The Scarlet letter is a Puritan based Psychological Novel.

Introduction:

A single mistake that was deadly in the principles of Puritan Society, spoiled the lives of four characters - Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl in the Classic Novel "The Scarlet Letter". American Famous  Novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne enters the depth of psychology of the characters to find an interior Monologue that is based on Puritan Society. Puritan Society strictly follows their rules to achieve a better life. Adultery is the most punishable offence in the law of Puritan Society and public trials and punishments were used as a tool to prevent others from committing adultery or other crimes. The Whole story "The Scarlet Letter '' presented the Psychological atmosphere of the characters and punished mentally and physically by the Puritan Society and the flows of the stream of consciousness. A Scarlet Letter or a sign "A" represents Adultery that was an offence in the Puritan Society.

Hester Prynne:

In the story, she is standing on the scaffold with her newborn baby in her arms, facing the people of Puritan citizens in Boston to find out who was the culprit of her present situation. But Hester does not want to reveal the name of the man. As a result, she was punished with the scarlet letter "A", a symbol of shame and adultery that was embroidered on her dress as a symbol and taken everywhere she went. She was neglected everywhere for her guilt and bowed down her head . She realised how her past action reflected the present reaction. Her stream of consciousness haunt mentally as well as her husband does not support her work. Even her daughter Pearl questions why she always took the symbol and what is the meaning of it? She doesn't reply to it and meets her lover Arthur Dimmidale to find out the solutions. So it is clear in the circumstances of Hester that she was totally depressed for her work.

Arthur Dimmesdale:

He is the man for whom Heister was suffering, Arthur Dimmesdale was the illegitimate father of Pearl and a pastor of Puritan Society. He knows the moral code of Puritan Society but why does he do such a punishable offence and why does Hester only accept all the burden of punishable offence? If Hester was punished by society, Arthur Dimmesdale was punished every moment by mentally. He does not confess his guilt publicly because he was a respectable person in the eyes of Puritan Society but truth was never suppressed by anyone. Arthur's consciousness always haunts him and for this he gradually becomes weak to fight his stream of consciousness and wants consultation and treatment by Roger Chillingworth, a doctor and husband of Hester. He also meets Hester and gives satisfaction that they must leave the place but when he does bear such kind of mental pressure, he confesses publicly that he was the culprit and dies after a few days.

Roger Chillingworth:

He was the husband of Hester and disguised himself as a doctor in profession. He stopped the relationship with Hester after hearing the shameful work of his wife and realized that he must find out the culprit for whom his life takes a pause. The culprit was before him but he doesn't recognise. When he starts treatment of Arthur and to show the behaviour of Arthur, he sured that Arthur is that person for whom the tragic moment happened and his surety takes the high level when he saw a cut mark of Arthur's body like Hester's Scarlet Letter. He became furious and ready to take revenge but an unexpected situation happened on the "Sermon Day", Arthur gave a fabulous speech publicly and after that standing on scaffold and publicly declared his guilt and sin and died in the arms of Hester. To see Chillingworth losing his will for revenge and dies shortly thereafter.

Pearl: 

The illegitimate daughter of Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale, she was only seven years old when Dimmesdale died, she questioned her mother why she wore scarlet letter on her cloth and the meaning of it and her conscious mind tried to  find out the answer of the questions. She understood that something was wrong with her mother, otherwise she would not tell the exact reason for it. Everything becomes clear when her father's identity is revealed and she finds out the real meaning of the scarlet letter "A". Like her mother, she also faced many problems from the Puritan Society about her parents for that she became a moody and mischievous attitude girl.

Conclusion:

The Novelist very aptly presented the whole story in the mask of religion that is based on Puritan Society and show how they are punished mentally or physically. Hester's Psychological problem was how to face and spend her life in society. Arthur's Psychological problem was how to confess his guilt publicly, Roger Chillingworth's Psychological problem was how to get revenge on Arthur for his misdeed and Pearl's Psychological problem was how to find out the exact meaning of "A" and why she bore such a letter. No one Characters mentally suffer and the story is not complete without Psychological elements on the basis of the moral code of Puritan Society. So, "The Scarlet Letter '' is a Puritan based Psychological Novel.