The Scarlet Letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne

     The Scarlet Letter is a story that shows a love that cannot be. “Mother,” said little Pearl, “the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!” This quotation is how I see the love that cannot be. The sunshine is the love of a man (Arthur Dimmesdale) and it does just what Pearl says - it runs and hides itself from the scarlet letter.
      This love must be hidden because of practical reasons; such as Roger Chillingworth who is her husband is still alive. He knows about his wife and Arthur and he is plotting revenge on Arthur. With Roger in Boston he would get in the way of them having an open relationship and he would destroy their true love.
     Arthur and Hester’s love cannot exist because of personal reasons as well. Hester wears the scarlet letter, so Arthur can’t be with her or it might destroy his reputation. Also, if he were to be with her, the people of his church could not look up to him for their spiritual guidance.
The final reason to keep these lovers apart is societal. The Puritan belief in New England during the middle of the seventeenth century would not have tolerated any type of union between Arthur and Hester. The strict codes of conduct would destroy any way for them to be alone. Their only opportunities to be alone are chance encounters in the forest, but then it would seem as if they were going to see the black, mysterious man that represents evil in this book.
Because of all these reasons, The Scarlet Letter is a story about a love that could not be. In a more perfect world, Arthur, Hester, and Little Pearl would have left Boston and made a new life for themselves in England. Painfully, this does not happen. However, Arthur does at least proclaim his love for Hester along with claiming Pearl as his child, allowing him to shed his burden of guilt. While this is not a happily-ever-after ending, it is closer to the way things would have happened in the world they lived in.