Studies in English, New Series Studies in English, New Series
Volume 10 Article 10
1-1-1992
Hester Prynne and the Folk Art of Embroidery Hester Prynne and the Folk Art of Embroidery
Haipeng Li
University of Arizona
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HESTER
PRYNNE
AND
THE
FOLK
ART
OF
EMBROIDERY
Haipeng
Li
The
University
of
Arizona
During
Nathaniel
Hawthorne
’
s
time,
the
folk
art
of
embroidery
was
popular
and
intricate
in
New
England.
Georgiana
Brown
Harbeson
cites
an
example
of
“
a
band
with
more
intricate
stitchery,
showing
animals,
birds
and
flowers...,
”
1
a
piece
of
needlework
which
was
conducted
in
Hawthorne's
hometown,
Salem,
Massachusetts.
As
folk
art,
embroidery
became
more
popular
and
more
mature
in
the
nineteenth
century;
“
needlework
generally
during
the
early
nineteenth
century
became
a
form
of
relaxation
and
an
expression
of
art
”
(Harbeson,
p.58).
Living
in
such
a
folk
atmosphere,
Hawthorne,
as
well
as
his
literary
work,
was
undoubtedly
influenced
by
the
art
of
embroidery
to
some
extent.
In
fact,
some
of
his
female
friends
were
also
engaged
in
this
profession.
Hawthorne
admits
in
the
introductory
part
of
The
Scarlet
Letter,
“
The
Custom
House,
”
that
he
discussed
the
aft
of
embroidery
with
ladies
who
were
familiar
with
it
2
No
wonder
he
could
tell
the
“
wonderful
skill
of
needlework
”
of
a
piece
of
red
cloth
he
found
in
the
Custom
House.
In
The
Scarlet
Letter,
Hawthorne
devotes
a
whole
chapter
to
the
relationship
between
needlework
and
his
heroine,
Hester
Prynne
(Ch.
5,
“
Hester
at
Her
Needle
”
).
Obviously,
Hawthorne
is
interested
in
the
world
of
embroidery
and
tries
to
express
it
through
the
art
of
his
literary
work
as
seen
in
The
Scarlet
Letter.
As
embroidery
has
always
been
associated
with
women,
needlework
in
The
Scarlet
Letter
is
mostly
related
to
the
heroine,
Hester
Prynne,
both
for
the
purpose
of
shaping
her
character
and
as
an
expression
of
her
inner
being.
A
keen-eyed
reader
of
The
Scarlet
Letter
would
find
that
the
use
of
embroidery
in
this
novel
is
by
no
means
a
coincidence.
The
symbolic
meaning
it
carries
not
only
helps
the
reader
understand
Hester
’
s
character
better,
but
it
also
provides
a
clearer
picture
of
a
broader
world
in
Puritan
society.
Upon
her
first
appearance,
Hester
Prynne,
a
beautiful
young
woman
of
the
New
England
colony,
condemned
for
her
adultery,
is
identified
with
the
scarlet
letter
“
A,
”
which
she
embroidered
with
wonderful
skill:
“
On
the
breast
of
her
gown,
in
fine
red
cloth,
surrounded
with
an
elaborate
embroidery
and
fantastic
flourishes
of
gold
threads,
appears
the
letter
A
”
(p.57).
The
letter
with
its
fantastic
features
is
created
as
something
one
would
not
expect
to
see
among
the
Puritans.
The
significance
of
Hawthorne
’
s
description
of
the
scarlet
1
Li: Hester Prynne and Embroidery
Published by eGrove, 1992
Haipeng
Li
81
“
A
”
is
exposed
to
the
reader
when
the
letter
is
applied
and
related
to
the
character
of
the
heroine,
Hester
Prynne.
The
attractive
and
artistic
letter
“
A
”
identifies
itself
with
the
beauty,
vigor
and
perfection
of
Hester:
“
The
young
woman
was
tall,
with
a
figure
of
perfect
elegance
on
a
large
scale.
She
had
dark
and
abundant
hair,
so
glossy
that
it
threw
off
the
sunshine
with
a
gleam,
and
a
face
which,
besides
being
beautiful
regularity
of
features
and
richness
of
complexion,
had
the
impressiveness
belonging
to
a
marked
brow
and
deep
black
eyes
”
(p.58).
Similar
to
the
finely
embroidered
“
A,
”
which
shines
like
gold,
Hester
’
s
glossy
hair
gleams
under
the
shining
sun.
While
the
features
of
the
letter
“
A
”
—
“
scarlet,
”
“
fine,
”
“
elaborate,
”
“
fantastic
”
and
“
gold
”
—
already
betray
the
restrictions
of
the
community
which
deprives
of
diversity,
Hester
’
s
characteristics
indicate
her
rebelliousness
against
the
rules
of
the
Puritan
society.
Her
hair
is
“
dark,
”
“
abundant
”
and
“
glossy
”
;
her
face
is
“
beautiful,
”
“
rich
”
and
“
impressive.
”
The
hair
symbol
is
very
significant
in
this
novel.
The
forest
scene
relating
to
Hester
’
s
hair
tells
symbolically
not
just
of
her
vitality
and
passion,
but
of
her
rebelliousness
against
the
society
as
well,
“
By
another
impulse
she
took
off
the
formal
cap
that
confined
her
hair;
and
down
it
fell
upon
her
shoulder,
dark
and
rich,
with
at
once
a
shadow
and
a
light
in
its
abundance,
and
imparting
the
charm
of
softness
to
her
features
”
(p.223).
In
folk
ballads,
the
theme
of
letting
her
hair
down
indicates
that
the
woman
is
ready
to
make
love.
Under
the
strict
moral
confinement
and
with
the
severe
punishment
upon
her,
Hester
is
likely
to
commit
another
“
sin.
”
In
a
society
in
which
beauty
is
besmirched,
vitality
is
smothered
and
true
love
is
condemned,
Hester
stands
out
as
a
rebel.
The
contrast
between
her
perfection
and
the
ugliness
of
the
society
is
therefore
revealed
through
the
identification
of
the
heroine
and
her
art
work
even
at
the
beginning
of
the
novel.
Hawthorne
subtly
melts
Hester
and
her
art.
While
Hester
appears
to
be
a
fansy
to
the
unfamiliar
eye,
Hawthorne
tells
the
reader
that
even
people
who
had
known
her
were
astonished,
not
just
by
her
physical
beauty,
but
by
the
beauty
with
which
the
embroidered
letter
creates
and
shapes
her
(p.58).
Without
the
letter,
she
wouldn
’
t
be
as
astonishing
as
she
was.
The
letter
makes
her
a
goddess-figure.
Thus,
significantly,
through
folk
art,
Hawthorne
establishes
his
heroine
as
a
form
of
art
in
herself.
In
that
sense,
the
letter
“
A
”
stands
for
“
Art
”
.
To
say
that
Hester
is
art
is
neither
exaggerating
nor
far-
reaching.
By
relating
the
art
of
the
scarlet
letter
to
Hester,
one
finds
Hawthorne
’
s
intentional
description
of
Hester
as
eternal
art:
“
It
(the
scarlet
letter)
was
artistically
done,
and
with
so
much
fertility
and
gorgeous
2
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82
HESTER
PRYNNE
AND
EMBROIDERY
luxuriance
of
fancy,
that
it
had
all
the
effect
of
a
last
and
fitting
decoration
to
the
apparel
which
she
wore;
and
which
was
of
a
splendor
in
accordance
with
the
taste
of
the
age,
but
greatly
beyond
what
was
allowed
by
the
sumptuary
regulations
of
the
colony
”
(p.57).
The
latter
part
of
this
sentence
shows
Hawthorne
’
s
emphatic
implication:
the
art
of
the
beautifully
embroidered
letter
is
timeless.
Like
the
scarlet
letter,
Hester
herself
is
a
pure
form
of
art
that
reaches
and
extends
beyond
her
own
time.
“
Hester
is
ladylike,
too,
”
Hawthorne
continues,
“
after
the
manner
of
the
feminine
gentility
of
those
days;
characterized
by
a
certain
state
and
dignity,
rather
than
by
the
delicate,
evanescent,
and
indescribable
grace
which
is
now
recognized
as
its
indication
”
(p.58).
Through
the
identification
of
the
character
with
folk
art,
Hawthorne
shows
that
embroidery
has
become
a
part
of
the
heroine,
Hester
Prynne.
This
merger
could
be
understood
in
several
ways.
First,
needlework
is
the
occupation
with
which
she
identifies
herself.
Second,
embroidery
is
closely
and
significantly
associated
with
her
daughter
little
Pearl,
who
is
also
physically
and
spiritually
a
part
of
Hester.
Third,
needlework
has
become
a
means
of
expressing
herself
to
challenge
the
Puritan
society.
Condemned
by
the
Puritan
world,
Hester
has
to
live
apart
from
the
rest
of
the
community.
To
survive,
she
takes
up
her
old
and
familiar
profession
of
needlework.
Thus
one
of
the
functions
of
folk
art
—
its
practical
use
—
comes
in.
Like
other
folk
art,
needlework
at
first
primarily
functioned
for
the
daily
use
of
people;
later
it
developed
into
the
art
of
embroidery
for
decorative
and
beautifying
purposes.
In
the
wilderness,
Hester
makes
dresses
for
herself
and
her
daughter
to
keep
away
the
severe
cold
of
the
New
England
weather.
Symbolically,
Hester
tries
to
prevent
the
“
coldness
”
from
the
Puritan
society
to
keep
herself
and
little
Pearl
“
warm.
”
Because
of
her
wonderful
skill
in
needlework,
“
there
was
a
frequent
and
characteristic
demand
for
such
labor
as
Hester
Prynne
could
supply
”
(p.89).
Hawthorne
reveals
that
Hester
’
s
needlework
was
requested
for
all
ranks
in
the
Puritan
world:
the
Governor,
the
minister,
military
men,
babies,
brides,
and
even
the
dead.
It
is
used
as
clothing
as
well
as
decoration.
Here,
Hester
’
s
needlework
realizes
its
dual
function
—
practical
and
artistic
as
most
other
folk
art
does.
Hester
thus
is
identified
as
one
of
the
seventeenth
century
folk
characters
because
she
mastered
the
folk
profession
of
her
time.
As
discussed
earlier,
because
of
its
practical
and
decorative
functions,
embroidery
became
an
important
and
popular
occupation
in
which
almost
every
woman
was
involved.
Hester,
however,
outclassed
the
rest
of
the
females
in
her
community
in
the
field
of
embroidery
and
thus
3
Li: Hester Prynne and Embroidery
Published by eGrove, 1992
Haipeng
Li
83
became
an
important
folk
artist.
Therefore,
her
work
was
redeemed
and
demanded
more
frequently
in
spite
of
her
moral
“
misconduct.
”
The
identification
of
embroidery
as
folk
art
with
Hester
Prynne
herself
is
also
seen
through
Hawthorne
’
s
treatment
of
the
scarlet
letter
and
little
Pearl.
Significantly,
the
scarlet
letter
is
always
attached
symbolically
to
little
Pearl,
who
is
a
part
of
Hester
both
physically
and
spiritually.
Pearl
does
not
appear
without
the
compaionship
of
the
scarlet
letter.
As
many
scholars
of
Hawthorne
indicate,
little
Pearl
is
more
of
a
symbol
than
of
an
actual
human
child.
She
functions
only
in
the
shaping
of
Hester
’
s
character.
Pearl
is
always
identified
with
the
letter:
“
[she]
was
the
scarlet
letter
in
another
form;
the
scarlet
letter
endowed
with
life
”
(p.102).
In
dressing
Pearl,
Hester
spends
more
time
and
takes
special
care
in
the
way
that
she
mimics
the
color
and
embroidery
of
the
letter.
For
Hester,
Pearl
is
her
creation,
part
of
her
body.
In
fact,
throughout
the
novel,
the
mother
and
the
daughter
are
inseparable.
Nina
Baym
tellingly
comments
that
“
she
(Pearl)
is
both
something
that
the
mother
produces
deliberately
and
something
that
reflects
the
mother
despite
herself.
More
particularly,
she
reflects
the
mother
’
s
deed
that
gave
her
life.
”
3
Little
Pearl
always
expresses
what
the
mother
wishes
to.
When
Roger
Chillingworth,
Hester
’
s
husband
for
whom
she
has
no
love,
enters
her
cell
in
the
prison,
“
Hester
Prynne
had
immediately
become
as
still
as
death,
although
the
child
continued
to
moan
”
(p.77).
When
Hester
is
so
upset
upon
seeing
Chillingworth,
little
Pearl
appears
to
reflect
what
Hester
feels
and
even
plays
the
role
of
her
mother.
While
Hester
is
severely
restrained
outwardly
by
the
Puritan
society,
the
vitality
and
vigor
of
her
inner
being
is
reflected
by
little
Pearl,
as
by
the
scarlet
letter.
There
are
many
incidents
in
the
novel
describing
little
Pearl
as
expressing
“
the
feminine
and
passionate
impulses
that
the
mother
must
repress
in
this
Puritan
world
”
(p.105).
Significantly,
Hawthorne
describes
Pearl
’
s
dresses
as
associated
with
imagination,
spirit,
youth,
gaiety
and
fire.
Outwardly
Hester
conforms
to
the
laws
of
the
Puritan
society;
yet
Pearl
’
s
dresses
reveal
that
Hester
is
not
really
changed
in
character
but
that
she
continues
to
be
rebellious
against
the
society
she
lived
in.
While
the
character
of
Hester
is
identified
with
the
folk
art
of
embroidery,
Hester,
in
turn,
uses
her
artistic
means
to
express
herself,
as
other
folk
artists
do.
Harbeson
says
that
embroidery
has
always
been
“
the
means
of
poetic
and
philosophic
release
for
women
who
had
no
other
outlet
for
their
idealistic
yearning
”
(p.xxxvii).
Similarly,
Hawthorne
states
in
The
Scarlet
Letter:
“
women
derive
a
pleasure,
4
Studies in English, New Series, Vol. 10 [1992], Art. 10
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84
HESTER
PRYNNE
AND
EMBROIDERY
incomprehensive
to
the
other
sex,
from
the
delicate
toil
of
the
needlework
”
(p.91).
When
it
comes
to
the
case
of
Hester,
Hawthorne
continues,
“
To
Hester
Prynne,
it
might
have
been
a
mode
of
expressing,
and
therefore,
soothing,
the
passion
of
her
life
”
(p.91).
Whether
it
is
really
an
expression
of
“
soothing
the
passion
of
her
life
”
or
not
is
an
ambiguity,
which
is
characteristic
of
Hawthorne.
The
assumption
that
it
might
be
a
“
stimulant
”
to
the
passion
of
her
life
could
also
be
true.
Nevertheless,
Hester
’
s
using
embroidery
as
a
means
of
expressing
her
inner
self
is
obvious.
Being
isolated
from
the
rest
of
the
world,
Hester
relies
on
her
needlework
solely.
While
she
made
her
own
dresses
out
of
the
“
coarsest
materials
and
the
most
sober
hue
”
(p.90)
to
express
the
“
atonement
”
for
what
she
had
done,
in
her
deeper
mind
she
longed
for
freedom
and
true
love.
Again
this
yearning
is
reflected
by
the
clothing
of
little
Pearl;
“
her
mother...had
brought
the
richest
tissues
that
could
be
procured,
and
allowed
her
imaginative
faculty
its
full
play
in
the
arrangement
and
decoration
of
the
dresses
which
the
child
wore
before
the
public
eye
”
(p.97).
Hawthorne
describes
them
as
“
gorgeous
robes.
”
Therefore,
the
art
of
embroidery
has
become
an
outlet
of
Hester
’
s
free
and
passionate
soul.
Hester
’
s
world
of
needlework
also
functions
to
prevent
her
from
being
isolated.
In
other
words,
needlework
has
become
her
means
of
communication
with
the
outside
world.
Confined
to
the
wilderness
with
her
little
Pearl,
Hester
has
only
needlework
to
accompany
her.
Being
a
woman
of
passion
and
love,
she
is
unable
to
stand
the
harshness
of
isolation.
She
needs
a
way
to
express
herself
in
the
public.
Just
as
in
the
scene
of
her
first
appearance,
where
she
makes
the
scarlet
letter
herself
and
puts
it
on
her
dress,
she
later
makes
embroidery
for
people
of
different
social
status
to
remind
them
of
her
social
existence.
She
makes
dresses
not
just
for
the
poor.
Even
the
hands
of
the
“
sinful
”
woman
can
make
the
gloves
for
“
pure
”
men
of
power
in
the
Puritan
society.
Therefore,
Hester
is
exploiting
needlework
as
a
means
of
expressing
her
challenge
to
the
inhuman
world.
While
Hester
’
s
challenge
to
Puritan
society
is
seen
through
the
piercing
of
her
needle,
embroidery
here
also
carries
the
implication
that
the
atmosphere
of
Puritan
morality
is
overwhelming.
Both
at
the
beginning
and
end
of
the
novel,
Hawthorne
writes
explicitly
that
Hester
has
to
wear
“
the
coarse,
dark-colored
garments
”
to
conform
to
the
morally
strict
society.
In
fact,
the
Puritans
themselves
also
wear
the
same
kind
of
clothes,
which,
they
believe,
represent
their
“
purity.
”
Anyone
who
does
not
obey
their
rules
is
not
pure
and
therefore
is
punished:
“
It
might
be
that
a
sluggish
bond-servant,
or
an
undutiful
5
Li: Hester Prynne and Embroidery
Published by eGrove, 1992
Haipeng
Li
85
child,
whom
her
parents
had
given
over
to
the
civil
authority,
was
to
be
corrected
at
the
whipping
post
”
(p.53).
Hester
does
not
obey,
and
she
is
punished.
Thus
it
is
fair
to
say
that
embroidery
is
Hester
’
s
personal
art
and
the
poetry
of
her
needle.
Through
the
folk
art
of
embroidery,
Hester
’
s
character
is
vividly
revealed.
She
is
not
only
identified
with
the
folk
art,
but
also
exploits
it
as
a
means
of
expression
to
reinforce
her
character.
She
is
not
just
a
rebel
from
the
Puritan
society,
but
an
art
form
that
is
everlasting.
Hawthorne
’
s
careful
and
precise
use
of
embroidery
in
The
Scarlet
Letter
offers
a
direct
glimpse
into
the
relationship
between
the
character,
Hester
Prynne,
who
is
performing
the
folk
art,
and
the
reader,
who
is
familiar
with
it,
as
folklore
often
does
when
used
in
literature.
4
Evidently,
the
choice
of
needlework
as
Hester
’
s
occupation
is
a
conscious
decision
chosen
by
Hawthorne
whose
purpose
is
to
provide
the
reader
with
a
tool
to
look
into
the
character.
Therefore,
the
art
of
embroidery
in
this
novel
functions
as
the
background
for
the
understanding
of
the
heroine,
Hester
Prynne.
4
Swann
Steven
Jones,
Folklore
and
Literature
in
the
United
States
(New
York,
1984),
p.
vi.
NOTES
1
Georgiana
Brown
Harbeson,
American
Needlework
(New
York,
1838),
p.
34.
2
Nathaniel
Hawthorne,
The
Scarlet
Letter
(New
York,
1967),
p.
33.
3
Nina
Baym,
The
Scarlet
Letter:
A
Reading
(Boston,
1986),
p.
56.
6
Studies in English, New Series, Vol. 10 [1992], Art. 10
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/studies_eng_new/vol10/iss1/10
