Scarlet Letter

Who’s In Charge Here? In The Scarlet Letter, the majority of the action happens not between characters, but within them. Guilt, passion, love, and hate all play key roles in the development of the novel. “The Sins of the Fathers: Hawthorne’s Psychological Themes,” a critique penned by Frederick C. Crews, explores the inner workings of Hawthorne’s characters. He argues that characters in The Scarlet Letter act not of their own accord, but instead are ruled absolutely by “feelings that [they] neither control nor perfectly understand” (Crews 24), and because they “acted in ignorance of passion’s strength and persistence, …they became its slaves” (Crews 26). Crews attributes the fundamental helplessness of each character to their inability to comprehend their emotions. However, he fails to address a second key element in The Scarlet Letter: that of society. Though emotions play a primary part in Hawthorne’s novel, as Crews asserts, society lies at the root of these emotions, and ultimately, the problems the characters face. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the strong emotions of characters become their own worst enemies. Crews writes, “Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth have been ruled by feelings only half-perceived, much less understood and regulated by consciousness” (Crews 24). The binding nature of these emotions presents itself throughout the novel: in Hester and Dimmesdale’s guilt, and in Chillingworth’s vengeance. As Chillingworth seeks out the father of Hester’s child, “a terrible fascination, a kind of fierce, though still calm, necessity seized the old man within its grip, and never set him free again, until he had done all its bidding” (TSL 88). The need for revenge ensnares Chillingworth, who puts a great deal of effort into his attempts to ruin Dimmesdale’s soul, yet seems to acts on compulsion, not by his own will. Chillingworth’s actions are a byproduct of his obsession; passion, not logic, controls them, and so Chillingworth is rendered powerless.