The Scarlet Letter Group

Question:

chris4unc
chris4unc
Student
High School - 11th Grade

Who is the Governor?

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Posted by chris4unc on Monday December 1, 2008 at 11:58 AM and tagged with governor, the scarlet letter.

Answers:

  1. mwestwood
    mwestwood Teacher
    Community / Jr. College

    eNotes Editor

    Best answer as selected by question asker.

    The governor's name is Bellingham; he is the most powerful man of the area in which Hester lives and stands as a representative of the Puritan hierarchy to whom Hester appeals to be allowed to raise her daughter Pearl.  Ironically, in Chapter VII when Hester arrives at the house of the governor, she enters not a plain home of a Puritan, but a great house not unlike the pretentious ones of the England that the Puritans fled.  In contrast to the plain style, the governor himself possesses ornate gloves.  Also in contrast to the peaceful ideals of the Puritans, a suit of armor rests before Hester when she enters a room; her scarlet letter is grotesquely reflected in this shield of war.   

    An even greater irony occurs in the character of the governor's sister, who is said to be a follower of the Black Man, participating in witchery. Thus, Hawthorne illustrates the hypocrisy of the Puritans who judge Hester an unfit mother.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/scarlet/chapter-seven

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    Posted by mwestwood on Monday December 1, 2008 at 12:16 PM


  2. dchbowen4life Student
    High School - 11th Grade

    Bellingham

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    Posted by dchbowen4life on Tuesday December 2, 2008 at 9:37 AM