Let men tremble to win the hand of woman, unless they win along with it the utmost passion of her heart! Else it may be their miserable fortune, as it was Roger Chillingworth's, when some mightier touch than their own may have awakened all her sensibilities, to be reproached even for the calm content, the marble image of happiness, which they will have imposed upon her as the warm reality. But Hester ought long ago to have done with this injustice. What did it betoken? Had seven long years, under the torture of the scarlet letter, inflicted so much of misery, and wrought no repentance?
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I think this piece is basically saying that a man can't have the love of a woman without the passion. They have to be attracted to one another and want to spend their lives together. It is also saying that if a man neglects his wife then the wife may seek a refuge in another man, who will actually love her. It's saying that even though Roger Chillingworth was bad to Hester, it was partly her fault too. He asks the question, "was love worth all these years of torture?".
1 comment:
Good, thoughtful response, as always Katie.
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