A central irony of “The Minister’s Black Veil” is that Reverend Hooper’s veil—which he wears in an attempt to teach his congregation about the way that secrecy, and particularly secret sin, bars them from truly knowing one another and themselves—only serves to further divide him from the people around him. Assuming Reverend Hooper has committed some secret sin of his own and is wearing the black veil to atone for it, the people of Milford quickly start to shun him:
Turning his veiled face from one group to another, he paid due reverence to hoary heads, saluted the middle aged with kind dignity as their friend and spiritual guide, greeted the young with mingled authority and love, and laid his hands on little children's heads to bless them. Such was always his custom on Sabbath day. Strange and bewildered looks repaid him for his courtesy […] He returned, therefore, to the parsonage, and, at the moment of closing the door, was observed to look back upon the people, all of whom had their eyes fixed upon the minister.
Although the minster’s behavior remains exactly the same as it was before he put on the veil (the narrator makes it clear that he greets his congregation in the same way that “was always his custom on Sabbath day”), the townspeople begin to perceive this behavior differently after he obscures his face. This highlights another significant irony in the story: that the people of Milford are far more concerned with the appearance of sin than they are with sin itself.
In Puritan New England, where this story takes place, virtuous behavior was paramount. The Puritans believed that one’s actions in life reflected whether they were destined for Heaven or not. They also believed that spiritual truth was more important than outward appearance, which is why they disliked any sort of spectacle, including plays, singing, dancing, and the wearing of bright colors. Ironically, however, the Puritans of Milford are far more concerned with Reverend Hooper’s outward appearance than they are with the spiritual truth he reveals by wearing his black veil. They are so disturbed by his appearance, in fact, that they not only fail to learn the lesson he is trying to teach them, but also shun him for practicing the very virtues they claim to hold dear. This obsession with appearances is underscored at the end of the above passage, when Hawthorne writes that “all of [the congregation] had their eyes fixed upon the minister.” Although Reverend Hooper is often described as looking down or away from others, the people of Milford are constantly staring at one another, revealing their somewhat hypocritical fixation on appearances. This could be read as Hawthorne critiquing Puritanism more broadly, with its emphasis on correct behavior and keeping up the appearance of virtue instead of the reality.
Throughout the story, Hooper’s veil is repeatedly described as being small and flimsy, making it all the more ironic that it has such a huge effect on the people around him. For example, when he is speaking with his fiancée Elizabeth, it is described as “[nothing] but a double fold of crape, hanging down from his forehead to his mouth, and slightly stirring with his breath,” and throughout the story, the narrator rather dismissively refers to it as “that piece of crape.” This language highlights the irony of the townspeople being so disturbed by its appearance; it’s a thin, superficial thing, but it’s enough to make them ostracize their once-beloved minister.
Dramatic irony is a literary device that highlights the difference between what a character knows about a given situation and what the reader knows. In “The Minister’s Black Veil,” dramatic irony is used to show that Reverend Hooper isn’t as justified in wearing the black veil as he thinks he is. The effect of dramatic irony is achieved in this story through the use of a third-person narrator with a distinct personality of their own.
The narrator in “The Minister’s Black Veil” gives readers some insight into the thoughts and feelings of the story’s characters, but for the most part watches them from a removed distance. They seem to agree with the perspective of neither the townspeople nor Reverend Hooper, and, instead of taking sides, highlight through a subtly mocking and sarcastic tone that both are foolish in their own ways.
A significant moment of dramatic irony comes at the end of the story, when the minister refuses to take off his veil even as he lays dying:
Reverend Mr. Clark bent forward to reveal the mystery of so many years [beneath Hooper’s veil]. But, exerting a sudden energy, that made all the beholders stand aghast, Father Hooper snatched both his hands from beneath the bedclothes, and pressed them strongly on the black veil, resolute to struggle, as if the minister of Westbury could contend with a dying man […] Father Hooper’s breath heaved; it rattled in his throat, but, with a mighty effort, grasping forward with his hands, he caught hold of life, and held it back till he could speak. He even raised himself in bed; and there he sat, shivering with the arms of death around him.
Here the narrator paints Reverend Hooper’s insistence on keeping the veil on in an absurd light. Like a child hiding from an irrational fear, he covers his face with both hands, unwilling even in his final moments, “with the arms of death around him,” to let anyone see his face. At this point in the story, his determination not to remove the veil is based not on a generous desire to teach his congregation a lesson through example, but rather on pure stubbornness and pride. He is also, significantly, covering his eyes in this passage, symbolizing the fact that he is unwilling to see the truth—that he was wrong to isolate himself from his community just to prove a point—even on the verge of death.
The dramatic irony continues after Hooper has successfully deterred the people around him from removing his veil, and he finally dies:
Father Hooper fell back upon his pillow, a veiled corpse, with a faint smile lingering on his lips. Still veiled, they lay him in his coffin, and a veiled corpse they bore him to the grave. The grass of many years has sprung up and withered on the grave, the burial stone is moss-grown, and good Mr. Hooper’s face is dust; but awful still is the thought that it mouldered beneath the Black Veil!
The narrator’s repetition of the word “veiled” in the above passage highlights the absurdity of a veiled corpse. The narrator also explicitly states here that they disagree with Hooper’s decision to die still wearing the veil, calling it “awful.” This passage also contains dramatic irony in that it shows Hooper didn’t get his wish in the end. He had hoped that he would finally be able to remove his “veil” (both literally and metaphorically) in Heaven, but this final sentence suggests that by insisting on wearing the veil in life, he will continue to do so even after death.
