The Scarlet Letter Post One

    The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is set in Puritan New England prior to the establishment of the United States. Puritan society had, as Hawthorne described it, "the chillest of social atmospheres" (p. 9). This was due to the rigid social rules that the Puritans adhered to. These rules, like laws, were derived from the Puritan religion, and "religion and law were almost identical" (p 46). These laws dictated that adultery, the act committed by Hester Prynne, was illegal. The description of the strict laws and social customs of the time allows us, as Americans ("us" in this case refers to our class, not to all readers of the book), to understand why Hester was punished and essentially exiled for something that, in our country today, is not illegal and does not have such severe social consequences.
     The physical description of the setting serves to create a contrast between Hester and her daughter, Pearl, and the place in which they live.  Hester and Pearl exist in the midst of people in "sad-colored garments," (p. 43) later described as "stern-browed men and unkindly visaged women" (p. 50). Hester, on the other hand, is described as having "dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam; and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness of belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes" (p. 49). Adjectives such as "abundant," "glossy," and "beautiful" create a vibrant image that contrasts with the dull image created by the use of "sad-colored," "stern-browed," and "unkindly visaged." This contrast makes Hester stand out in more ways than simply being the protagonist. It creates an image of her being the only one in the town who is truly alive, although she is also the one marked by sin.  Later in the book, the house in which Hester and Pearl live is described as a "lonesome dwelling" (p. 78) surrounded by "scrubby trees" (p. 78). Pearl is described as having "an absolute circle of radiance around her on the darksome cottage floor" (p. 88). This contrast between "radiance" and "darksome" gives the reader the impression of Pearl, like Hester, being a being of a different, more lively and vibrant, nature than her surroundings. This impression is reinforced when Pearl is compared to an "airy sprite" (p. 90). The image of Pearl created for the reader is one of light and life that sets her apart from the lonely place in which she lives. The contrast between the mother and child and the setting of the story helps the reader to understand that these characters are worth more than their sin and the place and people who condemned them, and are capable of rising above them.