Hawthorne's Irony

Written by Anon

The irony and the real point Hawthorne makes about Puritan society in the passage:

“Truly, friend, and methinks it must gladden your heart, after your troubles and sojourn in the wilderness… to find yourself, at length, in a land where iniquity is searched out, and punished in the sight of rulers and people; as here in our godly New England.” is truly evident. In chapter three of The Scarlet Letter, “The Recognition”, Nathaniel Hawthorne utilizes dramatic irony to highlight the corrupt nature of Boston’s theocracy. When Roger Chillingworth returns to Boston for the first time in two years, a townsman comments that Roger must be happy to find himself “... in a land where iniquity is searched out, and punished…” as a public matter, put on display with the purpose of disciplining the criminal and serving as a symbol of evil for the citizens (Hawthorne 70). Though the townspeople pride themselves in Boston’s public display of sin, Roger is not comforted by Boston’s execution of the law. While nature’s freedom allows Roger Chillingworth to live free from Boston’s theocratic laws and its society’s judgment, once he returns to Boston, he is forced to live under a fake alias in order to avoid facing the public shame of his wife’s sin and the life-long ridicule that is ensured to follow. Though this example of dramatic irony, Hawthorne demonstrates the unrecognized cruelty of Boston’s government that is accepted as right and just.