One of the main ideas of The Scarlet Letter is that society often separates individuals from their true identity. As an adulteress in a Puritan society, Hester Prynne has had an artificial identity imposed upon her, an identity symbolized for all to see by the dreaded scarlet letter. As far as the moral guardians of the community are concerned, Hester's an adulteress: a sinful, fallen woman, and that's all that anyone really needs to know about her. The idea of her being a human being, deserving of respect and dignity, simply doesn't occur to them for a moment.

At the same time, the imposition of the scarlet letter for Hester's transgressions allows her to forge an identity of her own. Hester's a strong-willed, intelligent woman who simply will not accept that society has the right to determine who and what she really is. This defiant attitude explains Hester's surprising reaction to news that the town's elders are considering letting her remove the scarlet letter. We might think that she'd welcome the prospect of casting off this badge of public shame and humiliation. But Hester's thinking is that, if she is to remove the scarlet letter, it should be because she and she alone has made the free choice to do so, not because local worthies have graciously condescended to give their permission.

What is the main theme of The Scarlet Letter?

In the final chapter, the narrator suggests that love and hate are, in many ways, the same.  He says, 

It is a curious subject of observation and inquiry, whether hatred and love be not the same thing at bottom. Each, in its utmost development, supposes a high degree of intimacy and heart-knowledge; each renders one individual dependent for the food of his affections and spiritual fife upon another: each leaves the passionate lover, or the no less passionate hater, forlorn and desolate by the withdrawal of his subject. Philosophically considered, therefore, the two passions seem essentially the same, except that one happens to be seen in a celestial radiance, and the other in a dusky and lurid glow. 

What is the main theme of The Scarlet Letter?

Unlike many novels, Hawthorne tells us main theme or moral in the last chapters. Hawthorne writes, "Among many morals which press upon us from the poor minister's miserable experience, we put only this into a sentence:—“Be true! Be true! Be true! Show freely to the world, if not your worst, yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred!” In other words, do not be a hypocrite. Do not put on a false front to the world to make it seem like you have no faults. It is OK to let others know you are not perfect. This idea is exemplified in the life of Dimmesdale and Hester. Dimmesdale tried to hide his sin and guilt from the world. As a result, he was eaten alive by remorse and guilt, his heart literally weakened, and he died. Hester, on the other hand, never hid her sin and learned to rise above it by becoming humble and doing good deeds. She becomes stronger and more respected in the end that Dimmesdale, who loses all credibility with the people of Boston at the end of the novel.

What is the main theme of The Scarlet Letter?

The Scarlet Letter is a Romantic indictment of the destructive qualities of society and the institutions it creates. It is also a passionate defense of Nature.

The behaviors that Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne display toward one another outside the judgmental realm of the colony are purely natural. What stands in the way of their fulfillment are the laws and mores of the Puritan society by which they have consented to live. Pearl, the product of their natural relationship, is, for most of the novel, too young to understand the culture that seeks to squelch her own natural passions. She was conceived in Nature and feels most at home there on purely unconscious and subconscious levels.

Hawthorne seemed to believe that humanity's natural condition was good: loving, generous, compassionate, and happy. What gets in the way and turns humanity to a darker condition are the institutions, primarily religious and legalistic, that confine and constrain, causing anger, pessimism, and the inevitable persecution of others. The natural world is the only place in the novel's settings in which any of the characters find a temporary respite from their unhappy lives.

What is the main theme of The Scarlet Letter?

One could specify several main themes to this story: sin, guilt, lust, and dishonesty come to mind. But I think a significant theme worth exploring is that of double standards of morality for men and women.

Hester Prynne is publicly shamed, made to wear a scarlet letter "A" on her clothing, for her "sin" of adultery. She bears a child (a daughter named Pearl), and this child is also shamed by the villagers, as she is seen as evidence of her mother's adultery. But Hester is proud and defiant, knowing she did not do anything wrong but only followed her heart. But during this period in history, women were considered the property of men, and their sexuality was subject to the strict puritanical values of the era. Oftentimes pregnancy was the source of shame and shunning for single women, and paternity could not be determined, so it fell upon women to bear their burden alone if men did not admit their involvement.

When it is discovered that Hester's lover and the father of her child is in fact a clergyman, the double standard of morality for men and women in this context is exposed. The hypocrisy of the church, which was the source of moral guidance for communities in Colonial America, is also exposed here. Hester may be guilty of sin, but she is being judged based upon the tenets of the church, and since it is a clergyman who is her lover, there is clearly a double standard of behavior and integrity that applies to men and women as well as to clergy and laypeople. Her lover is also guilty of this sin under the these standards. But the two are in love. Hawthorne's message on some level seems to be that love transcends social norms, and hypocrisy stands in the way of lovers who cannot be together because of social expectations.

What is the main point of The Scarlet Letter?

Author Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864) was born in Salem, Massachusetts, and became a man of deep religious faith. He considered himself a good Christian and developed and followed an individual moral code for his personal life. His views on “original sin” and the will of God were ingrained in his personality and actions, but he also possessed a strong sense of conscience. As a result, the author was determined to criticize the treatment of women in Puritan America and expose the hypocrisy and religious fanaticism of the ministers and other religious leaders of the era. He extracted events from historical records to form the essence of his criticism and altered them to fit his purposes. For example, he writes:

Most of the spectators testified to having seen, on the breast of the unhappy minister, a SCARLET LETTER—the very semblance of that worn by Hester Prynne—imprinted in the flesh. As regarded its origin, there were various explanations, all of which must necessarily have been conjectural. Some affirmed that the Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale, on the very day when Hester Prynne first wore her ignominious badge, had begun a course of penance,—which he afterwards, in so many futile methods, followed out,—by inflicting a hideous torture on himself.

Hawthorne begins his “historical novel” with a lengthy introductory essay by a Surveyor who is a Salem Customs official and the unnamed narrator of the tale. The author lends credibility to his story by drawing events and characters from Puritan life in the seventeenth century. He uses the typical happenings of that time period as a basis for his criticism of the mistreatment of women and hypocrisy of the religious leaders in the Puritan communities. By infusing some information taken from historical events into The Scarlet Letter, the author serves his main purpose for the novel, which is to bring to light the cruelty and abuse suffered by victims in 1642 under Puritan rule.

What are the basic themes of The Scarlet Letter?

The Scarlett Letter is concerned with the idea of guilt. Hawthorne looks at the irony of how the Puritan society interprets and handles “guilt” regarding the main character Hester Prynne, who has committed adultery and given birth to a daughter. The Puritans of the town shun her for years.

Hester’s guilt is simple and straightforward—she slept with someone she wasn’t married to. This was a serious breach of Puritan morality. But there is greater guilt behind the scenes. The Reverend Dimmesdale is the father of Hester’s child. He does not reveal this fact for years. Therefore, the leader of the town’s Puritan community is also guilty. Roger Chillingsworth, Hester’s long-lost husband, spends years exacting secret revenge—he too is guilty. In fact, Chillingsworth, the character who was originally wronged, is the guiltiest of them all, because he becomes consumed with the idea of revenge.

The theme of the story is about levels of guilt, but also about the devastating effect of the refusal to forgive those who wrong us.

What would be one of Hawthorne's major themes in The Scarlet Letter?

Among the major themes in the novel, one of the most interesting to analyze is the ambiguity with which Hawthorne narrates many of the major events. Ambiguity, as a theme, touches upon a lot of the issues in the novel.

One of the ways that Hawthorne uses ambiguity is in the description and actions of Dimmesdale. While the narrative is focalized through the emotions of Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale remains in the back. Even his name embodies the nature of his gradual "dimming" in the story until the moment of this death. His once dashing personality has been weakened by the sin that he hides, and which he had to witness Hester pay for by herself. Hence, the name "Dimmesdale" is a symbol of the ambiguous man who we never get to meet entirely. 

Ambiguity is also seen in the way in which the townspeople view Governor Bellingham (whose last name also symbolic of an opulent, thick, fat, and superfluous man)  lives a double standard: life as a pilgrim, and life as a rich man. Whether the townsmen ever question this dichotomy is unknown to the reader. That is a sign of ambiguity.

Finally, the manner in which Dimmesdale dies and the town re-tells his story shows that it is also unknown to the reader whether the townsmen believed Dimmesdale's confession or if, instead, they chose to believe what they wanted. Even Hawthorne says

"The reader may choose among these theories."

Therefore, as a major theme, ambiguity plays the role of making the reader come to conclusions as far as the backbone of each character, about their actual state of mind, and about the mindset of the villagers as a community.