Here's an important passage from our Scarlet Letter bingo game:
“When an uninstructed multitude attempts to see with its eyes, it is exceedingly apt to be deceived. When, however, it forms its judgment, as it usually does, on the intuitions of its great and warm heart, the conclusions thus attained are often so profound and so unerring, as to possess the character of truths supernaturally revealed.”
And, here's a passage from a poem called “The Tables Turned” by William Wordsworth, an influential English poet and a father of Romantic poetry:
Sweet is the lore which Nature brings;
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:--
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves; 30
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
Our meddling intellect
Mis-shapes the beauteous forms of things:--
We murder to dissect.
Enough of Science and of Art;
Close up those barren leaves; 30
Come forth, and bring with you a heart
That watches and receives.
If you remember from the lecture on Romanticism, many writers and artists associated with this era viewed their contemporaries’ passion for explaining everything from a scientific standpoint a little off-putting. They felt that trying to classify and order the universe in a purely rational, logical way robbed it of its inherent beauty and mystery, and denied humans their individual integrity. Instead, they saw intuition and the imagination as more fruitful pathways to understanding.
For this week's blog post, consider:
1. Where in the four assigned chapters does a character “watch and receive” with the heart, rather than trust solely in what they see with their eyes? What truths are revealed to this character? What choices does Hawthorne make to get his readers to sympathize with this intuitive character?
2. On the flip side, where in the four chapters does a character form judgments solely with the eyes? How does Hawthorne expose the dangers in trusting too fully in appearances -- in what our eyes tell us -- through this character?
In the chapter titled "The Minister's Vigil" we see how peoples experiences can shape how they percieve the world. For example, after the meteor passes over the town, there is a bit of afterlight that shines over the town, showing the symbolic letter "A" of the story. While the reality of the matter is that the light could have easily been mistaken for any form, as it was just that- some light. There was no purpose to it other than to serve as something that came after the meteor. However, Dimmsdale, overtaken by guilt sees the letter as some sort of reminder of the fact that he too, committed adultery. He sees it as a symbol, cast over the whole town, of his sins that he committed. Hawthorne writes: "The minister, looking upward to the zenith, beheld there the appearance of an immerse letter-the letter "A"- marked out in lines of dull red light" (146). Dimmsdale looks with his heart, not with his eyes. The townspeople also see the same light that night, and describe it to the minister the next day, saying, "But did your reverence hear of the portent seen last night?- A great red letter 'A' which we interpret to stand for 'Angel'." (149). Here it is clear that the people of the town have also been looking with their heart and not their eyes, as their interpretation of the meaning of the letter in the sky reflected their values of holiness and religion. They did not see it as the reverend sees it, because they have different experiences, and therefore different perceptions of things that are happening around them- though everyone sees the same thing.
ReplyDeletethe chapter titled 'The Interior of a Heart' explores the alternative- the times when characters don't really try to understand what they see, and rather just trust what they see with their eyes. This is seen when the reverend tries multiple times to reveal to the townspeople that he has committed a crime. "More than once- nay, more than a hundred times- he had actually spoken! Spoken! But how? He had told his hearers that he was all together vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity; and that the only wonder was that they did not see his wretched body shriveled up before their eyes by the burning wrath of the Almighty!" (135). Though the townspeople are present and hear what he has said, they don't seem to be affected by his words in the way that he hopes and expects. Instead, "They heard it all, and did but reverence him the more. They little guessed what deadly purport lurked in those self-condemning words. "The godly youth!" said they amongst themselves. "The saint on earth!..." (135). The people of the town see Dimmsdale as a holy figure, and they look to him as a symbol of purity and godliness. There is apparently nothing he can do or say that will make them change the way that they perceive him. In creating this relationship between Dimmsdale and the townspeople, Hawthorne exposes the dangers in trusting too fully in appearances. The townspeople are blindly following a figure who has sinned and deceived them for years, because they are unable to imagine their precious minister as someone capable of sin. Hawthorne reveals the romantic ideology to readers that it is important to look beyond what is just shown physically in order to truly grasp a sense of what is going on around them.
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ReplyDeleteIn response to Tabatha’s commentary regarding the impurity of Arthur Dimmesdale and his inability to come clean about his actions, it takes a toll on his physical self because the guilt is eating away at him. Arthur Dimmesdale is the symbolic figure of purity and his actions completely counter that, making him hesitant about coming clean to the public. He does believe that his actions have consequences but because of his care for what the puritan community thinks of him, he holds himself back. Later in the book, Dimmesdale turns to punishing himself in several ways. He continually tortures himself over and over by reliving and remembering the sin he committed in his mid. In chapter 11 “Inside a Heart,” he goes without eating or sleeping for days at a time, also whipping himself causing deep cuts. He does this in hopes he will gain a clear conscience and rid himself of all his guilt through physical pain. Although he resorts to physical punishment, he continually becomes physically weaker and more frail. The type of punishment compares to the physical punishment of Christ himself. The puritan community view him as a figure that is as close to God as a human can get. From that, he believes that punishing himself in the way God was punished will clear his sinful heart and give him peaceful confession. Although Arthur Dimmesdale does not implicitly state his sin, he turns to self loathing and humbleness which make him seem more saint-like and pure, like he is free of self indulgent. This makes the public praise him even more, which pulls him deeper into the guilt.
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