The Scarlet Letter as a Love Story

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The Scarlet Letter as a Love Story

-Subjectivity and impressionalism

• Hester says : The bond of marriage cannot balock the love relation
• The spiritual love relationship should be accompanied by the physical love
• One should be determinant in the physical as well as spiritual love

 

Describe “Scarlet letter” as a love story

If we analyze the novel “Scarlet Letter” from the perspective of the protagonist, Hester Prynne, we can make a claim that love relationship is upper than the board of marriage, the spiritual love is of no use if not accompanied by the physical love and one should be determinant in the love, which can be found in this novel to posit a claim that “Scarlet Letter” is a love story.

First of all Hester Prynne believes that the spiritual love should be accompanied by the physical love for the meaningfulness of the life. After her marriage with Roger chillingworth, she does not becomes happy. The aged and bookish chillingworth mostly remains outdoor neglecting the intentions and emotions of the life. As a unfulfilled wife Prynne thinks that it is injustice upon her from the part of her husband for not satisfying her sensually. In her pitch of sensuality she begins to consider chillingworth as a criminal. So, she chooses Arthur Dimmesdale to kill two birds with the same stone. One the one hand she has to punished  chillingworth, while on the other hand she has to quench her thirst. In the love relationship she is determined to prove that “Love has pitched it’s mansion in the place of excrement.”

For Hester Prynne, the love relationship cannot be blocked buy the bond of marriage. This definition of love gets fulfilled when Hester Prynne engages hessely in the extramarital love relationship. This notion of Hester makes her a post modern character who is determined to break the conventional rules of Puritan conservation.

Likewise, Hester’s act of recurring her loves in every hurdles (obstacles) prove that she is in love relationship with Dimmesdale she names child from Dimmesdale as “Pearl’ Which signifies something profane, sacred and precious. This importance to the production of the love affair is also symbol of love, when Arthur Dimmesdale is in the verge of collapse; it is Hester who persuades time and again not to be disrupted by the ill psychology. She never exposes the name of the person as the name of Dimmesdale who is in relation with her. This unexposition from teh side of Hester in also the symbol of love. Finally, Arthur Dimmesdale can get rid of his Psychological isolation and he surrenders to the Puritan society and after confessing his crime he dies. In his death there is only Hester Prynne with her Pearl to mourn at the death of Dimmesdale.

But from the perspective of Dimmesdale this relationship is the relationship of corruption, treachery and deception. If Dimmesadale were in the profane love, he would never have lost his hope of life as that of Hester. Similarly, the strict puritan society takes this relationship as a sinful activities because extra marital love relationship is denied in Christianity.

In the analysis of the novel as a love story we have to become a feminist and we should analyze story giving Hester Prynne post-modern quality. As the readers of pomo we should be critical towards the behaviour of Puritan Christianity which produces the males like Roger chillingworth, who fails in phsical and psychological love, and Arthur Dimmesdale, who in the name of love. Exploints the females but reject to struggle with the social evils. In this situation the struggle with the social evils. In this situation the novel: Scarlet Letter” can be take as the love story.

In conclusion, the post-modern cult in the character of Hester Prynne to define love in tome of the collaboration of physicality and spirituality, the breaking of the narrow boundary of marital bond in the love relationship and becoming determinant in the love relationship make that novel “Scarlet Letter” to be categorized not only as a love story but a post modern love story.

The Scarlet Letter as a Christian novel.

• Setting of the novel – It is set in the Puritan society of new England where the domination of Christinity is abundant.
• Almost all the characters of the novel perform their character in relation to in opposition to the Christinity so the notion of Christinity is the guiding element in the novel.
• The Christian rule that the person to commit the extramarital relationship should be punished in the Scaffold is depicted in the novel to make it a Christian novel.
• The poster of Daivd and Bathesewa in the room of Dimmesdale is the symbol of how the Christian authorities are violating the rules of Christinity. This is also the element to make the novel a Christian one.
• The novel takes the Puritan setting and it is written in a time of victorian aage, where there was the demination of Christinity. The domination of Christinity a s occurs in the novel, it is proved to be the Christian novel.
• Thought the elemination of Christinity is given, the anti-Christivnity became popular and victorious in the novel attack against the Christinity. The anti-Christian ethos in the novel is also related to the Cristinity.

Victorianism                                                    Post modernism

– Radical christinity                                         – Liberal christinity

– male dominated society                                – all are equal

– Hester’s revolutionary behaiour is similar to the revolutionary post-modernist character Sarah

– The scaffold of christinity though are absent in the present time of Pomo, the christinity is dominating the whole world because of the expansion of the west in the form of new-Colonialism.

Psychology of sin in the Novel “Scarlet Letter”

• Psychological isolation of Arthur Dimmesdale

– Ill intention of Arthur in his behave of sesuality with Hester Prynne.

– He is incapable to react against the ill behaviour of society

• Psychological sin comes from the Pearl : wh3n Paul asks about the Scarlet Letter A time and again with her mother and when Paul behaves differently with Arthur Dimmesdale this is the cause that haunts Hester and Arthur Dimmesdal.
• The poster of David and Batheshewa in the room of Arthur Dimmesdale haunts Arthur time and again

 Characterization

Arthur Dimesdale

• He is the member of the Christian authority
• In his mentality he has the Christian rules and regulations but in his pitch of emotionality he forgets his Christian rules and regulations and commits the crime.
• But his incapability to protect himself or to depend himself is the cause of his death
• He is the man of in betweeness.