Adulteress In The Scarlet Letter Essay

Lawrence’s biblical allusions to Hester provide a comparison to that of other sinners. He uses allusion for the reader to better understand Hester and her actions. Lawrence compares Hester to a remorseful prostitute when he states, “Then when you’ve brought him down, humbly wipe off the mud with your hair, another Magdalene” (Lawrence). He compares Hester to Mary Magdalene as a way of saying that their actions are similar to one another. He implies that just like Mary Magdalene, Hester tainted a pure, innocent soul into her arms, by luring Reverend Dimmesdale to commit a sinful action with her. Lawrence further implies that Hester and Dimmesdale are, “The new Adam

Hawthorne's Hester Prynne is the underdog protagonist that the reader cannot help but want to succeed. She is flawed but her flaws are outshone by her good heart and spirit. This shamed and humiliated woman is the one the reader, with the help of Hawthorne’s descriptions, wants to support. This sinful woman, with a child from wedlock, a diabolical “husband”, and a secretive lover is the motivating force that drives the reader to continue on with The Scarlet Letter. The language, descriptions, and plot of The Scarlet Letter show that Hawthorne believes the reader should look past gender stereotypes because not everything is what is

In his essay “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence criticizes Hester’s immoral behavior for her adulterous actions. Lawrence views her as a shameful member of Puritan society and centers his argument on her sin and its effects on the story’s plot. D.H. Lawrence’s use of different literary techniques strengthens his claim that Hester is not the heroine through his sarcastic tone, abrupt syntax, and biblical allusions.

He does this sarcastically and in a way that provokes a reaction out of the reader. Nonetheless, he goes on to mock the couple and point out how Hester had purposely ruined a once pure man in Dimmesdale. Instead of being depicted as the victim as Hawthorne does, Lawrence uses this line to point the woman out as a villain. Eager to assert his point, he further mentions that “When Hester Prynne seduced Arthur Dimmesdale it was the beginning of the end” (Lawrence). Insulting the woman, Lawrence continues to imply on how it was all Hester’s fault that everything fell apart. She had initiated the romance and from there nothing was ever the same. In this case, he states it figuratively by over exaggerating on how her actions would doom them all for the “end.” It is with this tone that the reader knows what judgements Lawrence holds for Hester, and on how the rest of his paper would play out.

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as an adulterous woman, having a child out of wedlock. She is forced to display her terrible sin publicly by wearing a letter A the color of scarlet. Though she is seen by the Puritans as sinful, she displays many of the virtues stated in Proverbs 31. Hester Prynne shows moral excellence as well as righteousness and goodness despite being wrought with sin.

Over that course of time, seven years to be exact, we observed the mental and

Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne committed the sin of adultery. Hester couldn’t hide this sin because she had Pearl, and she couldn’t get rid of her. Dimmesdale on the other hand was capable of hiding this sin because he wasn’t the one that got pregnant, and Hester wasn’t going to tell everyone what he did. So Dimmesdale hid his sin until the end of the book. The result of this however wasn’t a good one.

A sin doesn’t always identify its committer. A symbol of scorn can be turned into something else with the right amount of determination. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame to Hester; however, it becomes a powerful symbol of identity for her. The scarlet letter represents her individualism, her strength to overcome the image her peers tried to enforce upon her, as well as her willingness to aid others.

Adultery is having relations with someone who is not your spouse. A common theme in The Scarlet Letter, By Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Kate Chopin’s novel, The Awakening, is the theme of adultery. In both novels, the main women commit the sin of adultery. Hester Prynne and Edna Pontellier both cheat on their husbands. However, the way this affects them is very different.

Lawrence further reinforces his stance by incorporating scriptural allusions, which provide a basis for analyzing Hester Prynne in regards to other contexts. He mocks Hester through allusions, juxtaposing her with outside references to legitimize his criticism. Alluding to Virgin Mary, he calls Hester the

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the theme of “guilt” is prevalent and important; it is heavy and unrelenting in the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s where the story is based. None of the main characters seem exempt from it, including Hester Prynne, the main protagonist and wearer of the scarlet letter, Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s beloved minister and, later revealed, fellow adulterer, and Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband who lives under a pseudonym as the town’s doctor. Each one of them has a cross that they bear, influenced and made worse by the strict Puritan ways of the townspeople and each other, and the sins and regrets that torment them. Even worse, not only does guilt torment one emotionally

The main biblical figure that Lawrence focuses on is Abel. Hester is similar to Abel, because they are

Chapter 2-3: Hester Prynne is a young woman who was put in jail for the crime of adultery. In the first introduction Hester is perceived as someone who does not care what other people think of her and will stare down the barrel of a gun. The author, Nathaniel Hawthorne, compares Hester to her babe by showing how they are both shunned by the people viewing them. Hawthorne contrats them when Hester stands upon the scaffold with her head held high, while her babe cries out. As Hester walks out of her prison and stands upon the scaffold for viewing and public shame, the holier than though women gossip about Hester 's sin and shames her for her sins. The men view Hester the same way, a sinner that should be punished and shamed.

Lawrence’s use of concise syntax throughout the passage helps convey his claim by providing his argument about Hester Prynne and sin in short, easy to understand sentences. For example, in line 17, he implies that Hester Prynne’s objective is “to seduce a man. To have everybody know. To keep up appearances of purity” (Lawrence). By using concise sentences, Lawrence gets his point across to the reader by simplifying his argument so the reader can easily recognize and understand it. It becomes clear that by saying that Hester Prynne’s main goal is to seduce men, he implies that Hester is the sinner for purposefully seducing Dimmesdale into sin. He also explicitly states that Hester is a sinner, not a victim. By doing so, Lawrence contradicts Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne. Unlike Hawthorne, Lawrence believes that “Hester Prynne is the great nemesis of woman...Having her own back. Understanding” (Lawrence), which expresses his claim that Hester is unworthy of Hawthorne’s praise because she is a sinner

In the beginning of the novel, the reader is presented with a physical appearance of Hester that is pleasing to the visual eye. It is Hawthorne describes his heroine of the book by