The Scarlet Letter Critical Essay – Deconstruction

1. The Scarlet LetterCritical Essay – Deconstruction By Christian Farren, Anna Blumenscheid, Stephanie Lane, Mathew D’Angelo and Alex Silva

2. Thesis • Thesis One: “The tale’s center, then, lies less in the crime of sexual transgression than in the crime of silence: to recognize publicly one’s kindred is, after all, the moral concomitant to engendering, the means by which the family is defined not merely biologically but morally. • Thesis Two: “The family drama of The Scarlet Letter is played out between the subverted recognitions I have just described and the recognition scene that occurs between the child and father at the novel’s end. But I will show that because the child is constantly hushed and (mis)educated in speaking out by her silent mother and the repressive Puritan authorities, and because the father, even when he speaks the truth, transforms it into falsehood, the denouncement of the tale is delayed.

3. Hester • Silence • Hester refusing to tell Dimmesdale who her accomplice was • Then both Chillingworth and Dimmesdale asking her to keep quiet • Family Discourse • Her initial not telling the truth leads to Dimmesdale and Chillingworth being left out of the family that Hester and Pearl create. • This is where the author regards that the sin of silence overshadows Hester’s sin of adultery.

4. Dimmesdale • SILENCE • “Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman’s heart! She will not speak!” • Dimmesdale says this after Hester refuses to name her lover; this essentially forces her into silence making her feel as though she cannot reveal who it is without upsetting Dimmesdale. • Dimmesdale forces silence onto Pearl because he does not allow her to reveal him as her father, he will not stand with them as a family. • Dimmesdale has self imposed silence, throughout the entire novel he has a multitude of times to come clean and confess his sins or even take responsibility for it. • Dimmesdale accuses Chillingworth of speaking in riddles; this reflects Dimmesdale’s own crime  silence and muddling words are the same thing because neither are telling the truth.

5. Dimmesdale Cont. • FAMILY • Dimmesdale’s identity/sin can only be recognized by himself, whether Hester confesses for him, or Chillingworth and Pearl betray his identity to the world, it will not truly be his identity. His identity can only be revealed by himself. • Chillingworth as a surrogate father for Dimmesdale  the reasons behind his presence are immoral and he feigns “paternal and reverential love for the young pastor.” This is an ironic mirror for the relationship or lack thereof between Dimmesdale and Pearl • FICTION • At the end of the novel, Dimmesdale’s confession, he refers to himself in the third person which makes him become more of a symbol than an individual. Through his confession of the truth, it becomes a fiction representing something within everyone. This is also the only way that he would have been able to confess/take responsibility for his sin, because he has become so desensitized from himself. • Dimmesdale cannot recognize the fiction within himself, which makes it impossible to recognize the fiction in others, like Chillingworth who is masquerading as an aid but who is Dimmesdale’s tormentor.

6. Roger Chillingworth • Absent grandfather role  neither sees nor acknowledges Pearl • Maintains secret for reputation • Obsessed w/ answer phys. and mental transformation • Fractures public & personal identity (devilish look) • Eventually cannot stand silence interrogates Dimmesdale • Final redemption w/ inheritance

7. Pearl: Silence • Adults volunteer for silence; it is imposed on Pearl • Puritan society both encourages confession yet condemns the crime • Pearl can’t ask questions; answers are either not given or priori (assumed) • Pearl can’t communicate; loss of language alienates her and deprives her of her humanity • She becomes independent, self-assured; adults become weak because of their silence

8. Pearl: Family & Fiction • Chillingworth + Pearl: Both are curious about Dimmesdale’s identity and question him for different reasons. Chillingworth wants revenge; Pearl wants her family. Both implore him to come forward and speak the honest truth. • Pearl often makes up her own offspring. Pearl gives life to these “friends” and treats them similarly to how the Puritan adults (Dimmesdale, Hester etc) have “displaced” her. • Names: • Pearl was castigated by society. Society (Mr. Wilson specifically) proposes alternative names for the “unnamed bastard (320)” that serve to diminish her human existence (Ruby, Coral, or Red Rose). Pearl is a “counterfeit pearl” who was disowned by both her parents. • Pearl’s loss of identity is due to broken family bonds. Hester even questions Pearl’s identity and the question seems undermine Pearl’s only known knowledge of existence. Even Hester concedes Pearl’s conception is a mystery to her; further confounding Pearl of her identity and place in this world. • Pearl’s vivid imagination results in enigma’s that are just as much a mystery to Hester and Mr. Wilson as the Puritanical reason for a “bastards” existence is to her. Pearl contends she has been plucked off a rose bush when she answers Mr. Wilson’s question on how she was ‘made’. 

9. The End.