The original 1850 coverpage of Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter uses one word to prepare the mind of the reader for its contents: Romance. In the truest sense of the word, Romance has broken two secret lovers from all reason and the extreme piety of their puritan culture in a moment of passionate love. But the narrative does not give us privy entrance to that concealed night. Only in the aftermath of consequences and shameful ignominy do we experience the true romance of the lovers.
In the puritan heart, romance is not only or even primarily about passion, but deep and complete commitment. Completely abandoned by her community, Hester Prynne carries out her public sentence shunned as an Adulterer, forever keeping commitment to the secrecy of her lover's identity. Selflessly, she loves daily after the protection of her child's father in public light, offering herself instead as the sacrifice for their hate. Sin, she allows to be her reputation. Everyday relearning the lesson that her crime will teach her.
But secret shame meanwhile does its work upon the heart of another. The inward Devil tortures what is outward seen as holy. Hawthorne beautifully and sadly depicts an entire life affected by the daily choice to conceal shame. Hypocrisy is a process in which guilt creeps into youthful passions until, overripe, they are consumed with a dark, rotting despair. The once-loving faculties abandon the body and "the heart is converted into a tomb."
The characters play out a dynamic tenseness of mundane days drawn out into years in which everyday is as painful as a knife digging into the obscurity of secrets hastily buried within their hearts. The endurance required to live out inner torture is immense. The debate is demonstrated through human lives: is it better to pay for sin publicly or to hide guilt and shame in fear of discovery? Will there be redemption for he poor woman we have grown to love? Will the blackness of hate consume the hearts of those who seek revenge? Is it possible for anyone to become the hero of this regretful tale?
