Critical Analysis Of Hester Prynne

In his essay, “On The Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence provokes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne as a miraculous hero. Throughout the whole essay, he implies that Hester Prynne is a shameless transgressor, who only cares for herself. Hester Prynne is shamed by Lawrence for her atrocious actions. Lawrence provides several writing techniques in his essay including biblical allusion, degrading diction, and hyperbole, to prove that Hester Prynne is a wicked sinner.

     Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a dark tale of sin and redemption,centers around the small Puritan community of Boston during the 17th century. In the midst of this small community is Hester Prynne. She is a woman that has defied the Puritans, taken the consequences and in the end conformed with the Puritans. It did,

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.

The character of Hester Prynne changed significantly throughout the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this irrevocably harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.

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

The central character of the novel, Hester Prynne, undergoes a significant change in character, mainly due to the shame stemming from being forced to bare the scarlet letter. During the first scaffold scene in which she is undergoing trial, Hester is described as: “lady-like . . . characterized by a certain state of dignity . . . her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (Hawthorne 103). Despite the presence of a multitude of women sneering at her as she makes the seemingly endless walk to the place of her trial, Hester maintains her cold, almost pompous facade. It is a testament to her initial immense amount of resilience of character and mental strength to keep from breaking down into tears while on the scaffold. This idea of Hester desiring to and succeeding in maintaining a proud and aloof air is further evidenced by the ornateness and intricacy of the scarlet letter itself.

In D. H. Lawrence’s essay “On The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of the adulteress Hester Prynne. He argues that Hester’s character is not worthy of the praise she receives in The Scarlet Letter because of the severity of the sin she commits in the novel. Instead of focusing on Hester’s character after the sin, he bases his argument on the sin itself. Lawrence uses terse syntax, an accusatory tone, and biblical allusions to depict Hester as the sinner of the story.

Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author of the classic novel the Scarlet Letter based on the Puritan Era in Massachusetts. D.H Lawrence a British writer critiques the novel and gives his opinions on the piece in a persuasive argumentative manner. He believes that the heroine of the novel is not the beloved, marvelous character we all believe she is.He uses confident literary techniques like powerful tone, abrupt syntax and classic biblical allusions to convince people that the beloved character Hester Prynne is truly a conniving adulteress who thrives off of stealing one's purity.

Alexandra Coleman Mrs. Smith Major American Authors, 1st 10 February 2015 Scarlet Letter Paper In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author describes Hester Prynne as a sympathetic character which is shown through her remarkable personality that is revealed through her public humiliation, isolated, and later succeeding life in the Puritan society. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne does not give a large sum of information on Hester's life before her public humiliation, her inner strength, honesty, compassion, and defiance of convention show her true character, a survivor. Nathaniel Hawthorne develops Hester Prynne as a kind and sympathetic women who passively suffers her agony, who kindly helps those less fortunate than she is, and who

The Scarlet Letter written by Nathanial Hawthorne, is about a young woman named Hester Prynne, who faces challenging obstacles after the crime of adultery she had committed months before. Throughout the novel, Hester tries to hide the identity of her lover that sinned with her, and while that is in motion, more problems begin to accumulate, which makes Hester feel lonesome. Hester Prynne is portrayed as an outcast along with her daughter Pearl in society, and the A is just a reminder of the crime she committed. Although, this seems hard, Hester finds a way to survive and move on through the story, not allowing anything get the best of her, because she is such strong, gallant and, rebellious character. Hester Prynne is described when a group of townspeople gathered on the lawn outside a jail.

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.

In D. H. Lawrence’s critical analysis “On The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence critiques the portrayal of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s protagonist, Hester Prynne. Though many believe that Hester acts as a heroine in Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence does not believe that Hester’s actions qualify her to receive the amount praise she is given. Lawrence uses literary techniques to effectively reason with his audience that the character Hester Prynne should not be highly regarded. The three literary devices most substantiate Lawrence’s analysis are his use of biblical allusions, a patronizing tone, and succinct syntax.

D.H. Lawrence is an acclaimed literary critic of the early 1900’s. One controversial review he has written is on the The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne. He chastises Hawthorne for portraying his adulterous protagonist of the novel as a heroine. The reason Lawrence is an acclaimed critic is because he criticizes not only logically but creatively. He rebukes Hawthorne for portraying Hester as a heroine by creatively using the literary devices of choppy syntax, sarcastic tone, and biblical allusions.

In his essay On The Scarlet Letter, D.H. Lawrence contradicts Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne respects Hester and portrays her as a victim, whereas Lawrence argues that she is one of the main sinners in the novel. D.H. Lawrence establishes and supports his claim that Hester Prynne is unworthy of Hawthorne’s praise by effectively utilizing concise syntax, frequent repetition, and strong biblical allusions.