Character Changes In The Scarlet Letter
People change for many reasons, the change may affect each person differently and over time a person can heal at their own pace. Depending on what has occurred to them and their actions towards themselves, helps to portray their reason to be and how it changed them into who they are now. Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts this in his novel the Scarlet Letter, many of Hawthorne’s characters undergo several changes because of the scarlet letter. Hester Prynne, the one who wears the letter A, is haunted by her crime as well as by her town. Pearl grows up knowing the scarlet letter and being a part of it, she does not know any of her town nor as religious Puritan, like everyone else. Dimmesdale on the other hand does, and he is the minister of the town, …show more content…
Adultery was such a terrible sin to be committed in mid-seventeenth century, especially within the puritan community. Hester wanted to protect the father of her child because she knew that if everyone found out Dimmesdale was the other part taker in this crime then, they both would have been killed but Dimmesdale, being the minister, helped and saved her by letting her off easy, thus wearing the scarlet as her punishment. When she first realizes what the letter is capable of, she does not like it and is ashamed for herself. The townspeople would treat her very differently as well as talk rudely about her. In chapter twenty one, the narrator states, “Her face, so long familiar to the townspeople, showed the marble quietude which they were accustomed to behold there. It was like a mask; or rather, like the frozen calmness of a dead woman 's features; owing this dreary resemblance to the fact that Hester was actually dead, in respect to any claim of sympathy, and had departed out of the world with which she still seemed to mingle,” this reveals vivid imagery of her face that shows how used to she has become to people’s crude remarks (349). The town has been very accustomed to Hester and her quiet ways, the stillness of her face hides what she is actually feeling.
Blindness In The Scarlet Letter
1270 Words | 6 PagesThroughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne exposes the blindness of the Puritan people through the treatment of Hester, Chillingworth, and Dimmesdale’s external characters. Hester Prynne is labeled as an adulteress and mistreated by society because of their unwillingness to see her true character. Chillingworth, the husband of Hester, leads the town to believe he is an honorable man and skillful doctor, when his true intents root from his vindictive nature Finally, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, Hester’s lover and the father of her baby, acts as the perfect man therefore the town views him as an exemplar model, while he is truly a sinner. In the novel, Hawthorne portrays Hester as a strong, resilient woman, though the members of her community
Hester Prynne Punishment Quotes
786 Words | 4 PagesHe gestures her to be quiet and not to reveal his identity as her husband. She is questioned by many about who the father of her baby is, the governor and eldest clergy man have Reverend Dimmesdale to reveal the father, and she refuses. I feel that Hester has shown courage and strength but society views her as sinful and evil and even though society has shunned and condemns her. While Dimmesdale has shown cowardness and weakness but society views him as righteous. After refusing she is giving a punishment of three hours on the scaffold, a lifetime of wearing the scarlet letter on her chest and put back in her jail cell. The Scarlet Letter emphasizes the fact that the only opinion that matters should be
How Does Chillingworth's Character Change Throughout The Scarlet Letter
558 Words | 3 PagesA person’s outward appearance often influences the way others perceive their character. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth arrives in the colony to find that his wife, Hester, is being punished for extramarital relations. As the storyline continues, Chillingworth acts as the colony’s physician, becoming very close to Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne. Consequently, Chillingworth’s desire for revenge guided his appearance and interactions with Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale, ultimately altering his character.
Chillingworth And Dimmesdale In Scarlet Letter
405 Words | 2 PagesIn the novel The Scarlet Letter, Hester commits adultery with Dimmesdale and gets pregnant. The worst part about this sin is that this action affects so many people other than Hester. This sin affects two people in particular- Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Her action causes a man of God, Dimmesdale, to become corrupt with many other sins and Chillingworth to become obsessed with revenge. Dimmesdale, a town minister, commits adultery with Hester and is the father of her daughter.
How Did Chillingworth's Change In The Scarlet Letter
700 Words | 3 PagesIn stories or real life, individuals are influenced by their life changing experiences whether it was huge or small. Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, built and wrote the characters with positive and negative influences in the story. Throughout the story, Roger Chillingworth’s character reveals and changes because of the influences from revenge. Since he is Hester Prynne’s husband, Roger Chillingworth became the antagonist when he realizes his wife committed adultery. He decides to take revenge on the man who Hester loves.
Who Is Dimmesdale's Decay In The Scarlet Letter
417 Words | 2 PagesSimilarly, Dimmesdale envies the closure that Hester’s punishment has brought her: “‘Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly open your bosom! Mine burns in secret!’” (151). In this dialogue, Dimmesdale articulates how differently their sin has been treated. In Hester’s case, public punishment initially brought disapproval, but eventually led her to charity and a general acceptance by members of the society.
The Consequences Of Hester And Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter
492 Words | 2 PagesIn this book, Hawthorne details an elaborate story showing the consequences of confessing sins in contrast to concealing it. A sin weighing down on you and destroying you from the inside out is a moral consequence and, the only remedy is confessing the sin. This notion can be seen in the difference between Hester and Dimmesdale with how they handled the scarlet letter and the effects of that. Hester had worn her scarlet letter out for the public to see from the very beginning. She the subject of a lot of the town’s scrutiny.
Hester Prynne's Ignominy
264 Words | 2 PagesIn Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is an extreme outcast in her society following her public ignominy and being sinfully branded as the adulterer. Succeeding Hester’s removal of the “A” from her chest, she initially believes that “the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit” (182). Hester feels as though the removal of the “A” has removed the stigma pertaining to the “A”, as well as the constraints and disregard society has cast upon her. But whether or not Hester contains a physical marker of her ignominy, she will be abandoned within society. After seven years of being accustomed to Hester’s sin, townspeople still believe Hester was “dead, in respect to any claim of sympathy” (203).
Who Is Dimmesdale's Suffering In The Scarlet Letter
522 Words | 3 PagesIn addition, Dimmesdale fells guilt even though he still does not confess. Narrator says, “The scarlet letter burned on Hester Prynne’s bosom. Here was another ruin, the responsibility of which came partly home to her” (narrator 154). This ruins Hester life. People in her town wanted her to leave the town or be punished such as wear a big red A on her bosom for the rest of her life.
True Identity In Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
668 Words | 3 PagesIn The Scarlet Letter, a very dominant theme is the struggle of true identity. Although, the theme varies for each person; identity either tests them or puts them to shame. For instance, Pearl struggles with identifying herself without knowing who her father is while Dimmesdale struggles with being the minister of the town and the father in hiding. As well as Chillingworth who covers his own identity as Mr. Prynne and struggles with ‘needing’ to know who the real father is just like Pearl.
Juxtaposition In The Scarlet Letter
426 Words | 2 PagesThroughout the passage from The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester’s baby, Pearl, to illuminate the theme of beauty in a dark place. Once released from prison, Hester, an adulterer, becomes a public spectacle. Through this hard time, Hester has her daughter Pearl to soothe her and to bring her strength and hope for a better future. By using vivid imagery and juxtaposition, Hawthorne depicts Pearl as Hester’s happiness, light, and beauty during a sad and lonely time. While in Prison, Hester is all alone and depressed.
Who Is Dimmesdale's Punishment In The Scarlet Letter
1362 Words | 6 PagesWhile Hester is forced to publicly wear a scarlet letter A as her punishment, Dimmesdale refuses to reveal his sin. He instead continues to perform his duties as the town’s well respected minister. Hester moves away from the grasp of the townspeople
Analysis Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter
896 Words | 4 PagesThe letter gave Hester a new power to sympathize with and be charitable to others. Townspeople even began to interpret the letter very differently from its original meaning. They began to believe that the symbol no longer meant adultery, however, its new significance was to mean “Able” (111). Her selfless acts of kindness attracted the attention of the community as she did needlework for the poor in her spare time. The community did not know the true reason of why Hester did this, but the act caused her true character and natural instinct to be generous to be reflected.
How Hester Prynne Changes In Scarlet Letter
941 Words | 4 PagesWhile her punishment changes her physical appearance, it has a far more profound effect on her character. Hester seems much older and worn down with the scarlet letter on her bosom. To Hester, the scarlet letter is a
Essay On Evil In The Scarlet Letter
719 Words | 3 PagesThe townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”
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