Creative Writing: Hester Prynne

This paper points out what Nathaniel Hawthorn portrays in Scarlet Letter relating to Emersonian’s self-Reliance. The movement to self-reliance in which it started in the 19th century by Emerson has grasped many writers’ attentions. Hawthorn, as one of the admirers of the idea, views a great endorsement to it in Scarlet Letter. Readers observe how significantly Hawthorn devotes characters, theme, and setting of the text in serve to the idea. Scarlet Letter provides a clear depiction regarding the idea and a conflict resulting from combating two different perspectives, self—reliance and puritan tradition. In this depiction, Hawthorn clearly shows the significance of self-reliance and the effects coming into the existence for not following this trend throughout the novel. As we see, Hester Prynne—the protagonist of the novel—shares her own individual perspectives. Besides her commitment to an adultery sin, she courageously and independently acts; although she is in isolation, she becomes the example of beauty, happiness, strength, and creativity. Opposite to self-reliance, puritan tradition is on the other side. Because of following predecessors or past, this belief, for always, loses the battle against the idea of self-reliance. Throughout the novel, readers notice the ugliness of townspeople’s lives because of embracing this tradition. Furthermore, readers examine what painful moments Dimmesdale— the clergyman—goes through for holding multiple faces. Thus, Scarlet Letter

“The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich and “Story of an Hour” by Kate Chopin both have the common theme of death; however, in “The Red Convertible”, the death of Henry ends the very close relationship that he has with his brother Lyman while in “Story of an Hour”, the death of Mr. Mallard marks an opportunity of independence and freedom for Mrs. Mallard which shows that the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. Mallard was unsatisfactory.

"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." - Atticus Finch, Chapter 3 of To Kill a Mockingbird. We have all been taught, as our first essential lesson as children, that we as human beings should “treat others the way we want to be treated,” because you never know what their life is like outside of the short time of day that you see them. The action of listening and actually hearing someone else's point of view can give a person on the outside an idea of that person’s life, beliefs, and ideas, before jumping to conclusions and judging someone.

Valuable lessons are well learned while living in a state of isolation, whether by choice or force. Hester learns the importance of punishment, family, and public opinion. For Hester, these lessons come frequently and irrationally. After the conviction of adultery, she became an outcast in a town in which she has decided to call home, due to public opinion and a small element of the overall punishment. Living with the guilt both emotionally and physically, she single-handedly raised the offspring that came as a result of her crime and by doing this she learned the importance of family. She found that Pearl gave her hope and forced her to make the best of her situation no matter how difficult. After threats of having the one thing that still meant something to her suddenly taken away Hester still remained strong, one positive outcome of bearing the dreadful “A” for years. She even began to change the meaning of the “A” from adultery to abled. It drove her to be a better person for herself and her daughter. Hester learned the cruelties of the world and people living in it, a lesson not possible without first experiencing isolation. The influence this punishment had on Hester proved more influential than anyone ever imagined. Hester learned how to cope with isolation, and to see past the shallow views of the public for they do not mean much. She learned the importance of family and the ways in which a simple miracle such as the birth of a daughter can affect and influence your life. Hester took a bad situation and turned it into a learning opportunity. She proved her strength to everyone, even herself. Most importantly, she acknowledged and took advantage of the realizations this forced state of isolation brought to

This paper will analyze two very different stories: Alice Munro’s Boys and Girls, and Kate Chopin’s The Story of an Hour. Both stories deal with emotions felt during a major life change. The girl in Boys and Girls is coping with her emotional and physical changes as she goes from a being girl to a young woman. Louise Mallard, in The Story of an Hour, is coping with the sudden death of her husband, the complex emotions she feels at that loss and the jubilation she feels at suddenly gaining her freedom. The authors show how each the main character in each story bucks traditional gender roles, but they do so at different stages in their lives.

In the poem Winter Fear, Kay Ryan depicts nature as “cruel” and “unforgiving”. She uses realism to convey the theme, “ self reflection can lead you to discoveries about yourself”. Kay Ryan also uses synecdoches and symbolism as tools to support the theme and translate the real connotation of the poem.

Hester Prynne screams out, heart and soul, american spirit. She is relatable, extremely human, and most of all, flawed. Her life is plain and average, and her personality is the exact opposite of flashy. Though she cannot represent every single struggle that Americans must deal with, her very situation is not as important as the ways in which she chooses to handle it. Hester Prynne is merely a vessel for any American situation; any struggle or hardship could be substituted in for her sin of

A female with a complete different characteristics from the rest of the people in the society especially women is portrayed in the Hester Prynne exhibits characteristics which is almost opposite to the rest of the people. Although, she was very kind,the Puritan society considered her as an intruder and humiliated her because of the sin she committed. Hester Prynne was kept standing on the scaffold for three hours and made to wear the Scarlet letter A until she dies. She had to undergo through all the agony and embarrassment. Moreover, she does not reveal the name of her

Chapter 18 of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is titled A Flood Of Sunshine. In this chapter, Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne resolve to leave the Puritan colony together along with Pearl. Sunshine and floods are both elements of nature yet one brings light and sunshine and the other brings destruction and grief. Similarly, Arthur Dimmesdale is caught in a struggle with two parts of his nature that juxtapose each other. This passage emphasizes Dimmesdale’s duality in yearning for a guiltless life that is free from religious judgement and a god fearing, sinless life that is conscious to Puritan ideology.

The ability for a person to transcend from stereotypes and labels comes from the support from others. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne a respected woman and seamstress hiding in the shadows of society, is soon throw in the spot light when she is publically convicted as an adulterer. This crime comes with a loaded punishment; she is sentenced to a life of shame where she must a wear a scarlet “A” on her chest, in order to publically humiliate her and provide an example of what not to grow up to be. The story begins by introducing Hester and her beloved daughter Pearl, and how they cope with the new labels of an adulterer and a daughter of an illegitimate marriage. Overtime, Hester rises above this life of misery she has to deal with, and learns to cope with it by showing pride into who she really is and her ability to withstand this scrutiny of the judgmental peering eyes of society. Instead of being overwhelmed by puritan community’s infamy, she boldly withstands the shame and for herself and her daughter diminish these labels. The author utilizes the symbol of a rose bush that portrays multiple themes during the story. The ability people have to transcend labels given from society that are obtained through sin, and the figurative sympathy nature has towards humans are illustrated through the use of a major symbol, the rosebush and its personified qualities.

Hester, having lived among a Puritan doctrine for so long, cannot help but be influenced by it, and although she did what she did out of love, she does see her act as a sin. She is self-aware, penitent and rather dutiful to the puritan society and she bears her punishment according to the dogma humbly. For the seven solitary years, it is told that “Hester never battled the public, but submitted; uncomplainingly ...she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter, and pass on” (Hawthorne 92). Yet, she never succumbs to the community’s thoughts about her. She feels guilty for her action, but she is not ashamed of her own person or self. In his book, The Cycle of

"Easy A" is a movie that is loosely based on Hawthorne's novel, "The Scarlet Letter". In this movie, Olive can be compared in a way to Hester Prynne. Although they both have different roles in their society and being in different time periods. They always have one thing in common, the similarity is that they both wear a red "A" on their clothing. In the Scarlet Letter and Easy A, they both have many differences but one constant similarity.

How does one go on when they are alienated by society and have the constant reminder of their shame? The novel, The Scarlet Letter, tells the trials and tribulations Hester Prynne faces when just that happens to her. It is her scorching red story of transcending beyond societies expectations. The Scarlet Letter was written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. When Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the novel America was going through a transcendentalist era. The novel exemplifies the age America going through. American literature and mentality was entering into a different direction. Transcendentalists were thinking more in tune with nature and in tune with themselves. Nathaniel Hawthorne was a transcendentalist. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, he created a transcendentalist,

American Romantic Heros was a common character type around 1820 to 1860. These characters are flawed and consist of many interesting traits, such as their attractive, youthful look. These American Romantic heroes are also put in similar situations that get them to be rejected from society. In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of his characters, Hester Prynne, could be classified as an American Romantic Heroine. She has many attributes that are grouped with being an American Romantic Heroine, and they are even evident in the very beginning of the story. Hester Prynne is considered an American Romantic Heroine due to how she was rejected from society, and she was youthful and attractive in appearance.

A conservative analysis of Hester Prynne’s feminist ideals appear in writer’s critique of her independence, her rebellion, and her personal interactions.