Analysis Of Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter

In the 1850’s, America was undergoing a massive internal changes via the industrial revolution. With this new era, American culture was drastically changed as women started to take a more prominent role in American society. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to stimulate this change by illustrating the positive influence of a strong female character in a Puritanical society through his heroine, Hester Prynne, by putting her in a scandalous situation capable of drawing out the worst in people.

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 work “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence addresses the controversial character of Hester Prynne. He is just one of many critics who have analyzed Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional character, where some look to her as a hero and others blatantly shame her for her sin. Lawrence makes up the latter of this crowd, and is able to prove his case in a very meaningful manner. The critic believes that Hawthorne sugarcoats Hester’s image, and tries to make it look as if she is the victim of the tale. Disregarding this sympathy, he addresses the root cause of her sin rather than its consequences. As he writes, he uses a multitude of literary techniques to help convince readers of Hester’s seemingly evil character, using descriptive diction, a

Throughout the novel, the puritan community punishes Hester Prynne through the scarlet letter, by the loss of her spirt, audacity and femininity, the ostracisation from the townspeople, imprisonment for her crimes and isolation from society.

Hawthorne uses imagery of Hester’s physical attributes to demonstrate how the effects of the “A” that Hester wears on her chest extend beyond Hester’s mental well being but to her physical well being as well, ultimately suggesting that Hester’s sin affects more than just Hester herself. Hawthorne shows the reader the consequences that the scarlet letter inflicts on Hester’s physical presentation, revealing

Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is describe as a vigorous, beautiful, lively, and proud woman. When first introduced in the story, Hester was known as a sinner of adultery and the townspeople degraded her, but yet she held her head high. Hester’s first description describes her natural confidence and mentions the strong glance that reveals no embarrassment of her difficult situation. The readers view her as most admirable because of her strength, selflessness, and her seek of remorse. Hester Prynne’s strength as a character is what makes her so remarkable.

With Hester Prynne’s first appearance in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne describes the reactions of “Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (480). In this sentence Hawthorne describes Hester’s ability to conquer the unfavorable situation she is in while coming out stronger and showing her unique character that shines bright in contrast to the Puritans. By looking at this quote in the context of The Scarlet Letter it is quite apparent that Hawthorne has developed Hester’s character in contrast to the Puritans to show not only the flaws in the

The wife that thinks that Hester should die is “the ugliest as well as the most pitiless of these self-constituted judges” (49). Hawthorne purposely describes the wife with the harshest words as the one who is the ugliest amongst the group of women. Hawthorne sets a clever contrast among the group of gossiping women: he includes a young wife that sympathizes with Hester amongst these women. The wife is significantly younger and soft spoken than the older, wailing women. In contrast, Hester is presented as a tall woman “with a figure of perfect elegance… and beautiful from regularity of feature and

Imagine yourself on display in front of your whole town, being punished for cheating on your husband or wife. Today adultery is looked down on, but in reality nobody makes a huge deal out of it. Sin can affect a person in many ways, but whether it’s good or bad only time can tell. In the old days, religion and law were looked at as one, and Hester Prynne just so happened to sin, which in turn caused her to break the law. In the novel, Hester displays that how a person deals with sin has a lasting impact on the people around her, and most importantly those that are the closest to her.

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne acts as Nathaniel Hawthorne’s focal character. She plays the role of both the main character and the protagonist. Hester Prynne begins as a very arrogant person, by being insolently proud of her sin. But by the end of the novel, Hester’s personality changes as she becomes a helpful and nicer person. In the beginning of the novel, Hester plays the role of a pompous person, who show no embarrassment for the crime or sin she has committed.

She makes little effort to prove herself to the townspeople and accepts their continual ridicule for years on end without so much as a single conjecture to the punishment relative to the nature of her crime; she makes no effort to defend her personal life, though realistically, it is none of their business. This is solid testimony to the matter of her naivety. In this way, Hester reinforces the message that Hawthorne tries to communicate to the reader, which can be most easily defined as “sin destroys a person from the inside out and causes irreversible

In Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” Hester Prynne can be seen as the only real character as she is the only character that does not conform to the ways of the puritan society. Her actions and choices throughout the novel are true to her beliefs and not to those enforced by the puritan society, choices such as committing adultery and not revealing who the father of her child is, lead her down a road of ignominy, isolation and hardship, yet these choices do not leave her bitter and unforgiving but strengthen and individualize her from all the other puritan law abiding characters presented to the reader, therefore “the wildness of her nature” presents her as a real character in the eyes of the reader, as it allows her to be more relatable to the reader.

One mistake defined how people looked at Hester Prynne for the rest of her life. She was forever marked with the scarlet letter. Adultery was her sin, an "A" was her letter. In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorn, Hester Prynne was publicly shamed for adultery to her husband who was sought to be dead. Her lover remained a mystery to the public. Hester did not go a day without the reminder of her sin because her daughter, Pearl, was the living embodiment of the scarlet letter, the meaning of the "A" changed three times throughout the novel, and it followed her beyond the day she pasted away.

“When you are guilty, it is not your sins you hate but yourself” from One Minute Wisdom by Anthony de Mello. Hester Prynne, a beautifully strong and humble woman who has no shame for the sins she has committed, isolates herself from the rest of society and covers up her beauty after being released from jail. Distanced from everyone else, Hester goes on to raise her child, Pearl, who she believes that God gave to her for a reason. Throughout the novel, the author utilizes Hester Prynne in order to connect to the main theme of the psychological effects of guilt and sin by remaining beautiful and composed on the outside even with her punishment,yet internally, she constantly struggles with the aftermath of her sins. Hester Prynne possesses

❖ Chapter 2-3 – Describe your first introduction to Hester Prynne and your response to her. What comparison and contrast does Hawthorne make between Hester and her babe? Also explain the response of the crowd or people to Hester.