Most people’s experiences with Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter involve having to read for an English class in high school. I was lucky enough to have read it for the first time a month ago for a class, and I thought it was awesome!
I must state that I fully understand the story as an important one about gender issues, a portrait of Puritan society, and inner versus outer realities. Still, I couldn’t help but find it quite humorous.
If you’ve read this book before, prepare to remember how ridiculous it is at times. If you haven’t read the book, here’s what you have to look forward to if you ever decide to pick it up. Spoilers ahead!
1. Pearl, who is Hester’s daughter/demon child, is the smartest person in the whole book. Even if she constantly flashes terrifying smiles and gives everyone the heebie-jeebies, she sees everything and is not afraid to call people out for being shady.
(Source: Giphy)
2. Reverend Dimmesdale is really as “dim” as his name makes him sound.
(Source: Giphy)
3. Hester’s salty husband wants to get revenge on the guy Hester had an adulterous affair with. Naturally, he changes his name to Chillingworth. That’s not suspicious or creepy at all. Then he masquerades as a physician, and people actually trust him! I just feel bad for all those people who went to med school for years and couldn’t have it as good as fake-doctor Chillingworth did.
(Source: Giphy)
4. Mistress Hibbins desperately wants more friends to do witchcraft with in the forest. So, she asks Hester to hang out with her. You can’t just ask someone to go into the forest and do witchcraft with you! The very least you can do is buy them a drink first!
(Source: Giphy)
5. I’m pretty convinced that Hester loves wearing the letter “A” on her chest. I mean, it gets her out of having to socialize with all the other uptight Puritans. It doesn’t hurt that she probably decorated the heck out of that piece of fabric, making it look like a fashion accessory. I bet all the Puritan women were jealous that they didn’t get to be on the margins of society and look so fly at the same time.
(Source: Giphy)
*None of the images used belong to Her Campus or the author.*
Thumbnail image courtest of ThingLink.