Text: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Critical Lens: Feminist
But this had been a sin of passion, not of principle, nor even purpose (Hawthorne 184)
In this quote, Hester's crime is considered to be a "sin of passion" and not of principle or on purpose. This indicates that the crime Hester committed was not exactly the worst possible thing in the world. Throughout the novel, it appears that Hester did not intend to get herself into trouble and did not remain silent on purpose. She mostly kept quiet due to the fact that she felt that revealing who the father of Pearl was would go against the "rights" of women during this time period. Since women were not supposed to speak up about anything happening in their personal lives back then and basically had no power in the world, Hester did not want to go against this tradition. She believed that refusing to admit who Pearl's father was would not be considered a crime and would be acceptable in her society. However, in the beginning of the novel, it is revealed that this scenario was not an acceptable action to take in this time period, and as a result of this, Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest to show that she was a disgrace and disappointment to her society. During the time in which Hester had to wear the scarlet letter on her chest, she begins to see that this crime she committed actually managed to make her a stronger and more independent individual who was not afraid to stand up for herself and the rights she was being denied. She also began to realize that this specific "sin" she took part in was not on purpose, but instead was for her own well being and protection of her self-humanity.
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