The True Power of Love
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a masterpiece that will
last through the ages, a classic tale of love, hate, and hidden betrayal. Hester Prynne has been disgraced since the beginning of the story. Charged for committing adultery, she is shunned by the village. Hidden identities are all over town, but Hester and her secret lover still find a way to meet. As Hawthorne says, “Love, whether newly born, or aroused from a deathlike slumber, must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance, that it overflows upon the outside world.” (203) Here, Hawthorne says that the power of love overwhelms all other thoughts and ideas at any time. This concept is one of the novel’s most prominent themes. Hester Prynne proves that even if everything goes against that love, the love can still triumph, if only for a moment.
Hester Prynne was forced to wear the shameful scarlet letter since the beginning of the book, indicating the gravity of the situation. Committing the crime of adultery in a Puritan city was a serious crime back then because the Puritans were very careful about their laws and regulations on the people of Boston. The law and the rules of the religion were intertwined, and the crime of adultery is against both the rules of the government and the rules of the religion. Everyone in the town is aware of the consequences of committing a serious crime. Even though Hester Prynne and her lover were well aware of what they were getting themselves into, they still didn’t care, showing the true intensity of their love. The love between the two draws them together despite the understanding of the penalties, proving that love engulfs everything else in order to dominate the plot, being more prominent than the dangerous consequences.
As the story progresses, Hester finally gets out of prison, and she is given the option to leave Boston. However, for an unknown reason, Hester chose to remain in Boston....