Life, love and literature

I taught THE SCARLET LETTER for many years to my 11th grade English classes. I told them about Hawthorne’s wife and how she read parts of the novel as he was writing it. It made an impact on me that after reading the ending of the novel, she went to bed because she was so sad! I reread every novel that I teach each year even though it might be 20 times or more. I had probably taught the novel 10 or more times, but as I was discussing the scene where the Reverend stands up with Hester and Pearl and the townspeople know who the father of this child is, I found my voice breaking as I read part of the passage aloud. I think it was like an epiphany; for the first time in this sad tale of guilt and redemption, I realized that Pearl was going to be all right! That passage is one of the most poignant in American literature. I understood why Sophia wanted to withdraw from the world. Human beings can be so unkind-man’s inhumanity to man; those old Puritans seemed so harsh and judgmental. Their double standards for men and women are still reflected in some ways in 2024. Literature measures the worth of a man and can reflect the best and the worst of man’s actions. Hawthorne wasn’t overly fond of one of his ancestor’s role in the Salem witchcraft trials. He even changed the spelling of his last name to distance himself from that period of insanity that involved one of the judges presiding over the proceedings — a Judge Hathorne. He retained a fascination with the Puritans though for purposes of telling a story.