Topic > Love and Hate in the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Love and hate require intimacy and knowledge of the heart. Both emotions leave the individual subservient to the emotion and become mandatory for survival. If an emotion develops into a recognizable obsession, it may eventually leave the zealous lover or the no less zealous hater, despondent and dejected once he no longer gets the object of his affection. Excessive emotion binds the parties involved; furthermore, the main difference lies in the way society views it. Evidently in literature, history, and modern entertainment, humans display a fascination with love. Hate acts as the opposite of accepted behavior. However, polar opposites often derive from consanguineous roots: passion “that consumes logic”. Love requires to be seen differently than hate, even though the two emotions deal with the same obvious infatuation. According to The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, both love and hate are teeming with passion; however, love functions incongruously compared to hate. Hate remains the opposite of love. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Though conceived of sin, love exists in direct contrast to hate. Hawthorne writes, “Love, whether new-born or awakened from a death-like sleep, must ever make a sun, filling hearts so full with splendor, that it overflows to the outside world” (139). The heroine Hester Prynne, a ray of sunshine in the subjugation of her sin, displays rebellious yet benevolent behavior. Mostly, it resembles sacrificial love for his daughter Pearl. The community gives Hester "the mark of Cain" because of her sin of adultery. The authorities believe that she appears unfit to care for this child. With her stubborn character, she convinces the governors to let her keep Pearl. Hester insists: “The pearl is my happiness[.] – it is still my torture! The pearl keeps me here in life” (Hawthorne 77). The pearl is more than a repercussion of sin; it remains a reason to live for Hester. Hester feels “[alone] in the world, abandoned by it, and with this one treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt she had unalienable rights against the world, and was ready to defend them to the death” (Hawthorne 77) . With a cold-blooded, duplicitous husband, a lying lover, and a scolding community, Hester has nothing in the world but her mischievous child and the red badge of shame. Later, Hester gets the opportunity to remove the constricting cap and the scarlet letter while in the forest with her lover, Dimmesdale. Without a doubt, he takes it off without a second thought. However, Pearl throws a tantrum as soon as it is removed. No longer recognizing her mother, Pearl “gesture[s] wildly, and, in the midst of it all, still points [her] little forefinger at Hester's breast” (Hawthorne 144). In an attempt to calm her wayward daughter, Hester puts the letter and cap back on. Hawthorne writes: “As if there were a withering spell in the sad letter, her beauty, the warmth and richness of her femininity departed, like the setting sun; and a gray shadow seemed to fall upon her” (145). Hester loves Pearl so much that she gives up her personal beauty for her daughter's happiness. Love is sacrificial; sacrifice is love. “[Loving] her child with the intensity of single affection,” Hester’s kindness uniquely endures (Hawthorne 123). Hester continually shows love when she interacts with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, her secret lover. Her affection for Dimmesdale, a man as spineless as an insect, is unrequited, and yet.