Hester’s undeniable ability to overcome hardships is what keeps her stable throughout the events dramatized within the novel. When the author mentions, "[t]hey said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength," he is allowing the reader to recognize Hester's ability to care for others while ,on the other hand, no one cares for her (Hawthorne 124). Her true ability to conquer troubles without any additional help made the people reconsider their views on Hester. She is belittled and neglected by the Puritan people, but her strength allows her to carry on. With her courage, Hester Prynne learns to accept that her sins are part of her.
Although she is described as physically attractive, her inner beauty reflects her attractiveness from the outside, allowing her to bear the burden of the scarlet letter with dignity and grace. In contrast to the Puritan society’s expectations, Hester’s charmer reveals her pure and innocent heart. Hawthorne’s use of physiognomy in Hester’s character highlights the irony of the situation, as her beauty contradicts society’s perception of her as a sinner. Overall, Hester’s beauty reflects her true character and defies the societal expectations imposed on
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, focuses on the life of Hester Prynne—the unlucky soul who is caught committing adultery and forced to live a life of shame and ignominy. The scaffold is not only the start of her predicament, but it is also the end of the once seemingly perfect Reverend Dimmesdale’s own guilt. The scaffold is the setting of a scene three times throughout the novel: the beginning, middle, and end. For such a lifeless object, it is difficult to recognize its significance in the novel; however, the scaffold is used by Hawthorne to portray the changing relationship between the characters, specifically Hester, Dimmesdale, and Pearl.
The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, portrays the shameful life the main character, Hester Prynne, lives because of a sinful encounter that resulted with her daughter Pearl. Throughout the novel it is evident that she grows close with a minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, who later in context is revealed as the father of Pearl. However, her public shame in never shared with Dimmesdale since neither of them let it known that he acted with her. It is not until toward the end that Dimmesdale finds the strength, right before his death, to publicly announce he is Pearl’s father. Because of this, many infer that Hester’s ignominy was at greater price than the self-shame Dimmesdale brought upon himself.
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter followed the lives of Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Their daughter Pearl represented the guilt and gifts brought upon them during their time together in Boston. Hester and Dimmesdale’s sinful actions resulted in the birth of Pearl. In the beginning of the story, the Bostonians condemned Hester for committing adultery.
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel about how being a sinner led to a life of misery during the Puritan era. Hester Prynne, the sinner, commits adultery with a man, Arthur Dimmesdale, who is not her husband. She gives birth to a child named Pearl and is branded with a scarlet letter “A”. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, disguises as a physician in order to unravel the truth behind the crime that his wife committed and to get revenge on the man who slept with his wife. Although Chillingworth appears as a calm man who only craved knowledge, he eventually turns into a malicious devil who is blind with getting revenge.
The story shows Hester as a unaffected attitude, but is willing to fight for what she believes which characterizes her personality. When Hester was standing on the scaffold with her “A” on her chest, she was unaffected by what people were saying to her. From the book “God gave her into my keeping,” repeated Hester Prynne, raising her voice almost to a shriek. “I will not give her up!”—And here, by sudden impulse, she turned to the
The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, tells the story of a misguided women who fails into the trap of love. Through the use of symbolism, Hawthorne presents the development of characters such as Hester and Dimmesdale; this in turn helps prove the idea that people can change over time. The symbol of the letter A aids with the development of Hester. The letter A, in the beginning of the novel, embodies the sin that Hester has committed.
For instance, she had to pledge, judge, and urge for the separation to not take place because it would affect them both equally. As evidence, “He looked now more careworn and emaciated than as we described him at the scene of Hester 's public ignominy” that indicates how Hester was put forth once again by the public for the same sin that was committed. However, the second it was far more important because she was fighting for her daughter, Pearl’s hostility. Hester is shown at a low and vulnerable position in her life once again which could quickly be mistaken for weakness, that not exactly being the case because she is known to overcome her huge opticals. To many the way, Hawthorne characterizes Hester Prynne it may be complicated, but considering that her character has gone through a lot it is made clear that the character is not being dramatic but
Character The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam; and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. Hester is physically described by Hawthorne as a rusty gold, to show actually how beautiful she is but what has Puritan turned her
Hester experiences shame as a result of her sin, but she uses this feeling to make her even better than before. In the novel, Hester Prynne is a very confident woman, but when the reader takes a closer look at Hester's actions, it is apparent that she is shameful of her mistakes. In the text, Hawthorne shows that while Hester and Pearl
Prior to Hester's act of adultery, the author depicts her character as a gallant sinner amidst the harsh, judgmental expectations of her Puritan community. Because she is "characterized by a certain state and dignity" during her brutal and torturous trial, Hester is portrayed as a woman full of relentless pride throughout her public embarrassment (Hawthorne 40). Hawthorne's characterization of Hester indicates that she is capable to continually uphold her dignity during her litigation, proving her ultimate power to overcome antipathy and her ability to remain self-assured. Conjointly, Hawthorne suggests that Hester is recognized as both charming and alluring despite her most troublesome moments by writing that she "appeared more lady-like...as
Except for that small expenditure in the decoration of her infant, Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity, on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not infrequently insulted the hand that fed them.” Hawthorne praises her further here and disapproves of the Puritan society because they can’t see Hester’s true personality and
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, in the tale of sin, revenge, and punishment, Hester Prynne involves herself in self-deception due to being caught up in a fraudulent interpretation of her sin and lives in an opaque concept of a better life. Hawthorne 's emotional and psychological drama revolves around Hester Prynne, who is convicted of adultery in colonial Boston by the civil and Puritan authorities. She is condemned to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin. Consequently, Hester is complicated by her own interpretation of the letter and is embittered by the fact that she deems her punishment and the trials of her punishment will disappear along with the removal of the Scarlet Letter revealed by the characterization of her attitude in the novel. In the beginning, Hester attempts to prove that she does not care about what other people think, but later becomes paranoid and wants to escape from being the product of wrongdoing that the town perceives her as.
Throughout the novel, Hester is fraught by the Puritan society and her suffering is an effect of how evil society is. Hester continues to believe that the crime she committed was not wrong and she should not be punished for it. Her desire to protect and love Dimmesdale, turn her into a stronger person and become a heroine in the book. Although society still views her as a “naughty baggage” (Hawthorne 73) and is punished for her wrongdoing, Hester never thought to take revenge on them, yet she gives everything she has to the unfortunate and leaves herself with very little. She continues to stay positive no matter what society has for her.
