The plot of the Scarlet letter circles around the act of one woman, Hester Prynne. Multiple conflicts arise as a result of her adultery with an unknown man in her community. Therefore, Hester has to face her community - along with her newborn child - as an outcast of her society. After spending about a year in prison awaiting the birth of her child, Hester has to face her true punishment of wearing the scarlet letter. Along with the punishment of the scarlet letter, Hester walks across town and stands at the scaffold only to be stared down by her society. When Hester is alone with her thoughts she becomes conflicted with herself as she reflects on what she believes in and the consequences of her actions. Furthermore, Hester is able to slowly
Hester Prynne is forced to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her life because of the one sin she has committed. As she stands on the scaffold in front of the whole town she is told “... And then and the after for the remained of her natural life, to wear a mark of shame upon her bosom.” (Hawthorne 59). This quote shows that hester is forever going to be guilty for the one sin she has committed with Dimmesdale. Hester will never be treated the same or looked at the same off because of the Scarlet A on her bosom. As the book goes on Hester moves into a cabin that is half in the forest and half in society and raised her daughter Pearl. She made clothes for a living and she decided to start making extra clothes for the poor. Hawthorne then explains how the poor don’t even have respect for Hester because of her scarlet letter “...she give of her little substance to every demand of poverty; even though the bitter-hearted pauper threw back a gibe in requital of the food…” ( Hawthorne 146). This proves that she is still being treated different because if her sin. She is getting treated so wrongly and this sometimes make her feel guilty for committing her sin. Although Hester can leave at anytime she plesases she decides to stay in this town because she believe she should be punished in the same town that she committed her sin. She also stays because of
The second scene of the scarlet letter is about Hester Prynne, a young women that committed adultery, becomes the center of attention by being publicly placed upon a scaffold for all the eyes of the town to view and criticize. Hester is a beautiful lady with a magnificent completion, but all of this has been overlooked because of
“She took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared a letter A. (6) As she walked Hester was ladylike, dignified than ever before. I presume that Hester is not proud of the crime she committed but she is willing to stand tall and accept the consequences. The author described the scarlet letter as a spell on Hester Prynne that set her out of ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself, thus bringing her isolation (7). Hester’s walk of shame was the worse part of wearing the scarlet letter, with crude, stark, callous eyes staring at her knowing she will never be considered a part of their society again; though Hester sustained herself as best as she could. She began reminiscing remembering her old house in England with her mother, father, and a scholar, then she realizes the Scarlet Letter will always target her as an outcast. Which leads into chapter
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.
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
When Hester is released from prison, she ponders the effect of the scarlet letter and realizes, “she must either sustain and carry it forward by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink beneath it” (Hawthorne 69). In other words, Hester knows that allowing other people to bring her down will lead to self-destruction. Through a great deal of inner strength, Hester decides to stay in her hometown and let “the torture of her daily shame . . . purge her soul and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saintlike, because the result of martyrdom” (Hawthorne 71). Essentially, Hester resolves to learn from her “mistake” and use the situation as a growing opportunity. Decisively, Hester concludes that although she cannot change the past, she can show her strength and resolve by overcoming the shaming that is sure to occur in her town. Hester’s honesty and willingness to accept her punishment enable her to
The scarlet letter, despite being Hester’s burden to bear, has a lot to say about all of the characters in the novel, main and supporting character’s alike. There are many themes and traits that the scarlet letter is tied to, but there are a select few that I felt most focused on throughout the novel that differ from character to character. Among concealed sin, self-torment, and many other linked concepts, the few that I will be pointing out pertain to the characters and are a large part of who that character is as an individual, not simply what they see or don’t see the scarlet letter meaning for those around them.
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.
Through Hester Prynne’s captivity of sin, as depicted by the scarlet letter on her chest, Hester is granted freedom to observe and live a life of her own choosing as well as grant that for her illegitimate child, Pearl. Hester Prynne is held physically captive by the scarlet letter which binds her to sin and the town’s public knowledge of her adultery: “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast […] as the figure, the body, the reality of sin,” (95). Hester is obligated to be both excluded from the community, but to be ridiculed and scorned daily by it as well because of the physical depiction of captivity upon her chest. The scarlet letter, however, is what grants Hester Prynne freedom: “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness. […] The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread,” (237-238). Hester uses her sin to her advantage and takes her freedom to do right by the community which has thus judged her and becomes a nurse. Hester is also free to disclose at any time
After deliberation, the town magistrates decide that Hester must wear a scarlet letter, which results in her transformation from an innocent, young woman to a living symbol of shame, serving as an example to the rest of society. The scarlet letter and Hester’s role as an negative example for the other puritan women is described in chapter 5, “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast, -at her, the child of honorable parents, -at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, -at her, who had once been innocent, - as
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
Hester Prynne is a protagonist in the novel " The Scarlet Letter" She is described as a young tall women, with dark and glossy hair. So beautiful that "her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped." Hester Prynne suffers public humiliation, forced to wear the scarlet letter for the sin she has done. She then hides her beauty and sin underneath a cap for seven years. All the people who surround her look down on her and shame her, but after a long while. People begin to feel bad for her, telling her to remove the scarlet letter. Though, Hester disagrees and keeps the scarlet letter on. Leaving her with a burden on her back reminding her and the people for what she did. Hester continues with her
From the beginning, we see that Hester Prynne is a young and beautiful woman who has brought a child into the world with an unknown father. She is punished by Puritan society by wearing the scarlet letter A on the bosom of her dress and standing on the scaffold for three hours. The scaffold is a painful task to bear; the townspeople gathered around to gossip and stare at Hester and her
The Scarlet Letter is the story of Hester Prynne as narrated by her daughter Pearl. The year is 1666 in the Massachusetts Bay Colony, where there is an uneasy truce between the local Puritans and the Algonquian tribe whose Chief Metacomet has recently succeeded his father Massasoit. Hester arrives from England with the purpose of finding and setting up a house for herself and her husband, Roger Prynne, who is to follow shortly after. While awaiting her Husband’s arrival she meets and falls in love with a young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. Knowing that they could be hanged for their feelings Arthur and Hester avoid each other for the summer, but consummate their love when it emerges that Roger has likely been killed during the massacre of the Intrepid by the Tarentines. Hester finds herself pregnant with Dimmesdale’s child and is imprisoned for her indiscretion after Goody Gotwick testifies against her and she refuses to name the father of her child. Arthurs intends
Old Mr. Prynne began his new life in Boston as the Physician Roger Chillingworth. The moment he arrived, the town elected him him intelligent and also mannered; he always seemed pleasant although a lot strange. Through these seven years he remained in Massachusetts. His character changed so drastically from pleasant to evil that even those who did not know him personally seemed to notice the devilishness nature deep within chillingworth's soul soul trying to break free.