Scarlet Letter
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Nathaniel Hawthorne is a passionate, romantic writer. Although on an unconscious level, he uses his own feelings to bring depth into his works. He uses writing as his own defense mechanism; escapism. Escapism is a defense mechanism that uses cultural arts to deal with difficult emotional problems in a safe, but imaginary world. In this way, it is the ego satisfying both the id and the superego. His book, The Scarlet Letter, is a piece that allows closure for a confusing phase in his life.
The Scarlet Letter opens with the heroine, Hester Prynne, already being sentenced for her crime of adultery. She holds her three month old baby, Pearl, whom we already know is the daughter of a man who will not show himself. Hesters lost husband appears not far after the book begins, introducing himself under the false name of Chillingworth. In the same scene, Hesters lover, Dimmesdale, is introduced as the holy priest of their Boston town. Setting this into Hawthornes own life, parallels can be made. Hester, Hawthornes mother, is a strong, beautiful woman. In Re-reading the Letter: Hawthorne, the Fetish, and the (Family) Romance by Joanne Diehl it says that The Scarlet Letter was written as part of Hawthornes mourning process for his mother. In his own life his father died young; Hawthorne was raised by his mother alone. Without a father figure present during his phallic stage, Hawthornes id, his desire to possess his mother, grew. The only means by which he had to suppress such yearnings was by the superego telling him it was unacceptable in society. The problem with suppression is that it is only placed into the preconscious, and thus, is still attainable. Here is where Chillingworth comes into play. He is the villain in the tale but, he is also wronged. Hawthorne shows that the father is viewed as the enemy, because his oedipus complex puts him there, but he also knows that it was unfair that his real father died young, losing his chance to be a father. Dimmesdale is like the id in Hawthornes unconscious. Dimmesdale is like the young son who chases after his mother, Hester, but cannot attain her because she belongs to the father, Chillingworth. In the book, Dimmesdale actually does get to be with Hester, but the time is short. Its equivalent to the amount of time most children are breast-fed, and the affair does not even get written by Hawthorne. Pearl represents Hawthornes superego. She is all-knowing and aggressive. When Dimmesdale wants Hester and Pearl, she shows him it is possible if he chooses to be shunned by society. In that way it is the superego telling the id that he cannot have his mother, because it is deplorable. In the end, Dimmesdale finally confesses his sin and would be free to be with mother and child, but he dies after a kiss from Pearl and a farewell to Hester. Hawthorne is acknowledging that the relationship his id desires is never possible. The book ends with Hester