Elmer Kennedy-Andrews remarks that Hawthorne in "The Custom-house" sets the context for his story and "tells us about 'romance', which is his preferred generic term to describe The Scarlet Letter, as his subtitle for the book – 'A Romance' – would indicate." In this introduction, Hawthorne describes a space between materialism and "dreaminess" that he calls "a neutral territory, somewhere between the real world and fairy-land, where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet, and each imbues itself with nature of the other". This combination of "dreaminess" and realism gave the author space to explore major themes.[6]
Other themes
She beheld the minister advancing, illustrated by Hugh Thomson from a 1920 editionThe experience of Prynne and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge – specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be immoral. For Prynne, the Scarlet Letter is a physical manifestation of her sin and reminder of her painful solitude. She contemplates casting it off to obtain her freedom from an oppressive society and a checkered past as well as the absence of God. Because the society excludes her, she considers the possibility that many of the traditions upheld by the Puritan culture are untrue and are not designed to bring her happiness.
As for Dimmesdale, the "cheating minister", his sin gives him "sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind" "that his chest vibrate[s] in unison with theirs." His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy.[7] The Dimmesdale narrative is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought. His "fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity but he ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister's belief is his own cheating, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved.[8]
Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems. A rose bush's beauty forms a striking contrast to all that surrounds it. Later, the beautifully embroidered scarlet "A" is held out in part as an invitation to find "some sweet moral blossom" in the ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that "the deep heart of nature" (perhaps God) may look more kindly on the errant Prynne and her child than her Puritan neighbors do.[9]
Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the anger in his soul, just as Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart. This observation is thought to have been inspired by the deterioration of Edgar Allan Poe, whom Hawthorne "much admired".[9]
Another theme is the extreme legalism of the Puritans and how Prynne chose not to conform to their rules and beliefs. Prynne was rejected by the villagers even though she spent her life doing what she could to help the sick and the poor. Because she was shunned, she spent her life mostly in solitude and did not attend church. Instead, she retreated into her own mind and her own thinking. Her thoughts began to stretch and go beyond what would be considered by the Puritans as safe. She still saw her sin, but she began to look on it differently than the villagers did. Prynne began to believe that a person's earthly sins do not necessarily condemn them. She even went so far as to tell Dimmesdale that their sin had been paid for by their daily penance and that their sin would not prevent them from reaching heaven.
Prynne was alienated from Puritan society, both in her physical life and spiritual life. When Dimmesdale died, she knew she had to move on because she could no longer conform to the Puritans' strictness. Her thinking was free from Puritan religious bounds and she had established her own moral standards and beliefs.[7]
