Scarlet Letter

Scarlet Letter

Hester's Devotion
The Romantic movement in American literature greatly expanded the love story genre. In Hawthorne's novel The
Scarlet Letter he writes of adultery in a Puritan village. The story deals with the relationship between Hester Prynne,
a young bride awaiting her husband, and Arthur Dimmsdale, an inspired Puritan minister who is beloved by the
populace. Do Hester and Dimmsdale truly love each other? Hester does indeed love Dimmsdale, but the love is not
returned by the preacher.
It is obvious from the beginning that Hester loves Dimmsdale. When she is being grilled for the identity of the father
of her child in front of the entire villiage, she cares for him enough to refuse to reveal his identity. When offered the
chance to remove the scarlet letter "A" if she will but speak his name and repent, she stands up to the crowd and
refuses to give in to its pressure. Another telling feature of her love for Dimmsdale is that she remains in the village
as an outcast rather than fleeing to a more accepting environment, where she might possibly live a normal life.
According to the narrator, she could not leave this place because "there trode the feet of one with whom she deemed
herself connected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth, would bring them together before the bar of final
judgement" (74). She realizes that she cannot lead a normal life in this community with Dimmsdale, but even so she
cannot bring herself to leave him. This is tellin...

Scarlet Letter

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