Elements of Transcendentalism and Anti-Transcendentalism in "The Scarlet Letter"

          Published in 1850 by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the dark romantic story of The Scarlet Letter was immediately met with success. It had made quite an impact on Europe’s literary circles, portraying Hawthorne as the first fictional writer to truly represent American perspective and experience. At the time when most novelists focused on the outside world, Hawthorne dwelled deeply in the innermost, hidden emotional and mental psyches of his characters. More than one and a half century later, The Scarlet Letter is now part of the American literary canon, invoking incessant critical reviews on its numerous and rich political, religious, scientific, and social themes. The wide range of modern themes on The Scarlet Letter includes: feminism, literary symbolism,  medicine/toxicology,  morality,  politics,  sociocultural aspects, or socio-religious topics such as Christianity and Puritanism etc.

          The Scarlet Letter contains both transcendentalist and anti-transcendentalist views and ways of life organizing around the central theme of sin. Hester’s sin is her adultery with Dimmesdale, which produces her child Pearl. Dimmesdale’s sin is his failure to publicly admit his act of adultery with Hester. And Chillingworth’s sin is his ruthless torture of Dimmesdale, despite the latter’s remorse and sufferings. The basic premises of transcendentalism depicted in the novel include beliefs in self-confidence and self-reliance, in transforming or changing for the better, in individual worth and dignity of manual labor, in innate goodness of people, in the benefits of living close to nature, and in the fact that truth is acquired through intuition, not reason nor logic.

          As discussed above, in addition to transcendentalist aspects shown primarily in Hester and Pearl, anti-transcendentalist elements are also presented in Hawthorne’s famed novel. These elements include moral corruption, guilt, hatred, revenge, etc. that are expressed prominently in the characters of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. These two characters represent aspects of anti-transcendentalism because Dimmesdale is a man of dignity and a religious Puritan minister, and Chillingworth is a rational man of high academic learning. In a way, Puritans are like anti-transcendentalists because they believe that humans are born sinners, predestined in the eyes of God.

Transcendentalism

1.     Self-confident, Self-reliant, and Dignity of Manual Labor:

        In The Scarlet Letter, it is initially determined by the local government that the typical penalty of death for adultery is mercifully reduced due to the fact that Hester’s husband may already be “at the bottom of the sea” (deceased) and she can be effectively considered a widow. As a result, Hester is condemned to stand on the scaffold for three hours at mid-day for public humiliation and wear the scarlet letter A on her chest for the remainder of her life. Although Hester is initially filled with grief and shame for being subject to ridicule and harsh judgment by the townspeople, she chooses to be self-confident and self-reliant. Instead of letting the scarlet A letter be a symbol of her shame, she selects the finest red cloth and embroiders the letter A with illuminated gold thread to celebrate her unique life, away from the relation with her fellow Puritan society. Perhaps, instead of wearing the typical scarlet letter A as a symbol of shame (Adultery), she proudly wears hers as a token love for Dimmesdale and continues to live a life undisturbed by the harsh judgment of others around her.


2.     Transformation and Innate Human Goodness:

        During the early years of her seclusion from society, Hester experiences some transforming or changing in herself. This transformation in Hester, from anger or resentment to love, is a clear display of transcendentalism. She can experience the beauty of love due to good human nature, reflecting transcendentalist ideology  because of her transformation and her innately good character, Hester never stops helping those who are destitute or sick nearby  her place. Her “human tenderness,” a prominent transcendentalist characteristic, causes the town people to begin to appreciate her charity work; they see the change in the meaning of the fiery letter A on her chest, from “Adultery” to “Able”. Hester’s decision to openly acknowledge her sin allows her to keep it from destroying her from the inside, to move on with life, to seek forgiveness, and to flourish as an “able” and caring individual in society – thereby increasing the worth of herself and her societal standing.


3.     Living Close to Nature:

        To support her infant child Pearl, Hester settles on the outskirts of town, in an abandoned cottage that is next to the seashore and surrounded by the forest to the west. Alone, she utilizes her skills in needlework to make a living and raise Pearl. She does not leave town, perhaps with a dream to reunite with her lover again someday. The woods, the seaside, and the nature surrounding Hester and Pearl are also the places where the innocent Pearl is free to express herself, to develop her free-spirit character, and to become independent like her mother. Just like Hester, Pearl is a wonder because she is independent and is not corrupted by institutional rules and laws of society.



Anti-Transcendentalism

1.     Studied the effects of sin and guilt:

        As Hester was on her punishment of adultery, Dimmesdale was feeling very much guilty but he could not accept it easily because of his power position. He knows that sin was not done by Hester but he was also as guilty as Hester and child was also his. As he was feeling guilty whenever he was also so he has also carved an A on his chest to take punishment more than Hester. Dimmesdale was loving her truly so he could not see her in pain and staying away from him with a child and managing everything by her own.


2.     Studied the evil and emptiness of life:

        We know that Chillingworth was not happy to see that Hester her wife has given birth to a child out of wed-log in his absence. He could not see that Hester was living happily with his child alone in the forest. So he tried to know the name of her lover but somehow he came to know and Chillingworth was working as a doctor in the town. Dimmesdale was not well from long time so someone suggested him to take medicine from Chillingworth. So at that time Chillingworth gave him a wrong medicine in order to take revenge from Dimmesdale. As we know that Chillingworth has lost his family and was in darkness and emptiness in life.


3.     Developed from the Puritan thoughts:

        As we know that the setting of the novel is of Puritan and this society was very much rigid in religion and with one kind of mindset. When the society came to know that Hester has created a sin at that time they gave her a punishment of adultery and she was told to wear an A letter carved on her bosom and also have to live far from the society. When she came out of the prison after giving the birth she was told to stand at the scaffold for three hours and tell the name of the father.