The Scarlet Letter

Orestes Brownson's critique of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, begins with praising Hawthorne for his "genius" in literature and further saying "in the species of literature he cultivates has no rival in this country" (250). However the compliments stopped at the end of the first paragraph, and the assassination of The Scarlet Letter began. Brownson agrees that even in the times of the Puritans adultery was committed, but they were never written about, and it should have stayed that way. Brownson views that Hawthorne's publicizing of the criminal act of adultery in the form of literature is an unfit subject because the reader is left to imagine the affair, which in turn leads to immoral thoughts, another crime against God. Brownson goes on to defend his claim by asserting that Hester's suffering is not out of remorse for what she has done, but from regret that her crime had been exposed. The Rev. Dimmesdale, according to Brownson, suffers not from committing the adultery, but from not being the person his parishioners proclaimed him to be, guilt for not being man enough to confess his part in the crime so that Hester would not be the only one branded an adulterer. Brownson is upset that neither Hester or Dimmesdale asked for forgiveness, and faults Hawthorne for portraying the characters attitude towards the crime as if it was not a crime, because they loved each other. Brownson then quotes The Bible, to prove that since Hester was still married the act of bedding another man's wife is a crime against God's law taken from the scriptures. The last problem Brownson has with Hawthorne's writing is the way Hawthorne seems to confuse repenting and confession. Repenting is the asking God to forgive you for sinning whereas, confessing is just us admitting our transgression, which according to Brownson is "our duty" that "we owe God" (253).

Do I agree with Brownson? No I do not. Nathaniel Hawthorne used his penmanship not to glorify adultery. On the surface, it appears to be that way, but when we look within the text, I feel, that Hawthorne is attacking the male dominated patriarch. He transfers the gender roles of Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester, who is suppossed to be submissive to her husband, and keep to her wedding vows, even though she was not happy in her marriage and had not seen her husband in a year, is a brave, strong willed, and a pioneering feminist of her time. Hester was passionate in her beliefs, and a survivor. She did not allow the hypocrits of the church and the public who passed judgement on her when the scriptures explicitly say in Matthew 7:1, "Judge not or you too will be judged"(www.biblegateway.com). She did not allow their ignorance to kill her. Rev. Dimmesdale on the other hand took on the role of what is characterized as the the females role is a patriarchal male dominated society. Dimmesdale kept his sins quiet. He allowed Hester to carry his cross along with hers. He was guilt stricken, but silent. Rather than shame himself in the eyes of his followers he kept his sins to himself. The male is suppossed to be a leader who is strong, and domineering. It is Hester who fulfilled those charactersitics, whereas the female is suppossed to be weak, silent and submissive, characteristics Dimmesdale fulfills. Dimmesdale is submissive to his churchm rather than let down his followers he chose to be silent which not only weakened his body but also his soul. He allowed the silence of his sin to kill him.

Work Cited:

"Bible Gateway." BibleGateway.com. 1984. Biblica. 3 September 2009.


Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter and Other Writings. Norton Critical. New York. W.W. Norton & Company Ltd. 2005. Print.