The Character Of Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
The book was written during the time when feminist rights and values were not established and considered in the society. Hawthorne’s novel about a female demonstrating feminism culture and importance in the society tries to highlight the equality and justice that much exist in a society. In this story, we get an exclusive view of a women, love, and sin. Unlike those women of the Puritan community, Hester follows her desires even against the strict Puritan values and norms.
We get to see a completely different image of women in the society through Hester and how bravely she takes her decisions. Hester Prynne was married to Scholar who was much older than her, who was slightly deformed, having a left shoulder higher than his right whom she never loved and she was sent to America to live and wait for him. While waiting for Chillingworth, Hester falls in love with Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a clergyman of the Puritan community. Dimmesdale earns great respect and fame as a priest from the community through his sermons which are a masterpiece of expression and influence but later he was discovered to be a real father a child and most importantly a sinner.
Hester Prynne is shown as courageous and strong women than the man of the time. Even though Hester knew that her punishment will be increased, she never discloses her child’s father name. We can see that Hester is far stronger than Dimmesdale, who lack the confident to admit his sin publicly, that he is the
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Anamaria, S. (n.d.). Feminist Views on Scarlet Letter and Madame Bovary. Retrieved April 03, 2017, from http://www.academia.edu/7597142/Feminist_Views_on_Scarlet_Letter_and_Madame_Bovary
2. Arsdale, H. V., & Rodriguez, S. (2011, October 29). Retrieved April 04, 2017, from https://sites.google.com/a/hightechhigh.org/hannah-s-humanities-dp/final-drafts/feminism-the-scarlet-letter
3. Hawthorne, N. (1850). The Scarlet Letter (2017), New Delhi, India: Peacock Books. ISBN:
Hester Prynne And Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter
696 Words | 3 PagesThis only made his guilt worsen. Dimmesdale does not feel passionate when he is trying to do job. The people are only imagining getting help because his tainted soul could not possibly redeem other souls. He feels as if he is cheating those people in their faith. Hester then tries to rebuttal by saying “Your present life is not less holy, in very truth, than it seems in people's eyes.
Arthur Dimmesdale Quotes
551 Words | 3 PagesConsequently, Arthur Dimmesdale is the cause of Hester Prynne's shame for he is the man whom Hester loves. No one knows he is the father of Pearl, Hester won't say and he isn't strong enough to speak up. He struggles with this knowledge that Hester is being punished and not him. The only truth that continued to give Mr. Dimmesdale a real existence on this earth was the anguish in his inmost soul, and the undissembled expression of it in his aspect, (Hawthorne 142). Being a minister of God the citizens look up to him, and he feels guilty about his hidden sin.
Reverend Dimmmsdale Character Development
620 Words | 3 PagesReverend Dimmsdale’s development through the text of “The Scarlet Letter” was that of positivity and peace. Dimmsdale was the secret father of Pearl and the secret lover of Hester Prynne. He was the reason for Hester’s torment and it showed on him through the book. Dimmsdale’s progression through “The Scarlet Letter” was a positive one because in the beginning he was unempathetic, in the middle of the book he was guilt-ridden and sympathetic, and at the end he was joyful and relieved. At the beginning of the story, Reverend Dimmsdale was introduced as a judge at Hester Prynne’s public shaming.
Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter
1227 Words | 5 PagesDimmesdale’s True Colors Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, also the father of Hester’s child, showed prominent parts of his character throughout the story. The first trait the reader becomes aware of is Dimmesdale’s cowardice. He has no intentions of revealing his sin to the public, due to how highly he is seen in the community’s eyes. Remorse, or guilt, is another term that can be associated with Dimmesdale, growing increasingly more prominent as the novel goes on. Cowardice, a lacking of bravery when facing danger, was a trait that Dimmesdale carried.
Hester Prynne And Dimmesdale In Scarlet Letter
708 Words | 3 PagesIt appears that Chillingworth’s sin is worse than Dimmesdale and Hester's combined, but is it really? However, a closer analysis reveals that Dimmesdale bears the greater sin. First off, Hester and Dimmesdale had a secret relationship of
Hester Prynne Is The Worst Sinner In The Scarlet Letter
601 Words | 3 PagesHester is the biggest sinner throughout the romance and there is no reason to believe that Dimmesdale, or Chillingworth is. One main reason why Hester was the biggest sinner was because she was an adulteress to begin with. Toward the beginning of the book, the townspeople had accused her of having a baby with another man because the husband was nowhere to be seen. This is important because it ties into many other reasons as to why she is the biggest sinner.
Suffering Of Hester And Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
332 Words | 2 PagesThe bible said “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Hester and Dimmesdale both fell short of the glory of God but, that does not mean they should BE executed or punished for their sins any longer. They both endured a lot of suffering for their sins and did not deserve any more, they both confessed and took responsibility for it. They are forgiven. For example, In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne wrote, “Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.” The consequences of her actions will show their face to remind her of what happened, especially Pearl’s birth, it acts as a charitable mistake that they will always have bearing down on them.
The Victim Of Arthur Dimmesdale In The Scarlet Letter
1399 Words | 6 PagesHester Prynne is a victim of the scarlet letter, but Arthur Dimmesdale is the victim. When reading The Scarlet Letter, by Nathanial Hawthorne, it is easy to focus on Hester and her suffering, as she is the primary focus of the novel. But, with a little close reading, it soon becomes apparent that Dimmesdale’s suffering is more destructive than Hester’s. As a result of her crime, Hester is banished to the fringes of Puritan society; inducing an almost complete social exile. Yet Dimmesdale's position as the head of the Church creates a moral quagmire of his values and sin; one which his inability to reconcile and drives him to self loathing.
Hester Prynne In Scarlet Letter
783 Words | 4 PagesHester, 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.
Scarlet Letter Outline
441 Words | 2 PagesHis affair with Hester Prynne left her publicly humiliated, yet he did not face any backlash, as his identity was hidden. This became an issue for Dimmesdale, whose guilt became so intense that Chillingworth even stated, "look again at Hester 's scarlet letter...with all its mysterious horror, it is but the shadow of what [Dimmesdale] bears on his own breast...even this...is no more than the type of what has seared his innermost heart" (Hawthorne 305). Dimmesdale 's inner guilt manifested into intense self-hatred and he reverted back to a broken, guilt-ridden state in which he remained for seven years in an increasingly harmful pattern of self torture. This pain that he felt was immensely greater than that of Hester, who after being publicly shamed, could move on and surpass her individual guilt. As Hester grew stronger and became a more upstanding member of the community, Dimmesdale broke down, his spirit becoming, "so shattered and subdued that it could hardly hold itself erect" (236).
Arthur Dimmesdale's Guilt Quotes
1158 Words | 5 PagesDimmesdale suffers differently from Hester, because while she “bore it all” to the townspeople (181), his fears forced him to hide his sin, living a life full of “nothing but despair” (177). Hester, though made a social pariah of the town, has a more honest and healthy way of dealing with her sin. Because Hester is forced to face her wrongdoings under the watchful eye of her Puritan neighbors, she did not have the same guilt of secrecy that Dimmesdale did. Dimmesdale, by hiding his sin, allows himself to become a captive to his guilt. The way that Dimmesdale dealt with his guilt was unhealthy for him, both mentally and physically.
Syntax In The Scarlet Letter
1592 Words | 7 PagesDue to the fact that Dimmesdale and Hester could not even ignore their initial attraction, the passion that carries throughout their relationship is undeniable. The love they posses for one another only grows stronger as their community and religion constantly reiterates how the should not be together. Not only having admiration for one other, once their child come into the world, they both carry intense amounts of devotion towards keeping it safe. Though Dimmesdale is scared to admit, it is adamant to readers that he cares for her even more so than himself. As Pearl faces the same shame as her parents, such as being called “an imp of evil, emblem and product of sin" (Hawthorne, 129), her need for care and attention grows larger.
Hypocrisy Of The Puritan Society In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
936 Words | 4 PagesThe hypocritical society is blinded by how they should punish Hester that they are not showing kindness to Hester. Hawthorne creates the book to show how an individual spirit must overcome the difficult obstacles in the society cultural
The Role Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter
466 Words | 2 PagesFeminism is the philosophy advocating equal political, economic, and social rights for women. The idea of feminism was not at all prevalent during the 1850s when Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published. In spite of this, Hawthorne wrote one of the most influential feminist novels of his time: The Scarlet Letter. This novel was hailed as an important feminist novel because of the main character: Hester Prynne.
Gothic Elements In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'
1284 Words | 6 PagesIn The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne effectively conforms to the conventions of the gothic genre for the purpose of characterizing the Puritan society as oppressive, portraying the hypocrisy found within the society and highlighting the consequences for not confessing
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