Nature Is a Refuge

There are two types of law that are depicted in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter: a natural, liberal law, and the constrictive theocratic law that governs Hester’s life while within the boundaries of Puritan society. In the novel, Hester Prynne is forced by this theocratic law to wear a letter A around her neck. But when Hester enters into the forest, natural law takes place, and she can make her own decisions because she does not have to conform to the strict theocracy of Puritan society.

For Hester, nature is a refuge, a place where her "intellect and heart [have] their home" (137). It is also a place that has allowed "a crimson flush [to] glo[w] on her cheek, that ha[s] long been so pale"(139). Hawthorne makes it clear to the reader that Hester seeks to be as close to the natural world (i.e. the forest) as possible, when Hester chooses to reside in a small cottage contiguous to the forest on the very edge of the community. By living so close to the natural world in her remote cottage, she is attempting to avoid the constant scrutiny of the members of the Puritan community.

In the chapter entitled "A Flood of Sunshine", Hester and Dimmesdale wander into the forest, which is described as a "moral wilderness" (137). Once she is in the forest, Hester feels completely liberated from the decrees of the Puritan community. At once, she "und[oes] the clasp that fastened the scarlet letter, and, taking it from her bosom, thr[ows] it to a distance among the withered leaves" (138). The mood of the forest is very relaxing to Hester. Hester "heave[s] a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish depar[t] from her spirit" (139). Dimmesdale, in fact, is relaxed too, by "breathing the wild, free atmosphere of an unredeemed, unchristianized, lawless region" (138). In this chapter, the natural law of the forest also enables Hester to think freely and to propose the radical idea of Dimmesdale and her fleeing to Europe. Dimmesdale is at first opposed; saying that he is "powerless to go", and that he must stay behind so that he can "do what [he] may for other human souls" (135). However, being in the forest and away from the impact that the people of the Puritan society would have on his decision, he agrees to flee with Hester to Europe.

The things that Hester does in the forest, such as throwing off the scarlet letter, and deciding to flee with Dimmesdale to Europe, would have been completely forbidden in the Puritan community. This is why nature is depicted in the novel as a refuge for Hester. Nature allows Hester to realize that she "had not known the weight (of Puritan society and the burden of the scarlet letter), until she had felt the freedom (that nature provided for her)" (139). Nature provides for her a neutral territory; a place where she is not influenced by the members of the Puritan community, and she is free to make her own decisions. By choosing to live next to the natural world, and only feeling completely relaxed while she is there, it is clear that Hester thinks of the natural world as a refuge for her, as it is the one place where the scarlet letter (if even on her chest) does not designate her as a woman of sin.

Work Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. 1850. Dover Thrift Editions ed. New York: Dover
        Publications, 1994.