K. J. Somaiya

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) displays a deep psychological insight into the accumulation of details about various characters The Scarlet Letter is identified as “a great book ever written in the Western Hemisphere”.The theme of alienation is well handled by Hawthorn to show how it can scorch the sensibilities and immobilize the will thereby concentrating his attention on the mental processes and tortures in the minds of different characters and not on their external activities ( John Lewis on Hawthorn). Hawthorne realized that, “We are not endowed with real life till the heart be touched”, yet alas! He “could endow nothing with such life or touch the heart”. ( Hawthorn on Scarlet Letter as Romance)He further observed, “if he thinks fit, also, he (the Romance) may so manage his atmospherical medium as to bring out or mellow the lights and deepen and enrich the shadows of the picture”. Subjectivity is the guiding motive of an author’s work and can never be taken from without himself. It is the inner need of urgency that chooses its subjects to express itself. Key Words: Subjectivity, Individualism, Transcendentalism