|
|
Blood vengeance in The Scarlet Letter.(Critical essay)
- Article from:
-
Nathaniel Hawthorne Review
- Article date:
-
September 22, 2006
- Author:
- Adams, Fred C.
|
Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2006 Nathaniel Hawthorne Society. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
"In the spirit of men there is no blood"
Julius Caesar 11.1.168
When blood is drawn, the human tendency leans toward Old Testament "eye-for-an-eye" retribution. But how may one avenge a wrong committed by a society en masse? By withholding what is vital to the common good, as is the case of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. D. H. Lawrence sarcastically qualifies the novel as a "romance" by stating that "nobody has muddy boots in The Scarlet Letter" (1:121). Lawrence could as easily have said that no one has bloody hands either. Although the word "blood" occurs twelve times in the text, "bloody" three times, and "bloodthirstiness" once, we see no blood shed. In ...