Isolation In The Scarlet Letter

From the earliest accounts of human life, isolation has served as a defense mechanism for societies to exclude an individual or group who poses a threat to their contemporary perception of normal. Isolation is generally defined as a state of being separated from others. However, the barrier placed between social outcasts and society is far more than a simple physical barrier; it serves an emotional purpose. The results of limited social interaction can be extremely detrimental to an individual's psychological well-being . In order to survive, humans need to connect with others, and to be separated from communities causes one to question their importance in the world. Research suggests the absence of relationships correlates to an increase

Moreover, the effects of physical and emotional isolation negatively impacts a person's happiness, health, and interests. On the other hand, being forced to live on the outskirts of society, both physically and mentally, can conversely lead to the creation, innovation, and acceptance of oneself. However, the previously mentioned task is difficult for a large amount of people to accomplish. All in all, isolation is an extremely prevalent theme within various pieces of literature because seclusiveness is a universal and recurring situation within societies. Authors portray acts of isolation and their various impacts to analyze how characters react to their fate as social misfits. Often, a character is lead to either their overall success or downfall as a result of their outcast circumstances. In the novel, the Scarlet Letter and in both the short stories "Old Goodman Brown" and "The Minister's Black Veil," all by Nathaniel Hawthorne, characters are isolated from society and tested on their abilities to accept their roles as

The time period in which the Scarlet Letter takes place is centered around the strict moral codes and harsh punishments of the Puritan religion and culture. Puritan women convicted of adultery would be publicly shamed and punished by the community, which is the fate Hester Prynne suffers. As a result of her infidelity, the townspeople inflict public humiliation on Hester by forcing her to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her bosom and by ordering her to stand on the scaffold, a platform Puritans used to excommunicate sinners. The walk to the scaffold serves as a prime example of the isolation inflicted upon Hester within the novel because she underwent an "agony from every footstep of [the people who] thronged to see her, as if her heart had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon" (Hawthorne 64). Courageously, Hester decides to embrace her punishment on the scaffold by taking her baby on her arm and, with a contemptuous smile, looking directly at the townspeople, boldly revealing the “A” embroidered by her chest. However, the symbol of the scarlet letter soon leads to a change within Hester; her cheerful, graceful, and passionate character is replaced by a dark, dreary, and cruel personality.