The Relationship between

Crime and Punishment

in 19th Century American Writing

Jan H. Hauptmann

This essay focuses on three American literary works of the 19th century: Nathaniel

HAWTHORNE′s famous novel

The Scarlet Letter

was published in 1850, Herman MELVILLE′s

short story

Benito Cereno

in 1855, and Mark TWAIN′s

Pudd′nhead Wilson

between 1893 and

1894. While the younger works

Benito Cereno

and

Pudd′nhead Wilson

are obviously

concerned with the interrelation of blacks and whites, as well as with slavery and its effects

on the American society,

The Scarlet Letter

primarily deals with the Puritan way of life and

the law system in New England.

Although a direct comparison of the three works seems to be problematical due to

their different subject matters, the essay will figure out how crime and punishment is depicted

in their broader frame.

HAWTHORNE′s

Scarlet Letter

is set in the 17th century in Salem, Massachusetts ­ the

stronghold of New England′s Puritanism. The main character of the novel, Hester Prynne, is

mother of an illegitimate child (Pearl) and thus a sinner that, according to the strict Puritan

laws, has to be ostracised and punished. Her actual punishment is determined by the town′s

magistracy and consists in the duty to carry a scarlet letter A on her clothes. The adulteress is

also presented to an assembly of townspeople on the scaffold of the pillory. Midst of the

crowd that is mocking the sinner is Hester′s missed husband ­ Roger Prynne ­ as well as the

person whom she committed adultery with ­ the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Ironically

enough, Dimmesdale is regarded as an extraordinary exemplary Puritan priest by both, the

townspeople and the town′s magistracy1. His guilt remains undiscovered until the end of the

novel.

Roger Prynne is a stranger at the beginning, who unexpectedly appears at the market-

place out of the wilderness2. When Hester spots him on the scaffold, he signalises her not to

reveal his identity as her husband and starts an indirect inquiry about her, trying to figure out

why she is set up to public shame. A townsman congratulates the newcomer to be back in

civilisation after being "a wanderer sorely against [his] own will"3 and explains what had

happened in town and why Hester Prynne is punished on the scaffold.

From this very moment on, the dishonoured husband strives for vengeance. He is,

however, not interested in punishing his own wife, but rather wants to find out with whom she

had been unfaithful. Since she is in love with Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester refuses to name the

sinner and wants to carry her burden as a convict on her own. Her husband does not accept

1 HAWTHORNE, Nathaniel.

The Scarlet Letter

. in: The Norton Anthology of American Literature. New York:

Norton, 2003: 1368.

2 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1365.

3 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1366.

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this and, as a consequence, entirely devotes himself to his desire for revenge. He changes his

name into Roger Chillingworth4 and actually becomes chilling-worth to his new enemy whom

he is soon able to identify. Indeed, the strange behaviour of the clergyman Dimmesdale is

very telling to an attentive observer like the deceived husband.

Since his guilt remains unpunished for a long while, Dimmesdale is not able to get

atonement for the sin and cannot receive grace as well. On the other hand, he continues to

play the role of the perfect Puritan who is greatly admired in public. His veiled guilt and his

mendacious double life cause a severe mental and physical illness that ­ according to the

general opinion of the townsmen ­ is supposed to be cured by the self-proclaimed physician

Chillingworth.

The latter is, of course, merely interested in torturing and harassing the clergymen.

Under the social pressure of Dimmensdale′s environment, the "doctor" is even able to move

into the priest′s house in order to spy out more details about his "patient′s" inner life. Even

after having identified Dimmesdale as Pearl′s father, Chilingworth is not willing to hand the

sinner over to the local authorities, because he wants to preserve his position of power over

his "victim"5.

While Dimmesdale is constantly being reduced by Chillingworth′s mean and intrusive

activities, Hester Prynne′s honour is recovered because of her repentant behaviour and her

submitting to the law and to her faith. The townspeople who had once condemned and

insulted Hester on the scaffold even forget about the original significance of the letter A

(which is never explicitly elucidated by HAWTHORNE, but probably was intended to mean

"adultery"). Hester had apparently developed in such a positive way and done so much for the

society that the people "said that it [the letter] meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with

a woman′s strength"6. When Hester suddenly has to realise that "[Dimmesdale′s] nerve

seem[s] absolutely destroyed [and] [h]is moral force [is] abased into more than childish

weakness"7, she decides to speak to her husband and ask him for forgiveness. Since

Chillingworth is full of hatred and his quest for revenge has by now become his only aim in

life, he refuses the offer of charity. Therefore, Hester decides to tell Dimmesdale the truth

about Chillingworth′s identity and about his plans to destroy the clergyman. She does this for

love, because her illegal relationship with the minister was more than just passion. Hester

truly believes that "it had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other"8.

4 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1371.

5 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1408.

6 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1420.

7 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1418.

8 HAWTHORNE, 2003: 1438.

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