Like most other novels composed prior to the 20th century, The Scarlet Letter is written in an English dialect lost in the modern world. Scripts written with this Middle English vernacular can be both hard to read and fully comprehend. Whilst amassing the comprehensible diction into a fuller understanding of possible outlining themes, it's beneficial to consult SparkNotes to trigger any thematic or analytical literature missed during the reading. The application of the provided philosophy on SparkNotes into my own understanding of The Scarlet Letter, allowed for the greatest wealth of knowledge and competence to be achieved.
The protagonist of The Scarlet Letter is a woman called Hester Prynne. It is through this character that the author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, conveys one of the most powerful themes of the book: identity and society. Following her conviction of adultery, Hester is forced to wear the letter A across her chest. Defiant to let the symbol bring shame to her person, she embroidered an ornate scarlet A and wore it with pride, not embarrassment. Pearl, Hester's daughter, grew up knowing the letter outed her mother in society, but attached herself to its legacy and saw it as a token of power by exclusiveness. As the citizens of Boston Harbor attempted to disgrace Hester and Pearl, the letter became part of their identity, later eliminating the hatred through Hester's charitable works. SparkNotes adds that even when the townspeople considered removing the letter, Hester refused, not allowing her existence to be dominated by the rulings of others. Inversely, Reverend Dimmesdale exemplifies identity and society through his internal struggle with shame, yet outward appearance of divinity. Dimmesdale knew that, for the sake of all people, it was better to keep his secret hidden and his identity holy to continue influencing people with Christian ideals. However, his conscience ate away inside of him, eventually trumping his will to feign an identity to society, freeing himself of the heavy burden.
Throughout the entire book, I noticed the most important theme to be Sin vs. Evil. The sin of Hester and Dimmesdale is regarded as evil by the townspeople, governor, and clergymen. However, does their sin contend with the evil construed by the thoughts of Roger Chillingworth and Mistress Hibbens? Being a devout Christian, Dimmesdale knew what he did was sinful, yet he realized that it could do more good than harm; both by bringing Pearl into the world and providing empathy towards other sinners during his sermons. Similar goes for Hester, being the generous donor she was her entire life. SparkNotes helped emphasize where the true evil displayed throughout The Scarlet Letter lies: "Evil, in its most poisonous form, is found in the carefully plotted and precisely aimed revenge of Chillingworth, whose love has been perverted." I took the alias 'Black Man' to be of direct reference to Satan. If this analysis is correct, it only strengthens the case that the only evil exists in the Satanic witch, Mistress Hibbens, and Roger Chillingworth, in which even Pearl could sense his malicious presence. The moral I have gathered, and SparkNotes has reassured, is looking past ones sins is imperative when searching for evil, and this moral was ever present and impacting of the books plot.
While SparkNotes didn't bring about any unnoticed themes, it helped me realize almost every motif that flew over my head. Civilization verses the wilderness and the character's evocative names are two important occurrences that make a whole new light of the book. As shown by every character, presence in civilization leads to assuming a false personality to please everyone else and keep controversy out of society. The wilderness brings about ones true nature, free from all human judgement. Whether it's restoring young love into seemingly depressed people, or, in the case of Mistress Hibbens, worshiping an entity feared and frowned upon by the commonfolk, the reoccurring scene of the wilderness shows the reader each individuals true character. The importance of the names didn't cross my mind until SparkNotes prompted the idea. The subtlety of 'Prynne' rhyming with 'sin', the 'chill' in Chillingworth foreshadowing his cold-heartedness, the 'dim' in Dimmesdale representing a weakness of will, and 'Pearl' being a biblical allegory to salvation is just enough to see purpose and meaning in doing so.
In conclusion, I was thankful for consulting SparkNotes in the process of analyzing The Scarlet Letter. Although there wasn't much insight to additional themes of the novel, what did come of value were the unnoticed motifs of the story. By presenting these options to a reader, SparkNotes acts as an excellent resource to understand meaning when you believe the piece is lacking in it. SparkNotes both reassured my thoughts and opened my eyes to new ideas present in The Scarlet Letter.
1 comment:
I have a similar view in regards to the use of Sparknotes when reading novels with profound themes and a different style of writing then we use today. I also used Sparknotes after reading The Scarlet Letter, as I sometimes do to get another perspective of the themes and characters introduced in a novel. I find that looking at the novel from another perspective allows me to get a fuller understanding of the themes and occasionally shows me things that I missed while reading. I also find Sparknotes particularly helpful, as you said, when reading texts written with a different diction and grammatical style then we normally use.
I noticed many of the same themes throughout The Scarlet Letter, such as the relationship between identity and society and the differences between sin and evil. One thing I liked about your post was the way that you used quoted material from Sparknotes to show how reading Sparknotes had added to or confirmed your original interpretation of the novel. I also missed many of the motifs that were present in The Scarlet Letter and did not notice them until after reading Sparknotes’ analysis of the book. Overall I agree with your philosophy on Sparknotes and your interpretation of The Scarlet Letter.
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