The Sin of Hypocrisy in Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter :: Scarlet Letter essays

The Sin of Hypocrisy in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is about the trials and tribulations of Hester Prynne, a woman living in colonial Boston.   Found guilty of adultery,   Hester's punishment is to wear a visible symbol of her sin: the scarlet letter "A."   Through the book, the reader comes to know Hester, the adulteress; Dimmesdale, the holy man Hester had the affair with; and Chillingworth, the estranged husband of Hester who is out for revenge.   The Scarlet Letter examines the interaction of these characters and the reaction of these characters to Hester's sin.   However, the greater sin that Hawthorne deals with in The Scarlet Letter is hypocrisy.   Hypocrisy is the practice of professing beliefs, feelings, or virtues that one does not hold or possess.   All three main characters, Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, commit the sin of hypocrisy. Hawthorne shows that hypocrisy is indeed a sin by punishing the offenders. Hester Prynne is a strong, independent woman who deals with her sin of adultery very well.   Instead of running away from it, she lives with it and accepts her punishment.   However, while succumbing to the will of the court, she does not for an instant truly believe that she sinned.   Hester thinks that she has not committed adultery because in her mind she wasn't really married to Chillingworth.   Hester believes that marriage is only valid when there is love, and there is no love between Hester and Chillingworth.   In the prison, defending her actions against him, she declares, "Thou knowest, thou knowest that I was frank with thee.   I felt no love, nor feigned any" (74). Then, later, speaking to Dimmesdale, Hester further imparts her belief that she has not sinned, saying, "What we did had a consecration of its own.   We felt it so" (192).   Therefore, Hester, in her mind, has not committed a sin. The fact that she accepts the courts decision so meekly and wears the scarlet letter denoting her as an adulteress is the first way in which she is hypocritical.   Hester, although she does not believe she has sinned, portrays herself as a sinner by wearing the scarlet letter without complaint.   Over the ensuing years, Hester endures the shame and ridicule brought about by the scarlet letter.   However, the true source of