From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of reform and history in The Scarlet Letter

Transcription

1 Neohelicon (2017) 44: DOI /s From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of reform and history in The Scarlet Letter Zhongfeng Huang 1 Published online: 13 March 2017 Ó Akadémiai Kiadó, Budapest, Hungary 2017 Abstract One of the central questions Nathaniel Hawthorne ( ) endeavors to address in his major novels is how social reform can be informed by historical consciousness. In view of this consistent subject in Hawthorne s works, this essay attempts to explore the inextricable relationship between Hawthorne s reformist impulse and his strong awareness of the past in his major novel, The Scarlet Letter. By focusing on both the necessity of reform and the exigency of the historical sense in Hawthorne s works, this essay argues that the significance of his contribution to American literature is better understood if special emphasis is placed on how his political and historical concerns interact in his major novel. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne s return signifies a transformation from social rebel to conformist, which is designed to illustrate a revised and democratic relationship between self and community, although it fails to lead to full reconciliation between the two. I argue that the dialectical connection between Hawthorne s reformist impulses and historical consciousness resolves the acute conflicts between self and society in this novel. Keywords Hawthorne Social reform Historical consciousness The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne, a landmark figure in nineteenth-century American literature, is at the center of the tradition of the American novel. More precisely, Hawthorne has been considered a pioneering figure in a tradition of American national literature & Zhongfeng Huang hzfpku@163.com 1 School of Foreign Languages, Beihang University, 37 Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing , China

2 524 Z. Huang that is distinct from its European forefathers. 1 Hawthorne wrote during a time when America was striving to establish its cultural and literary independence following its political independence. Hawthorne s name is immediately identified with The Scarlet Letter, and the 1850 publication of this novel immediately earned him fame and fortune, and firmly established his solid position in American literary history. Nevertheless, before this novel appeared, Hawthorne had already gained some local fame with the success of his short stories, especially Twice-Told Tales (1837) and Mosses from an Old Manse (1846), which impressed readers with their allegorical style and imaginative power. These works address specifically American subject matter, namely the Puritan past of Massachusetts. For this reason, Hawthorne is favorably regarded as a writer of local flavor, which can be paradoxically considered both an advantage and a defect in his writings. Hawthorne s advantageous employment of Puritan past is astutely noticed by Henry James, who discusses Hawthorne as a beautiful, natural, original genius while praising the spontaneity of the imagination in Hawthorne: [h]is work will remain; it is too original and exquisite to pass away No one has had just that vision of life and no one has had a literary form that more successfully expressed his vision (James 1966: 155). This vision contributes to Hawthorne s iconic position in the American literary tradition. Moreover, both James and F. O. Matthiessen enthusiastically acknowledge Hawthorne s very acute historical sense, which is peculiarly American (qtd. in Matthiessen 1968: 320). Despite all the strength exhibited in Hawthorne s writing, there are also clear weaknesses. Richard Poirier, comparing James and Hawthorne, concludes that Hawthorne projects no social class or type, nor does he observe social conduct or describe the social idiosyncrasies of his fellow citizens (Poirier 1966: 105). Notably, Poirier regards the shortage of a repository of human experience as an insurmountable obstacle for Hawthorne to generate meaningful works. Nevertheless, while bearing in mind the social context of Hawthorne s experience, we should not be so captious about his writing simply because America then was too barren to produce any but the more simple forms of literary life (Poirier 1966: 98). Hence, when no ready-made contemporary materials were available for literary production, Hawthorne naturally made full use of Puritan tradition. In addition to Hawthorne s obsession with the Puritan past, another consistent subject in Hawthorne s works is his political concern, particularly his preoccupation with social reform, which is especially related to his political experience. In March 1846, Hawthorne was appointed the Surveyor of the Custom House in Salem with the help of old friends. Although this post solved the financial problems of Hawthorne s family, 2 he was understandably deprived of time for literary writing. Nevertheless, during his tenure, he developed some ideas for a novel based on his family s Puritan background. The Whigs victory in the election in 1848 resulted in 1 In his essays The American Scholar and Self-Reliance, the nineteenth-century transcendentalist Ralph Waldo Emerson strongly appeals to the American writers to set up a tradition of American literature and to eliminate the influences of the European literary tradition. 2 His first son Julian was born in the same year, aggravating his already grave financial burdens.

3 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 525 the loss of Hawthorne s profitable position, which gave rise to severe financial stress. However (and fortunately), this state of unemployment also provided him with time and inspiration to write The Scarlet Letter, with a preface containing satirical references and allusions to his 3-year tenure at the Custom House and to some local politicians. 3 The great success of The Scarlet Letter and Hawthorne s intense experiences inspired him to work on another novel, The House of the Seven Gables, which was completed 1 year later. Both novels won enthusiastic praise from many contemporary and later writers and critics, but in terms of the significance of these two works, critics differ considerably. D. H. Lawrence contends that there could be no more perfect work in terms of American imagination than The Scarlet Letter (qtd. in Miller 1991: 284). In contrast, the poet and critic James Russell Lowell regards The House of the Seven Gables as the most valuable contribution to New England history that has been made (Lowell 1997: 191). Lawrence s comment arises from his concern about literary style and technique, whereas Lowell s assessment focuses almost exclusively on the theme. Admittedly, the distinct perspectives employed by different critics result in conflicting conclusions regarding the significance of these two works. Hawthorne was a prolific writer. More than six novels 4 and many tales and sketches were published both during his lifetime and posthumously. Most of these works employ the literary form of allegory or romance, and thematically address a range of problems centered around Puritanism, such as the severity of the Puritan way of life, the blackness of the human heart, the ordeal of the Puritan conscience, the weight of the past upon the present, and the possibility of social reform. Compared to the moral, ethical and historical facets of Hawthorne s works, Hawthorne s political concern has not been given sufficient attention. Therefore, I examine Hawthorne s idea of social reform in his masterpiece. The central issue I discuss in this essay is the manner in which Hawthorne advocates social reform, which must be informed with a rich historical consciousness. How does Hawthorne address the apparent antithesis of social reform and a sense of the past? What can both self and community contribute to social intimacy and a fulfilling form of democratic life? What is the antagonistic relationship between aristocracy and democracy? Certainly, there are no easy answers to these questions. The major reason that it is difficult for us to explicitly identify Hawthorne s stance is that there are many ambiguities in his works concerning the theme of social reform. Moreover, the changing social context of nineteenth-century America further complicates our effort to grasp Hawthorne s political ideas as expressed in these works. 3 In a letter to his publisher James T. Fields with regard to the latter s misgivings toward the preface, Hawthorne wrote: In the process of writing [The Scarlet Letter], all political and official turmoil has subsided within me, so that I have not felt inclined to execute justice on any of my enemies. See Mellow (1998: 310). 4 According to the publishing date, Hawthorne s major novels are as following: (1) Fanshawe (published anonymously 1828); (2) The Scarlet Letter (1850); (3) The House of the Seven Gables (1851); (4) The Blithedale Romance (1852); (5) The Marble Faun (1860); (6) The Dolliver Romance (1863).

4 526 Z. Huang The following section of this essay is devoted to examining Hawthorne s idea of social reform in The Scarlet Letter. 5 I shall attempt to investigate Hawthorne s idea regarding the necessity of reform and his insistence on the proper recognition of historical heritage, whether of the self or the community. Hawthorne apparently supports social reform, but not the type that breaks with the past. What he attempts to project in his works is a society whose reform project can be reconciled with a sense of historical continuity. This essay discusses the character of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter by focusing on her development from a social rebel to an ambiguous conformist and argues that the theme of social reform is intricately linked with a historical sense. The judgment of Hester Toward the end of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne abruptly declares the return of Hester Prynne to the Puritan community, which has been the source of all her suffering. Hester s sudden return, quite unaccounted for in the novel, is pregnant with ambiguities in terms of Hester s relationship to the Puritan community (Bercovitch 1988: 2). First, Hester s return symbolizes a certain degree of reconciliation between Hester and the community that once inflicted so much suffering and ignominy onto her. Moreover, after returning from Europe, Hester resumes the scarlet letter A on her bosom of her own free will (SL 165). 6 The A that Hester takes up voluntarily this time is in stark contrast with the scarlet letter imposed upon her at the beginning of the novel. In the beginning, the scarlet letter A signifies a mark of shame (SL 46) and a scorching stigma (SL 157). However, the meaning of the same letter undergoes a significant change after Hester s return: the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world s scorn and bitterness (SL 165). This abundance of ambiguities invites readers to inquire into the causes of the changed understanding of the letter. In other words, the problem at the center of the novel is the changed relationship between Hester and her community, or the process by which Hester is transformed from a social rebel to a conformist. The dialectical connection between Hawthorne s reformist impulses and his historical consciousness, I argue, is what underlies the acute conflicts between self and community in the novel. Hester s confrontation with the Puritan community was evident from the time her adultery was discovered. The Puritan community, in which religion and law were almost identical (SL 37), is characterized by its intolerance and the severity of its punishments. The town-beadle, when escorting Hester to the pillory, became the symbol of the whole dismay severity of the Puritan code of law (SL 39 40). More 5 It must be noted that Hawthorne s novel The Blithedale Romance particularly addresses the subject of social reform, the Brook Farm experiment. There has been considerable research in this novel in terms of reform. However, it seems that inadequate attention has been paid to the consistent theme of reform in his two major novels. 6 Hawthorne (2005). The Scarlet Letter and other writings: authoritative texts, contexts, criticism. New York and London: Norton. All subsequent references to The Scarlet Letter (Norton edition 2005) are given in brackets as SL in the text.

5 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 527 conspicuously, civil and religious powers were exercised by the elderly magistracy and the stern clergy, who represented both good citizenship and social order. Thus, one obvious question arises: if no possible sympathy could issue from the authority figures of the community who are least fit to meddle with a question of human guilt, passion, and anguish (SL 48), readers naturally hope that the female spectators can at least exercise their capacity for sympathy with their fellow citizen when she is ruthlessly exposed on the scaffold with 3-month-old Pearl in her arms. Ironically, the female residents are those who demand even more severe punishments for Hester when the elderly judges have already reduced the death penalty to 3 hours of public exposure on the pillory and for the remainder of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom (SL 46). Hester is left alone in her stark confrontation with the community and refuses to yield; instead, she impresses the symbol of her sinful past with perfect elegance (SL 40), her remarkable beauty and defiance repelling the grim and grisly town-beadle (SL 39). The scarlet letter A is intended predominantly to serve two functions for the Puritan community. Primarily, it is a noticeable sign of ignominy and shame that works upon Hester like a spell, constantly reminding her of her own sin, and marking her as a social rebel, implicitly taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself (SL 41). With a conspicuous symbol of isolation and exclusion on her body, Hester is cruelly expelled from the community. Another function of the letter is to warn others not to commit such a transgression against rigid Puritan law. In a similar vein, the image of the scaffold is designed to remind the locals of good citizenship and obedience. However, both the letter and the pillory fail to achieve their effect because of Hester s unusual vigor and defiance as if her own free will (SL 40) overrides the Puritan law, which is not characteristic of a repentant sinner. As the letter A alienates Hester from the other residents, the basic symbolic opposition in The Scarlet Letter, namely that between self and society is established between Hester and the local Puritan community (Bercovitch 1993a: 29). The conflict is markedly reinforced when Hester is physically banished from the community and ordered by the magistrates to live an isolated and lonely life with Pearl in a shabby cottage. Hence, living alone in a shanty on the margins of the Puritan community becomes a severe punishment for Hester because it physically severs the many ties between the polluted soul of an individual and the orthodox Puritan community. Meanwhile, the scarlet letter, as a symbol and reminder of Hester s sin, had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself (SL 61). The compelling effect of the letter renders Hester a marginalized and excluded figure. This striking mark of sin even exercises a compelling effect upon children who are still too young to comprehend wherefore this woman should be shut out from the sphere of human charities (SL 57) but who have learned to abhor the woman upon whom society had set the stigma of the moral outcast (Abele 1952: 307). At this point, as astutely noted by Darrel Abel, the universal duty of acknowledging brotherhood even with the guiltiest is abrogated by the pitiless treatment of Hester (ibid.). In short, the severity of Puritan law deprives the local residents of sympathy and compassion for

6 528 Z. Huang Hester and initiates further confrontation among Hester and the Puritans, self and community. Hester s radical 7 years Hester might have left the place of her shame and misery, but she remains and faces her past with pride and defiance. During her seclusion from the local Puritan community, Hester undergoes remarkable and even radical changes, both physically and mentally. When Hester first walks out of the prison, her striking beauty astonishes the audience: she was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, [she] had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes (SL 40). She is perceived to be ladylike, an image distinct from a sinner. However, after 7 years, Hester s beauty gradually fades or, rather, her former feminine elegance and dignity are transformed to a bare and harsh outline (SL 107). Even, her former fine clothes are replaced by more austere dress. Mentally, Hester also experiences radical changes. During the 7 years of opposition between Hester and Puritan society, she lives through moral dangers because all possible affectionate contacts in her social life are removed. Similar to the wilderness of the place Hester lives, there is a moral wilderness isolation and free speculation that, ironically, allows room for Hester s radical criticism of the Puritan Order: The world s law was no law for her mind. It was an age in which the human intellect, newly emancipated, had taken a more active and a wider range than for many centuries before Men bolder than these had overthrown and rearranged the whole system of ancient prejudice, wherewith was linked much of ancient principle. Hester Prynne imbibed this spirit. She assumed a freedom of speculation, then common enough on the other side of the Atlantic, but which our forefathers, had they known it, would have held to be a deadlier crime than that stigmatized by the scarlet letter. (SL ) In the quotation above, Hester shows no willingness to conform to Puritan law. Instead, she has a law of her own. Words such as emancipated and active illustrate enthusiastic support of Hester s wild mind. Hester s way of thinking and her ideas are reminiscent of the revolutionary background of Europe in 1848 because they transcend the boundaries established by the rigid Puritan laws (Reynolds 2005: 629). Nevertheless, such uncontrolled thinking may result in the overthrowing of the existing social and religious order. Hence, from the Puritan perspective, freedom of thinking is a more devastating sin than that of adultery. The essential characteristic of sin illustrates the Puritans fear of Hester s free thinking: sin breaks the religious covenant between the individual and God. Hester s adultery has already transgressed the Puritan code, for which Hester is severely punished. In contrast, free thinking, particularly Hester s free thinking, poses a disastrous threat to the established religious and political order.

7 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 529 Hawthorne takes an ambiguous attitude toward Hester s free speculation. On the one hand, to a certain extent, Hawthorne affirms this independence of mind in that it provides an alternative to and critical perspective on reforming the whole system of ancient prejudice. On the other hand, Hawthorne censures Hester s unguided and unbridled freedom of thinking; just two paragraphs later, Hester s heart is described as ha[ving] lost its regular and healthy throb, and we are told that she wandered without a clew in the dark labyrinth of mind (SL 108). Hester is offtrack and disoriented. Hawthorne is ambiguous in that he both sympathizes with Hester s radical thinking and reproaches her for her estrangement from society. This point is subtly conveyed by the narrator s thought-provoking remark midway through the novel: The scarlet letter had not done its office (SL 109). By denying the efficacy of the scarlet letter at this moment, Hawthorne alludes to the failure of the scarlet letter and thus censures its effect in reforming Hester into a conformist in the community. At the same time, this failure is a result of Hester s overabundance of self-will and radical thinking. There are two other occasions in the novel where Hester s wandering in the moral wilderness is mentioned and censured. When Hester decides to take the footpath to reach the mystery of the primeval forest, the forest hems the path so narrowly, and stood so black and dense on either side, and disclosed such imperfect glimpses of the sky above (SL 118). Notably, it resembles Hester s mind, lost in the moral wilderness in which she has been wandering for 7 years. Even Pearl recognizes that the sunshine is hiding from Hester because of the scarlet letter A. On another occasion, Hawthorne notes that Hester s moral wilderness is a direct outcome of her estrangement from the community: She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest, Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods. For years past she had looked from this estranged point of view human institutions, and whatever priests or legislators had established; criticising all with hardly more reverence than the Indian would feel for the clerical band, the judicial robe, the pillory, the gallows, the fireside, or the church. The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. (SL 128) From the lines above, we can see that Hester s freedom of mind is mentioned at least five times: wandered, without rule or guidance, roamed, as freely as the wild Indian in his woods, and free. This freedom of speculation, as revealed in the last line, is a privilege brought about by the scarlet letter, which serves as a unique passport. The result is that it provides her with a firm belief in social injustice. Hester s radical solution is to tear down the system of society and build it anew. In addition to her scorn for the world s law and all human institutions, whatever priests or legislators had established, Hester is doubtful of the whole system of society and the remedy. In the extreme, she even directs her radicalism against the lives of herself and her daughter: a fearful doubt strove to

8 530 Z. Huang possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide (SL 108). In short, Hester has become a radical thinker engaged in revolutionary struggle against an established political-religious order (Reynolds 2005: 627). Hester s radicalism is not only unequivocally demonstrated by her appearance and thinking, but also emphatically evidenced by her deeds. In the forest meeting with her lover Dimmesdale, Hester proposes a romantic elopement to Europe to start anew. As a defiant gesture against her heavy moral burden, Hester resolutely takes off the symbolic token of her sin, the scarlet letter. It works miraculously upon Hester because she feels she is immediately relieved of the moral burden of shame and anguish and gains momentary freedom. In addition to removing the badge of shame, Hester allows her dark and rich hair to fall upon her shoulders. Almost immediately, [h]er sex, her youth, and the whole richness of her beauty (SL 130) resumes and her womanhood returns. She again becomes a woman after 7 years of seclusion and exclusion. Moreover, Hester states that their love had a consecration of its own (SL 126). Obviously, Hester has not confessed, nor does she repent her sin. In Brook Thomas s view, Hester takes adultery as a self-contained act, not one in need of God s sanction, which is a more audacious sin than adultery (Thomas 2001: 187). Hawthorne s criticism of Hester s radicalism, which disconnects her from the Puritan community, is also skillfully presented through his ingenuous use of the character of Pearl, whose existence continually reminds Hester of her sin and yet maintains Hester s humanity through her maternal role. The removal of the scarlet letter from Hester s bosom, which Hawthorne trickily recounts with both truth and error (SL 133), causes estrangement between mother and child, as if the lack of desirable emotional attachment is embodied by the brook that separates Hester and Pearl. Not until Hester understands Pearl s frown, her pointed finger and imperious gesture does she finally comprehend Pearl s meaning: Pearl cannot abide by any, the slightest, change in the accustomed aspect of things that are daily before their eyes (SL 134). Apparently, Pearl has grown accustomed to the scarlet letter on her mother s bosom, regardless of what this deadly symbol represents to her mother. Whatever message the symbol conveys to Pearl, she fully identifies her mother with this token. Only when Hester restores the hateful token can Pearl willingly acknowledge her mother again. Hester s gesture of reluctantly restoring the letter is meaningful in two ways. For Hester, the letter is the scarlet misery and the character of doom (SL 135); when it is reattached to her bosom, she will naturally and ineluctably return to her life during the previous 7 miserable years. Through the combined efforts of Providence and Pearl, Hawthorne shrewdly frustrates Hester s endeavors to disown the letter A. This gesture is highly symbolic because the letter A has become not only a striking reminder of Hester s sin but also a poignant token that connects Hester s sinful past with the present. Once the letter is abandoned, the link between the past and the present is broken. Thus, the restoration of the letter faintly alludes to the failure of the elopement plan. On this point, Larry J. Reynolds illuminatingly comments that Hester s plan challenges the social order of the community and the spiritual order of the universe, and thus earns his [Hawthorne s] explicit disapproval (Reynolds 2005: 628). By disapproving of Hester s radical

9 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 531 plan of elopement and her abandonment of the letter, her lawless self and revolutionary ideas are checked by Hawthorne. At this point, it should be noted that Hawthorne s devastating criticism of the revolutionary mind is not limited to Hester alone but also to women in general. Hester s example has shown us that the idea of revolution is confined to neither the Atlantic nor to men. Women can also become agents of revolution. However, for Hawthorne, such radical speculation as Hester s goes beyond Law and Order, Family and Property (Bercovitch 1988: 5) and would alter the very natures of being a woman, the ethereal essence, 7 wherein [woman] has her truest life (SL 108). The direct result of unwomanly thoughts has its best outward demonstration in the manly Hester, 8 whose very nature of being a woman is removed until she discards the letter A. Studied closely, the scarlet letter takes on a contradictorily threefold role. As a symbol of sin, it first pitilessly separates Hester from the Puritan community which invites readers sympathy or compassion. 9 Then, it indisputably endows Hester s mind with the rare opportunities for speculation and introspection, which mark Hester as a daring social rebel with revolutionary ideas. Finally, it is miraculously turned into a symbol of her calling (SL 106), which has a softening effect upon the local people s views toward Hester. Hester s helpfulness to the local residents is tellingly exhibited by her strong power to do and to sympathize (ibid.), namely her handiwork and her charity as a Sister of Mercy, which is the single connection between Hester and the community and effectively initiates Hester s reentry into communal life. Hester, for the sake of livelihood, takes up her outstanding needle-work. Her artistic work, such as deep ruffs, bands, and gorgeously embroidered glove, is gradually taken as a symbol of authoritative power and status in public ceremonies. Moreover, she embroiders for the dead body and for babies. Thus, her work reaches people from the upper classes to the plebeians. The popularity and helpfulness of her work gradually makes it a fashion. In addition to being helpful via her handiwork, Hester demonstrates her great significance as a Sister of Mercy with enough power to sympathize with and cultivate communal cohesion in the Puritan society. As penetratingly understood by Hester, everyone is sinful. The difference between her and the other sinful people lies in the fact that her sin is revealed, at least by the existence of Pearl: She felt or fancied, then, that the scarlet letter had endowed her with a new sense. She shuddered to believe, yet could not help believing, that it gave her a sympathetic knowledge of the hidden sin in other hearts. She was terrorstricken by the revelations that were thus made. (SL 60) 7 Ethereal essence here refers to some feminine qualities, such as physical beauty and a submissive heart. 8 It seems that, in Hawthorne s view, women should not be rebellious; otherwise, their feminine attributes will disappear. 9 In Denis Donoghue s opinion, Hawthorne the author conceives of sin as a social transgression only, an act by which I isolate myself from the community to which I belong. Thus, the transgression is against the Puritan community, which takes the place of God. See Donoghue (2005: 108).

10 532 Z. Huang The above lines capture Hester s perspicacity in coming to a new understanding of the pervasiveness of human sin. Compared with others who strive desperately to hide their sin, Hester is courageous or even heroic in confronting hers. Hester is vividly depicted as be a martyr who is suffering saint-like (SL 56, 59) for the community. Her martyrdom mainly consists of her willingness to serve the community through wisdom gained from suffering and seclusion. This conception also leads to an explicit criticism of any purpose of the scarlet letter A imposed upon Hester; because everyone is sinful, it is both an unfair and useless punishment for Hester to wear the scarlet letter all her life. Obviously, Hawthorne is reprimanding the unsympathetic Puritan community for their harsh treatment of Hester. As opposed to the merciless residents, Hester has a great heart to sympathize with others, even though she should be the first to deserve sympathy. She is generous; she consistently shares the substance of her faithful labor with the poor, although she receives no gratitude for doing so. During a natural disaster, such as pestilence, Hester once again stands out as a rightful intimate to comfort her fellows. At this point, the token of sin radiates some unearthly ray, whose guidance gives the sufferers warmth and hope. The word unearthly shows that Hester s sisterly work is highly acclaimed: Hester s nature showed itself warm and rich; a well-spring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest. Her breast, with its badge of shame, was but the softer pillow for the head that needed one (SL 105). The socially shunned woman who bravely embraces her sin becomes a source of affection to be admired. Hester s independence and strength endow her with a new identity, and the scarlet letter A acquires a new symbolic meaning of strength and hope. Hence, the letter no longer refers to Hester s sin of passion and her suffering but is transformed into wisdom and a communal virtue. As a result, the former hatred and antagonism between Hester and the community, in Hawthorne s words, is gradually and quietly transformed to love (SL 105). Hester s penitence via social work gains her some recognition, which is clearly evidenced in her relationship with the townspeople; there is a gradual change of meaning of the letter A during these 7 years. Hester s helpfulness to the local residents and her strong drive to perform charity work and to sympathize with those sufferers changes the local residents formerly harsh view of her. Because of her commendable work as a brilliant seamstress and Sister of Mercy and because of both her sense of dignity and her meek humility, the community feels guilty about the harsh punishment it ruthlessly inflicted on her years before. This guilt is the result of Hester s self-conscious manipulation of the townspeople (Bercovitch 1988: 6). Therefore, the community becomes benevolently inclined to show its former victim a more benign countenance than she cared to be favored with, or, perchance, than she deserved (SL 106). Accordingly, the A ceases to mean Adultery ; instead, it gains the new and admirable meaning of Able (SL 106). Nevertheless, it is worth noting that Hester does not repent for her sin and radicalism; she still holds doubts about the current Puritan system and institutions, which do not prevent her from performing sisterly work for the community. Concerning this point, Bercovitch offers an insightful comment on the dual office of the scarlet letter: as a symbol of personal dissent (designating our radical

11 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 533 Hester) and of the bonds of sociality (designating the narrator s heroine of compromise) (Bercovitch 1993a: 131). In other words, Hester has not fully conformed to the social rules and laws of Puritan society. After 7 years of an intense battle with the community, Hester has wisely learned to restrict herself in action, although not in mind and thought, and has keenly learned how to obviate the conflict between self and society between prophetic hope and things as they are (Bercovitch 1993b: 202). The return of Hester Toward the end of the novel, Hester returns to New England where she has passed her seven years of outlaw and ignominy (SL 129) during which time she considered the letter forced upon her bosom a scorching stigma (SL 157) and herself the people s victim and life-long bond-slave (SL 144). Dramatically, Hester returns and resumes the letter of her own free will, for not the sternest magistrate of that iron period would have imposed it (SL 165), and becomes a counselor of patience and faith willingly and selflessly. We are told that she had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble (ibid.). By so doing, Hester s suffering is turned into wisdom and guidance for other women. A critical question arises: why does Hester return to the place of her suffering? In the concluding chapter, we are first told that there was a more real life for Hester Prynne, here, in New England Here had been her sin; here, her sorrow; and here was yet to be her penitence (ibid.). Seen in this light, New England, rather than Europe, is a more authentic place for Hester because it has been the place of her sin and suffering or, rather, it contains Hester s personal history and experiences. Thus, Hawthorne seems to suggest that authentic self-identity is derived primarily from the past. In other words, Hester s personal history is inseparably intertwined with that of the community, which endows her with authenticity and a clear identity as a result of the new relationship between her and the community. This point is plainly expounded by Thomas: on the one hand, Hester, of her own accord, acknowledges the importance of the civil order as she did not in her rebellious days ; on the other hand, she is now accepted by the people who once spurned her (Thomas 2007: 43). This newly established connection is a direct outcome of Hester s interactive relationship with the community because changes have taken place on both sides. Hester, at least outwardly, respects the civil order and rules that once mercilessly imposed severe and devastating punishment upon her, whereas the community gradually gives up their harsh and unsympathetic judgment toward Hester. In the same paragraph, Hawthorne reveals more key information about Hester s return: it is Hester s hope and firm belief in some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven s own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness (SL 166). Obviously, Hester has subdued her former

12 534 Z. Huang radicalism into a mature sense of expectation for the future. To put it another way, she has channeled her revolutionary thoughts into an ideological belief in the bright prospects of an America in which reformed gender relations would be realized. Seen in this light, the tremendous tension between Hester and the Puritan community generated in the novel is resolved through what Bercovitch has called the liberal consensus 10 of American ideology, which can be employed to reconcile the conflicts between self and society (Bercovitch 1988: 11). This consensus suggests that America, as a progressive nation, is an eternal force of amelioration. It brings about Hester s changing attitude toward Puritan law from resistance to compromise. In addition, Bercovitch designates the office of the scarlet letter A the symbol of socialization (Bercovitch 1988: 1). 11 Specifically, socialization, for Hester, enacts a cognitive process of gradually accepting and conforming to communal rules and principles of her own accord. In other words, Hester s penitence for her past can be deemed a convincing result of her socialization. Only when Hester voluntarily accepts her community, not only as a critic but also as a member, can the scarlet letter finally achieve its goal. Consequently, Bercovitch remarks that the office seems to have been fulfilled at last, as convincingly evidenced by the drastic changes in Hester and the community Hester is successfully converted from a social rebel at the beginning of the novel to a model citizen at the end (Bercovitch 1993b: 197). 12 On the part of the community, Hester has undertaken earnest efforts toward sisterly comfort of other women; she is the image of a model citizen and an angel, which is a complete reversal of the image of Hester as a social outlaw at the story s beginning. It is in this sense that Bercovitch considers the returned Hester a representative of the need for law and the limits of free will, who has reformed herself to be the vehicle of social order (Bercovitch 1993a: 14 15). For Bercovitch, Hester is finally transformed by the A into a model citizen because, he suggests, Hester is ultimately and voluntarily reconciled with the A and endows the letter with a new interpretation rather than spurning it (Bercovitch 1993a: 2, 3). Bercovitch, in my view, exaggerates the degree of Hester s transformation. I disagree with him on the point that the office is eventually fulfilled and that Hester achieves full reconciliation with the community. Bercovitch does not notice Hawthorne s persistent idea that, regardless of its purpose, the letter has been the wrong punishment from the beginning. Moreover, Hester returns not intentionally to become a model citizen but simply to live a more authentic life and to no longer be segregated from her past. Hence, Bercovitch neglects the historical sense that is 10 Bercovitch employs another term, Emersonian hope, to illustrate Hester s firm belief in the progressive future. He elaborately explains that it is a hope in prophecy, as being more subversive than argument; hope in vision, as being a more effective agent of process than action; hope in the individual, as being both ends and means of change; and hope in the future, as the boundless prospect of liberal/liminal things to come. See Bercovitch (1988: 19 20). 11 Bercovitch notes that socialization in America is a matter not of repressing radical energies but of redirecting them, in all their radical force, into a continuing opposition between self and society. See Bercovitch (1993a: 118). 12 Thomas is also in the view that the scarlet letter has finally done its office. Furthermore, Thomas regards Hester s return as a form of redemption: It is in confronting that past and devoting herself to the place that defined her that she finds redemption. See Thomas (2007: 44, 46).

13 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 535 consistently emphasized by Hawthorne. His consensus is too ideal a blueprint for America. In contrast to Bercovitch, I argue that the consensus is a synthesis of history and reform. Thus, Hester s willing return and restoration of the letter serves as a sign of her concession rather than surrender to the reforming message of the A simply because she does not desert her personal history and the medium of that history, namely, the community. In addition, she abandons her heroic self-reliance and an increasingly radical spirit at the end because she has an acute perception that the painful reminiscences of the social injustice she suffered will be transformed into a vision of a promising future. Such abandonment partially emerges from her recognition that the responsibility of being a prophetess and leader for women s rights would fall on someone who is less stained with sin or less bowed down with shame than she is (SL 166). Such a reformer should also be lofty, pure, and beautiful; and wise, moreover, not through dusky grief, but the ethereal medium of joy (ibid.). From dissent to concession, though not without skepticism, Hester comes to embody the idea of good citizenship in a democratic society. Compared with Bercovitch s reading of Hester s return, John P. McWilliams Jr. s and Thomas s readings are more reasonable. In McWilliams s opinion, Hester s return symbolizes her self-will to take up her own burden of guilt for a sin she can never wholly repent (McWilliams 1984: 67). Meanwhile, the Puritan society has been transformed from an exceedingly intolerant society into a more sympathetic and humane one. Therefore, to achieve a harmonious society, self and community must assume an interactive, although not fully reconciled, relationship. More importantly, it is desirable, or even necessary, for one to abandon those dissonant elements to reach a consensual view. This interaction between self and society can also be characterized as a reciprocal yet dialectical agreement: the individual s integration into a communal life without giving up individuality. Brook Thomas is another critic who pays particular attention to Hester s return. Similar to McWilliams, Thomas holds the view that Hester can only be considered a good citizen in that she is rebellious against the local authority. In other words, her strong free will and arrogance gradually adjust the sense of good citizenship established in the beginning of the work. That is, a model citizen should not be one who is absolutely submissive to the civil authority, and a democratic society should be tolerant and sympathetic. Hester s rebellion, in this sense, arouses the community s sympathy toward her. In Thomas s words, Hester dramatizes how important it is for the state to promote spaces in which the capacity for sympathy can be cultivated while simultaneously guarding against the dangers of natural liberty (Thomas 2001: 197). 13 Thus, although Hester has no place within the civic sphere, she helps to bring about a possible structural realignment of Puritan society including what we call the nascent formation of an independent civil society (ibid.). Hawthorne remains consistently sympathetic toward Hester, but he is critical of her dissent Brook Thomas quotes John Winthrop s definition of natural liberty: man, as he stands in relation to man simply, hath the liberty to do what he lists; it is a liberty to evil as well as to good. See Thomas (2001: 186). 14 Morton Cronin believes that Hester is perhaps the greatest woman in American fiction. See Cronin (1954: 91).

14 536 Z. Huang Hawthorne s reformist impulse causes him to cast serious doubts and criticism upon the rigid code of Puritanism. Because of this, he shows genuine sympathy toward Hester who, in part, embodies the fight for women s lawful rights. Yet, he is equally skeptical of radicalism in reform which breaks the continuity of history and that of the community. This explains why he bitterly criticizes Hester s revolutionary thoughts of overturning the established social order. In a similar vein, this view also explains why, in the last paragraph, there is space between the two tombs of Dimmesdale and Hester, although one tombstone serves for both. In an ambiguous manner, Hawthorne seals the symbolic and romantic union between the lovers. In short, Hawthorne is a holder of the middle ground. On the one hand, he appeals to social reform; on the other hand, he denounces radical reform that breaks the present from the past. From another perspective, Hawthorne s historical consciousness and middle ground illustrate a distinction between Hawthorne and Emerson. When R. W. B. Lewis remarks that transcendentalism was Puritanism turned upside down (Lewis 1955: 23), he might have two literary figures in mind: Emerson and Hawthorne, who are regarded as the two spokesmen for transcendentalism and Puritanism, respectively. Lewis s insightful observation expresses two layers of meaning. First, there exists some connection between transcendentalism and Puritanism. Second, the connection is that these two types of thoughts are, in a broad sense, diametrically opposite. 15 This oppositional relationship exists when Emerson maintains views of radical individualism. Therefore, to unravel the relationship between self and society and to better understand the relationship between Hester and her community, it is necessary that we first comprehend how Emerson defines self and society. In his landmark essays Self-Reliance and History, Emerson stresses the importance of the individual s self-reliance against conformism to society and against history and tradition because the latter categories destroy one s individuality. For Emerson the transcendentalist, each individual is unique, and the individual s greatness comes from within instead of from society and external elements. Thus, he even claims that [w]hoso would be a man must be a nonconformist (Emerson 1983: 261). Emerson s radical individualism is also demonstrated by his claim that [n]o law can be sacred to me but that of my nature the only right is what is after my constitution, the only wrong what is against it (Emerson 1983: 262). In other words, Emerson gives priority to one s own nature rather than to following convention and obeying the rules and restrictions set by society. Hence, progress for Emerson is the repudiation of society: [s]ociety never advances (Emerson 1983: 279), and the individual mind always advances Society is tumultuous, insecure, unprincipled (qtd. in Bercovitch 1993a, b: ). Emerson, to a considerable degree, views the individual both as a symbol and an enemy of community, with no possible reconciliation between the two. Regarding history, Emerson eloquently maintains 15 Emerson s and Hawthorne s views on slavery, the relationship between men and God, the relationship between men and women, nature, history and self and community are different. This essay is mainly devoted to the discussion of the last of these disparate groups.

15 From social rebellion to ambiguous conformism: a study of 537 that there is no history, but only biography because all history becomes subjective (Emerson 1983: 240). Naturally, the self-reliant individuals should not follow the examples of historical figures. In short, dichotomy is the best word to characterize the relationship between self and society in Emerson s mind. In this light, Hester initially, exemplifies Emerson s radical individualist: self-reliant, isolated, and in conflict with the Puritan community. Likewise, in The House of the Seven Gables, Holgrave is the chief reformer who advocates changes in life, but the final arrangement sharing Judge Pyncheon s house with Phoebe indicates Hawthorne s conservative side in terms of reform; that is, reform should not break with history. As a result, desirable reform, for Hawthorne, is one that connects the past with the present with an emphasis on historical continuity in terms of both self and society. It is worth noting that Hawthorne s concern about social reform with a historical consciousness also finds clear evidence in his short stories. One such instance is Earth s Holocaust. This story concerns a vast bonfire in which everything from the past is considered useless and is to be burnt simply because people are convinced that society has reached an almost perfect state. A close examination of what is burnt in this devastating bonfire reveals its formidable power: the blazonry, the crests and devices of illustrious families, pedigrees, stars, garters, embroidered collars, the innumerable badges of knighthood, ribands of ancient order, medals, patents of nobility and other rank-indicating staff, which represent the gorgeous past and possess vast significance (EH 888). 16 Ironically, even the symbols of civilization are tossed into the bonfire, as an old man complains of the people s mad deeds with grief and wonder : [t]his fire is consuming all that marked your advance from barbarism, or that could have prevented your relapse thither (EH 889). In short, everything rich is condemned as useless, and cast into the fire. In addition to the usually desirable objects, the reformers also throw into the fire the symbols of their abominable vices, such as guns and weapons, liquor, tea, tobacco, coffee, and the gallows. Hawthorne is clearly critical of this radical means of reform by starting over again. Through the uneasy narrator, Hawthorne laments that unless the earth itself is burnt, I know not that we can carry reform to any further point (EH 901). The narrator further strengthens his skepticism by depicting reform as the Titan of innovation angel or fiend, double in its nature, and capable of deeds befitting both characters, threatening the main pillars, which supported the whole edifice of our moral and spiritual state (EH 903). Hence, radical reform by starting over poses serious threats to the established social order and even severs the historical link with the past. Thus, Hawthorne writes sympathetically, Trust me; the world of tomorrow will again enrich itself with the gold and diamonds, which have been cast off by the world of to-day. Not a truth is destroyed nor buried so deep among the ashes, but it will be raked up at last (EH 904). Clearly, this partially explains why there remains one thing in the world that refuses to be burnt: the human heart. With a rather ironic 16 Hawthorne (1982). Earth s holocaust. Tales and Sketches. New York: The Library of America. All subsequent references to Earth s Holocaust to the Library of America edition (1982) and are given as EH in brackets in the text.