Anne Hutchinson vs. Hester Prynne: both deviate from society, one good, one bad
nonetheless, in Ch. 2 Hester Prynne is described via a lot of religious imagery
page 51: reference to “a halo”
the rose parallels the scarlet letter
both born grown from shame (prison soil/adultery), both can potentially represent transformation(?)
first two buildings constructed are graveyard and prison
ways of enforcing divine law (death) or human law (imprisonment)
reflects how Puritans treat religion and law as one and the same
2: The Market-Place
this chapter serves to establish a lot of setting
Puritan demeanor: narrator says they might as well be witnessing someone’s execution
vicious jealousy from other women in town
location: the market-place
not-so-subtle comparison of Hester to the Virgin Mary
the flashback scene is pretty incredible IMO
3: The Recognition
interesting misdirection with the Indian man at the start; helps build suspense
for reveal of the husband
- I thought having a townsman explain his own backstory to him (since he’s pretending to be a stranger) was a pretty clean and clever narrative choice
also suspense w/ Dimmesdale
parallels drawn to Hester, seems to want to retreat into the crowd/“shadows”
could he be…?
4: The Interview
some very nice characterization of the husband
highly rational, as expected of such a scholar
says he doesn’t want to kill Hester because he thinks it’s a worse punishment
forcing her to live with her mark of shame
lots of fire imagery
at the end, allusion to Hester making a deal with the devil (the Black Man/her husband)
roger seems to really pin his failure with Hester on his physical deformity, but that certainly can’t be the only factor
5: Hester At Her Needle
good depiction of what life would be like constantly having to wear the scarlet letter
everyone in town still wearing her needlework---depicting how everyone has sin?
hester questions this herself, begins to see the evil in all those around her
the letter is slightly reminiscent of the One Ring
like hawthorne himself, still feels attached to this horrible place
6: Pearl
at start, Pearl is paralleled to the flower, and Hester to Anne Hutchinson
Pearl is Hester’s one remaining link to the “mortal” world
should we consider Hester a (fallen) angel or a devil?
Pearl, too, has this angel/devil duality (moves toward devilish imagery as the story progresses)
figuratively, born from an angel (Hester) + demon (father)?