.

Along his way home from the forest Dimmesdale encounters temptations. The temptations come to him through first, one of his deacons, then an old poor widow and the third, the youngest sister of his congregation. He does not understand and keeps asking himself why the shadow of evil keep haunting him.

Whe he finally arrive at home he wasten no time and start writing Election Sermon. When Chillingworth comes up, he straight forwardly tell him to stop his cure and reminds him that he does not need Chillingworth’s help anymore.

It is a custom thar Puritan celebrate election of a new government as a holiday. People from all part of Boston will get together at the market place to witness the procession. Dimmesdale as a clergyman will give his Election Sermon. Hester is also present with her Pearl, at the market place where the scaffold, she stands on seven years ago is firmly built. But Hester is so startled to see Chillingworth there. She notices him talking to the captain of the ship. Later she finds that Chillingworth is leaving on the same ship to Bristol.

Hester is now filled with confusion. She realises that Dimmesdale and herself is yet free from danger. Chillingworth is still after them, closer and closer. Her confusion is getting bigger when spectators from other parts of the area, stimulated and provoked by rumors, circle her and disturb her. Inside the church Reverend Dimmesdale gives his wise and beautiful election sermon. His sermon is about the relation between God and human which supposedly for New England people who live in wild world. Most people are carried away by Reverend Dimmesdale’s briliant and full of triumph sermon than ever. But his sad deep paths could not be interpreted otherwise than as the natural regret of one soon to pass away.

Now the music of the parade is heard again. The procession march from the church to townhall, where they will have a solemn banquet to end the ceremonies of the day. As the ranks of military men and civil fathers move

onward, all eyes turned towards the point where Reverend Dimmesdale is seen to approach among them. Some spectators can see how feeble and weak he look, amid all his triumph. He keeps on tottering and does not fall. Seeing the incident, Father John Wilson offers him a hand but Dimmesdale refuses. And now he has come opposite the well-recemberd and weatherdarkened scaffold where Hester stand holding Pearl by the hand.

Although the music is still played the stately and rejoicing march to which the procession moves and summons him onward, he makes a pause. Governor Bellingham, who for the last few moments has kept an anxious eye upon him, has left his own place in the procession, advances to give assistance, but there is something in Dimmesdale expression that warns him to step back. Then he turns toward the scaffold and stretches his arms. He invites Hester and Pearl to ascend into the scaffold together. The child, with the birdlike motion which is one of her characteristics, flies to him and clasps her arms about his knees. Hester slowly, as if impelled by inevitable fate, and againts all her strongest will-likewise draws near.

Old Chillingworth, filles with fear and feels himself as one that very much involved this miserable drama, thrusts the crowd among to snatch back Dimmesdale from what he sought to do. She whispers to Dimmesdale not to do foolish things and assures that Dimmesdale will never away from her and there is not place in the world that he can not touch but the scaffold. But the dying Reverend reassures that it is too late for the doctor to take revenge on him, and God will help him to break free.

With Hester’s arms around his waist and his head resting on her shoulder, Dimmesdale ascends the steps into the scaffold. He grasps Pearl’s hands tightly in his. Spectators are witness this unexplainable moments in amazement. He trembles, and with his doubtful and anxious look, he stares at Hester, but unable to conceal his withering smile. Then with a thundering voice he cries out to spectators, to people of New England who have loved him and reckoned him to be holy. He announces that he is nothing but a sinner. And he should have stood on the scaffold to confess his sin seven years ago with Hester because he shares the shame held by the scarlet letter worn by Hester.

Then with the rest of his strength he continues and points out that there is, actually a man whose sin and disgrace are unknown to public. He discloses the secret of doctor Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s ex husband and announces thar Pearl is his daughter. Then with his trembling hand he tear away the ministrial band from his breast and it is revealed, the symbol of shame as worn by Hester. The spectators are bewildered by horrible miracle while Reverend Dimmesdale stands with a flush of triumph in his face as one in the culmination of pain and he stumbles on the scaffold.

Hester partly raises him and supports his head againts her bosom. Old Chillingworth kneels beside him with an empty look on his face as if life has departed from his frozen body. Regret fills in his soul that Dimmesdale finally escapes from him. At this dramatic moments, with his weak-voice pronounces that Chillingworth, too, is deeply sinned yet he prays that God may forgive Chillingworth.

Then Dimmesdale turns to Hester and her child. Feebly he greets little Pearl. There is a sweet and gentle smile over his face to show that his burden is now removed. Pearl, who used to be wild, now develops all her sympathies and kisses Dimmesdale’s lips when he invites her to do so. Her tears fall upon her father’s cheek. Dimmesdale then says goodbye to Hester. He assures her that God has forgiven them by giving him the burning torture on his breast and by sending the terrible old Chillingworth to keep the torture heated otherwise he would have been lost forever. And this final word comes out with his last breath. After Dimmesdale death, Chillingworth also dies the same year and by his own will and testament, Pearl inherits a very considerable wealth both in England and America.

Hester and Pearl shortly left Boston for years. Pearl is happily married in Europe while Hester later returns and spends her last years till she dies and is burried next to her lover, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.