Editing History

As Hawthorne tells us in the Custom House chapter, the story of The Scarlet Letter came from papers recording the actual historical events of the situation. He is not the first author to take history and make novels out of it. Sir Walter Scott had done the same thing in his novel The Heart of Midlothian. In it Scott weaves together a few tales of Scottish history, including the trial of a “sinful” woman who not only was pregnant and unmarried, but had supposedly killed the child. (The historical story follows her sister, who went all the way to London to receive a royal pardon on her behalf.)

There’s one very memorable thing that Scott did with his retelling; his endings for the characters were very different from the historical facts. Notably in the novel, the girl who had once sinned now lived a life of misfortunes that followed one after another. Her historical counterpart, however, lived a relatively happy life after she was pardoned. This revised edition of history follows with a familiar trope: the good have happy endings, the bad have less than stellar ones.

Already in the first few pages, Hawthorne has made me feel more for Hester than I had felt for Scott’s “fallen maiden.” In the first few pages our sympathy instantly lies with Hester, who is the woman who has sinned. While she does not admit who is Pearl’s father and is not looking for the community’s version of “saving,” I’m not made to think that she deserves the punishment. Compared to some of the community, Hester is a heroine.

I have never read the novel before, but I am interested in seeing how Hawthorne could rewrite history. Just because the historical figure lived a mediocre life does not mean his character is bound to the same standards. If he wants to reward Hester for everything she went through at the end of the novel, there’s nothing that can really stop him. He could also punish the town for what they’ve done to Hester. While there is a few more constrictions on that (as people may look into more historical accuracy on a place that is still standing), he is allowed to do so. Novels have been a way to convey the idea that the good shall be rewarded, the bad shall be punished. But Hawthorne is obviously not one for conventions. So I can’t wait to see how the ending shall play out.