Female Characters In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Hawthorne’s message about obtaining salvation through the means of being open and true to yourself, is shaped by the contrasts of consequences the characters Hester Prynne, who publicly acknowledges her sin, and Arthur Dimmesdale, who hides his sin, face. In Hester’s case, she was publicly shamed for her sin from the beginning and was forced to wear the symbol of her sin, the scarlet letter “A” representing adultery, to isolate her from the rest of society. She had the opportunity to leave the town and begin a new life free from the scarlet letter, but she decides to stay as, if she were to run away or remove the scarlet letter, she would be admitting to the shame of her sins. Her staying, shows she wants to change the scarlet letter to not represent her sin, but her as a character.

This ridicule has a trickle down effect on Hester as she too is banished from her own community for committing adultery. The comparison between Hester and Hawthorne defines the external struggle for the reader to fully understand the effect of opinions from society on them Although reluctant to allow Hester to leave prison, the members of the town suggest that her punishment be to wear a scarlet red letter A on her bosom, thereby allowing all to know of her crime. The scarlet letter “ was red-hot with infernal fire, ” (Hawthorne 81) and defined the state she was currently in, that being eternal hell. Though she was forced to marry an older man at a young age, her rebellion to have an affair is not seen as an internal struggle that she overcame; rather, it is merely seen as a woman who sinned, a woman who shall therefore endure the punishment for the sin, rather than a woman who was never given a say in what she wanted with her life. Time and again, Hester Prynne is seen defying society by allowing herself to stand out from societal norm just as the roses “with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner“ (Hawthorne) did. Instead, she returns to the community and is observed aiding those in need, all with seven year old Pearl by her side.

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s act of adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 231) ultimately leads to negative and positive impacts on her life, including being isolated from everyone in town, being mocked and gossiped about, being more mature, and being more compassionate. One of the negative

In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is more than a literary figure in a classic novel, she is known by some people to be one of the earliest American Hero’s. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester commits adultery and has a child that she must care for all alone. She is forced to wear a powerful, attention grabbing “Scarlet A” on her chest while she must try to make a living to support her and her child, Pearl. Even though she must face all the harsh judgment and stares she does not allow her sin to stop her from living a successful life. She looks past the Letter as a symbol of sin and turns it into a sign of approval. Hester

In spite of that, what makes her the protagonist of the story is how she is able to overcome her punishment that was meant to give her shame. Throughout Chapter 13 of the book, Hawthorne shows how Hester’s confidence has developed in herself and in view of the town, most noticeably when considering the meaning of the scarlet letter, “Such helpfulness was found in her ... that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength,” (Hawthorne 107). Instead of subjecting to the shame that was forced upon her, she grew above it, conveying a different aspect of the theme of guilt, which is redemption. This is not to say that Hester did not care about the sin she committed, as she is very much reminded of it every day of her life while living with the child of that sin. In fact, the author addresses this by saying, “In giving her existence a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder,” (Hawthorne 60). Hawthorne is implying how Pearl represents the outcome of a sin and arranged it so that Hester is always living with that sin, therefore, always being reminded of the shame she is supposed to

  "What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us," stated Oliver Wendell Holmes. This eventually proves to be especially true for Hester Prynne, the main character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne, a fair young maiden whose husband had disappeared two years prior to the opening of the novel, has an affair with the pastor of her Puritan church, resulting in the birth of her child Pearl. Because of this act of adultery, Hester Prynne is branded by the scarlet letter "A," which she is forced to forever wear upon her attire. The plot thickens as Hester's former husband returns to New England and becomes

Hester Prynne -- adulteress and sinner, but also strong, courageous and kind. She lives with the first two words as her identity, with the scarlet “A” as her name tag; A reminder to everyone and herself of her sins. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne; Hawthorne expresses his belief that everyone has an equal potential for sin, what causes people to be different from each other is how they react to their sin. The sins committed by people can affect them differently than how it may affect another person. Sin is not something that everyone feels the same way about. Lucius Annaeus Seneca makes a point saying that: “The first step in a person's salvation is knowledge of their sin”. There is no way we can resolve our sins alone. We can only acknowledge our sin and repent; We can try to be the best versions of ourselves but sin does not just disappear. It is a daily trouble everyone’s life, sin changes every person from the individual they are supposed to be. For example, Hester accepts what she has one and tries to move on and redeem herself by helping the poor and raising her daughter. On the contrary, Chillingsworth dwells in his sins and submits to what he had done making him become dark and satan-like. He no longer can recognize admirability, he has a focused on revenge and hate. There are also people comparable to Dimmesdale, who hide their sins in shame of what they have done, unable to move on.

But before this happened, society has really hated her for committing the biggest sin, as known as her daughter Pearl. Prynne’s husband is ashamed therefore Hester takes the blame and goes through many difficulties in life. Once everything starts getting into action Hester becomes a strong independent women, not for herself, but for her daughter Pearl. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester represents social feminist ideas of a sinner, an object, a victim, and an independent woman.

Many women have experienced discrimination due to their gender. Society views women as inferior beings that cannot achieve greatness. Furthermore, women have acquired a set of rules and expectations to meet within their role in society. In the 1850 romance novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts the beauty and strength of women. Despite society’s strict views of gender roles, women can convert society’s oppression into freedom due to the qualities they possess, which surpass society’s assumed capabilities of them.

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the romantic purities and connotations of nature, being the embodiment of beauty and gracefulness, are best exemplified by Hester Prynne, who acts against the corrupt society through her embodiment of nature. Hester’s character is always described to be one pure of soul, though the letter she wears prevents her from being this character entirely. Enduring the shame of the letter, she tries her best to help the people of the town and the poor. She also possesses a motherly love so dear to her beloved Pearl who is also outcasted from the puritan society. Regardless of the good deeds she committed, she still struggles to be accepted by the community and attain purity due to her symbol of shame she is forced to wear upon her bosom. Through her exclusion and contrast to the society, she is described as the more graceful and refined being in comparison with the inhabitants of the puritan community.

Hester and her daughter Pearl "… stood together in the same circle of seclusion from human society" (Hawthorne 78; Ch. 6). Pearl and Hester Prynne learn how to ignore society's hate together. Over time, Hester begins to accept her flaws and moves on from her past. She begins to act happier and as a more life-loving human with her beautiful young child. As time goes on, Hester tries to forget her "A" upon her chest, but "the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be the most prominent feature of her appearance" (Hawthorne Pg. 88 Chapter 7).

In a time where women are confined, Hester Prynne stands up for her right to be the strong human being she is. She follows her heart and deals with the consequences with her daughter Pearl by her side. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s famous melodramatic novel, The Scarlet Letter, depicts Hester’s strength in exposing and accepting her sin. Hawthorne makes use of symbolism, allegory, and irony to bring a tone of gender injustice to the novel.

Hester Prynne’s ability to sustain her stability and strength of spirit is the express result of her public guilt and penance. She was Arthur Dimmesdale’s partner in adultery, but she is used by Hawthorne as a complete foil to his situation. Unlike Dimmesdale, Hester is both strong and honest. Walking out of prison at the beginning of the novel, she decides that she must “sustain and carry” her burden forward “by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink with it. She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief” (54). Hester openly acknowledges her sin to the public, and always wears her scarlet letter A. In the forest scene, she explains to Dimmesdale that she has been truthful in all things except in revealing his part in her pregnancy. “A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side” (133). Even Dimmesdale himself realizes that Hester’s situation is much healthier than his own when he states, “It must needs be better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all up in his heart” (92-93). This life of public shame and repentance, although bitter, lonely, and difficult, helps Hester retain her true identity while Dimmesdale seems to be losing his.

Written in 1850, The Scarlet Letter stood as a very progressive book. With new ideas about women, main characters’ stories intertwined, and many different themes, The Scarlet Letter remains today as a extremely popular novel about 17th century Boston, Massachusetts. Not only was the 19th century a time for the abolition of slavery movement but it was also the beginning of the first wave of feminism. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott catalyzed the women’s rights movement. These prominent women believed that a woman’s role was no longer in the house and that women should be afforded the same opportunity as men. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s sympathy for women is evident in a feminist reading of his novel

Fulfilling the image of a corrupt and sinful world, society devalues women and demeans their existences, oppressing them into a world of submissiveness and destruction. The patriarchy not only have detrimental effects on women, but the entire world as well. However, women have always exhibit strength and development despite the lack of opportunities, and they reveal the virtuousness of moral character. In the 19th century dark romantic novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne reveals the atrocities of the patriarchy and masculine hegemony in society and thereby perceive women as the current redeemer of humankind’s sin. He, thereby, urges individuals to deter from the idea of women solely carrying the burdens of humankind’s sin and to