The Scarlet Letter Chapters 1-3

The beginning of the Scarlet Letter gives the impression that is truly literature written during the time of the Puritans.  The author talks about the town, the people, what they wear, and most of all the prison.  The prison can be viewed as possibly one of the most important places to the townspeople in this story.

On page 46 the quote “But on one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rosebush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him,” gave the story a little bit more light.  Roses are known for their fragrance and beauty, and in this passage, symbolize hope to a prisoner.  Hope that even though you are going into the prison, you might be coming out as a free man soon.  It also wouldn’t be a bad thing if the last thing a criminal saw or smelt was a rose, which could make walking to your deem not as bad.

The connection could also be seen as a rose being the connection between humanity and nature.  Rosebushes have to be cared too in order to survive. So if nature can make something that seemed to show pity and kindness, then maybe the people tending to this rosebush could do the same thing.  This passage could also be looked at through a gender lens.  When speaking of the prisoners in this hypothetical case, they were referred to as ‘he’, or ‘him’, stating that the prisoner was a male.  This can be understood that prisoners in this time were not very often, if not ever, women.

The prison house is also important in the way that this is the place where all decisions concerning the law are made, from criminals to unruly children and witches.  All disciplinary actions were open to the public, just like the prison.  Everyone knew about everything and who everybody was.  There were no secrets in this town.  If there were any questions as to what was happening, it could be answered by who was walking into or out of prison.

In chapter two the town gossipers are introduced.  They are a group of women who think that, in the case of Hester Pyrnne, they should have a say in how she is punished and treated.  Is this early feminism? Or is it merely that these women think that they know exactly how this situation should be handled.  They mock the magistrates when Hester comes out of prison looking stunning.  The red letter ‘A’ the men made her embroider into her clothing made her look more beautiful, and the gossips don’t see that as a punishment.

Chapter three drew a lot of questions.  Who was this stranger, the white man and his companion the Indian?  Why did it seem as though him and Hester had a connection, and a bad one at that.  She felt that she should be hiding from him, and the multitude of people in the crowd protected her from him.  The biggest question of all was why would she not say who the father was?  Did she truly love this man, or was he someone of importance.  Maybe she didn’t want to ruin his reputation.  Maybe it is the Reverend Mr. Dimmsdale, and he feels guilty, and this is why he pressuring her to come out and say who the father is, so that he himself doesn’t have to.