Overview Commentary
The social revolution of the late 1960's and early 1970s in America broke the chains of our country's moral conscience that had bound us to "right" and "wrong" regarding our personal behavior. "Free love" and the idea that "I can do my own thing" pretty much axed our traditional moral values handed down from our Puritan ancestors. Now, some fifty years later, the idea that a woman having a child out of wedlock would be not only frowned upon, but actually punished, is almost shocking to many of our students. Studying Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter has become a study of Puritan America, a look at (and inevitable comparison to) our current moral values to that time period--and how we've "come a long way, baby," as the popular 1970's slogan proclaimed.
Scarlet Letter Summary
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is separated from her husband on their way to America. She settles in Salem, Massachusetts, and when her husband doesn't show up for a year, she assumes he is dead and has an affair with the local preacher, Rev. Dimmesdale. She becomes pregnant, delivers baby Pearl into the world, and refuses to name the man who is Pearl's father. The story begins with Hester's leaving the prison holding Pearl and being put on public display on scaffolding where the local residents can further publicly humiliate her. She is forced to wear a big, scarlet letter "A" (for adultery) and is ostracized from society.
As luck would have it, Hester's husband, who assumes the name Roger Chillingworth, is in the crowd on the day Hester is put on public display. Seeing his wife has been unfaithful to him, he vows revenge. Chillingworth meets with Hester, making her promise to keep his true identity a secret. He eventually figures out Dimmesdale fathered Pearl, and posing as a doctor, infiltrates Dimmesdale's life. Under the guise of helping Dimmesdale, Chillingworth actively works towards Dimmesdale's total destruction. Ultimately, Rev. Dimmesdale's guilt does him in, Chillingworth dies, and Hester's good works over time put the scandal behind, to the point that some people think the "A" she wears stands for "able."
Teaching The Scarlet Letter & Points For Discussion
Puritan Values
A study of The Scarlet Letter should probably start with an introduction to or review of Puritan values, which would explain why the people of Salem treated Hester the way they did and would help students understand the characters' actions. Feelings like shame and guilt and fear, all very much a part of this story, come from crossing that big, bold, black line the Puritans drew between "right" and "wrong." Some critics even make a comparison between Hester Prynne and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Both crossed the line--both sinned--and both were sent away. Eve, recognizing her sin, also felt shame and guilt and fear. No discussion of Puritan values can be complete without a discussion of what "sin" is and why there is punishment for it in Puritan society. And no discussion of the characters in The Scarlet Letter can be complete without understanding the underpinnings causing these feelings which induce their actions.
Conflict
Studying the characters in The Scarlet Letter cannot be done without studying the element of conflict. While the proverbial love triangle is an obvious conflict in the novel, it is probably the most shallow one to discuss. The internal conflicts of Hester and especially Dimmesdale bore deeply into their psyche, so much so for Dimmesdale that his conflicts, his guilt, produce physical effects. The conflict that is the granddaddy of them all in the book, though, is good versus evil. Ultimately, it is the overriding power of good versus evil that causes all of the other conflicts and is the basis of the themes in the novel.
So, which wins--good or evil? That's a good question for discussion. The conclusion is that good wins because there is forgiveness. Hester survives, and her goodness, her kindness, her concern for her fellow man(kind) bring forgiveness from the community. Chillingworth, who is usually thought of as "evil" in the novel because of his all-consuming need for revenge, dies. Dimmesdale is literally consumed by his own self-absorption and guilt. But Hester...Hester has an innate goodness. She errs by committing adultery, recognizes her sin, accepts and lives her penance, and serves her community with love. She is forgiven. Love and goodness win.
What About Now?
Another good point for discussion which can lead to many different discussion tracts is looking at how that big, bold, black line of "right" and "wrong" that the Puritans lived by has become rather pale and faded in our society today. We talk about "zero tolerance" for certain things now, but the Puritans really lived "zero tolerance." What is adultery, why is it a sin, why was the punishment so harsh for committing it, why do we not punish it today? What is the effect of a lack of moral standards in a society? Is there anything so wrong about having a baby out of wedlock? What are the consequences for the parent, the child, and for society?
One place this discussion can also lead is to the question of personal freedoms and choices versus laws and rules that maintain society. What happens when we lose our sense of "right" and "wrong," when lying becomes the norm, and when self-absorption and self-gratification become our main concerns?
What is morality? Can we legislate it? What does "separation of church and state" mean? Is morality important for sustaining society? What is the inevitable end to an amoral society? If morality can't be legislated, how do we maintain a moral society?
Vocabulary Challenges But Bigger Challenges, Too
The Scarlet Letter is an old book written in a time when readers were educated people with good vocabularies. Today, just getting through the introduction to the story, the fifty-plus page section entitled "The Customs House," can be a chore even for college-bound students. We have developed strategies for dealing with the vocabulary problem--pre-reading vocabulary work, for example--to help our students who have limited vocabularies. Actually, there's a whole segment of the publishing industry devoted to enabling our students to read texts with (what is now considered) difficult vocabulary: side-by-side texts, SparkNotes, CliffsNotes, and more. Most recently, videos are produced to enable students to avoid reading at all. In light of this, here are more good discussion questions to pose: When you use these "tools," are you "cheating"? What IS "cheating"? Is "cheating" lying? How do you know when you are "cheating"? Is cheating a moral or an amoral act? Is lying? Should there be a punishment for cheating? Should there be a punishment for every amoral act? What criteria should be used to decide which amoral acts should be punishable? We have strategies for dealing with poor vocabularies, but what strategies do we have for dealing with the problem of amorality in our society?
We have Presidents and congress-people who have committed adultery and who lie on a regular basis. Yet, these same people often get re-elected term after term. Generally speaking, only those people who have made political enemies are punished for their amoral acts. Can your students give examples of this? What does this say about our society?
Conclusion
Although the language is somewhat archaic and difficult for most students, The Scarlet Letter continues to be required reading--and rightfully so. It plants us Americans in our Puritan roots, forces us to examine our personal and social consciences (or lack thereof), and it opens the door to discussions that helps us explore the question, "Have we really come a long way, baby?".
Resources For Teaching The Scarlet Letter