What Does It Mean To Say About Relationships In The Scarlet Letter

TSL 2 In "The Scarlet Letter", written in the nineteenth century, Nathaniel Hawthorne commodifies the relationships between his characters. This means that relationships in this book are based on whether the character gains or loses something from the relationship. Most of these relationships base off of Hester Prynne. Hester has a hard time with relationships now because of her sin of adultery. She is now getting rejected left and right because the people have nothing to gain when associating with her. Nathaniel shows the rejection of Hester from Roger in plain sight by showing this dialogue, "And now, Mistress Prynne," said old Roger Chillingworth, as he was hereafter to be named, "I leave thee alone: alone with thy infant and the scarlet letter!” (Hawthorne 158) Hawthorne also shows the rejection of Hester from Dimmesdale in a somewhat awkward way by saying "“She will not speak!" murmured Mr. Dimmesdale, who,
Let me elaborate on the quote I used in the introduction. Nathaniel uses that to show how happy Dimmesdale was when he figured how that Hester would not rat him out. He then goes on to say “He now drew back with a long respiration. "Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman's heart! She will not speak!” (Hawthorne 143) Nathaniel uses this form of repetition to really emphasize the fact that Dimmesdale is very happy that Hester will not talk implying that he is the father. However, this relationship shows commodity somewhat in the same way as Hester and Chillingworth's relationship with each other. He doesn't confess his sin because he is a preacher and a very respected elder in Salem. If he would, he would be cured of his "sickness" that he becomes too later in the book. However, he would also lose almost everything and gain health which doesn't seem like a good choice to him. Dimmesdale might also fear death which trumps