Eric Greenberg
30 November 2014
Where is the Love?
Where is the love? Love is in our Creator. Love is our hearts. Love is in the air, but most important of all, love must be within each of us. The Scarlet Letter is a romantic story full of many different types of love. Eros, storge, agape, and phillia are four Greek types of love presented magnificently in this novel. Eros is the romantic love shared usually between a man and woman, either married or not. Storge is the unconditional love between parent and child, or even siblings. Agape is the unconditional love that is shared between God and His children. Last and certainly not least, Philia is the brotherly love shown between friends or even among people in a community. The Scarlett Letter demonstrates all four of these types of love and provides very strong examples of each one through its main characters.
The first type of love that was presented in the novel was eros. Eros is the romantic relationship of a couple and is exemplified in the novel by Hester and Dimmesdale. Hester had an affair with Dimmesdale and although they were not married to each other, she gave birth to their child, Pearl. To prove this statement, I quote the book, "In her was visible the tie that united them." (Hawthorne 189) , and this was when both Hester and Dimmesdale were in the woods watching Pearl approach them. Another statement made in the novel that proves that their union created a life was as follows, "And Pearl was the oneness of their being." (Hawthorne 189) This occurred in the same setting as the last one presented.
The next type of love that was described in the novel was storge. Storge is the unconditional love between parent and child that can never be broken, in my opinion. Hester has this kind of love for Pearl and portrayed this love because she has grown quite close to her daughter and will do anything for her. For example, a mother protecting a child demonstrates storge and Hester illustrated it when she kept Pearl from being taken, which almost occurred at one point in the story. Hester stated during the meeting with Governor Bellingham, "This badge hath taught me-ut daily teaches me-it is teaching me at this moment-lessons whereofmy child may be the wiser and better, albeit they can profit nothing to myself." (Hawthorne 102) This quote shows how much she cares and loves Pearl that she wants to teach her not to make the same mistakes she made. In another example of her care and love for Pearl, Hester states:
" He gave her in requital of all things else, which he had taken from me. She is my happiness!-she is my torture, none the less! Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a million-fold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will die first!"(Hawthorne 103-104)
Ironically, Hester, the sinner who was made to wear the Scarlet Letter of A for Adultery, depicts the most noble and Christian type of love of all, agape. Agape is the love shared by mortals and their Holy Father