Individualism, although specific for each person, is extremely vague in different societies. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Puritan-era novel The Scarlet Letter intensely presents the contradicting representations of individualism and its effect on not only the individuals themselves but also on the entire society. In Puritan society, individualism is abhorred, yet many influential characters are strikingly different individuals. The Scarlet Letter presents individualism as an integral part of society due to the diversity of human personalities and passions, yet the strict society that Hawthorne depicts limits the true potential of individualism. Hester Prynne, an adulterer and supposed widow, mostly thrives on being an individual, yet is compelled …show more content…
Pillories are a crucial town element, the leaders of the town are older men, and any type of enjoyment is seen as a sin. However, one major lacking quality of the Boston setting is the Puritan commitment to community. John Winthrop, an influential Puritan leader in the real world and in the novel, writes in his sermon, “A Model of Christian Charity”, “[w]e must delight in each other; make others’ conditions our own; rejoice together, mourn together, labor and suffer together, always having before our eyes our commission and community in the work, as members of the same body. So shall we keep the unity of the spirit in the bond of peace” (“A Model of Christian Charity”). However, in the entire novel, the only time the community comes together is to witness the public humiliation and persecution of their fellow neighbors in their town, “where iniquity is searched out and punished in the sight of rulers and people; as here in our godly New England” (Hawthorne 43). Due to the harsh judgment of the Puritans in Hawthorne’s Boston that outweighs any form of acceptance, there is no true situation in which an individual would be able to survive and thrive in this …show more content…
From the introduction, she is depicted as young and strikingly beautiful compared to the other townspeople. She is also a force of unseen bravery, especially in the nature of her sin. In her first appearance, she is said to, “repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free-will” (Hawthorne 36). As part of her punishment, Hester must always wear a red “A” on her breast; the letter, meant to be a, “’mark of shame’” (Hawthorne 43), becomes a defining part of her identity, so much so that she beautifully embroiders the letter using her talent of sewing, which is considered to be self-indulgent in Puritan society, yet she takes much pride in. Demographically, as a young, single mother living outside of town, she is intentionally yet also unintentionally removed even further from Puritan society. However, as the novel progresses, Hester becomes more integrated into society; when she is more tolerated and needed by the community, she begins to lose all of her previous identity. She becomes a lifeless and gray woman who feels nothing. As much as she is distanced from society, whether by her own choice or mandated by the leaders, the narrator notes, “[i]t is remarkable, that persons who speculate the most boldly often conform with the most perfect quietude to the external regulations of