Mistress Hibbins, the sister of the governor of the Puritan
colony, calls to Hester Prynne in Chapter VIII as she leaves the mansion of the
governor,
"Wilt thou go
with us tonight? There will be a merry company in the forest; and I well-nigh promised the Black
Man that comely Hester Prynne should make
one."
Mistress Hibbins, with her
"ill-omened physiognomy" who appears to cast a shadow upon the governor's house, is, ironically,
a witch. With the leader of the Puritan colony having a witch for a sister, Hawthorne's scorn
for the hypocrisy of the Puritans is clearly apparent. In addition, that Hester refuses to
accompany Mistress Hibbins because she "must keep watch over my little Pearl" or otherwise, she
says, she would go and sign her name in the Black Man's book--"and that with own blood!"--is
testimony to the validity of her plea that she be allowed to keep Pearl so she will live, and
live righteously. Further, Hester's interview with Mistress Hibbins illustrates how dependent
Hester has become on the child of her illicit love affair now that she has been ostracized from
society.
Later in the novel, Mistress Hibbins appears at unexpected
moments; each time that she does enter the scene, however, either Hester or Arthur Dimmesdale
suffer from remorse. Thus it would seem that the witch serves as a reminder to Hester and the
minister of their sin and of the darkness hidden in Puritanism.
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