Hester Prynne Conflict

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 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

The Scarlet Letter is a novel that took place in the 17th century, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The heartbreaking story of the main character, Hester Prynne dispersed the reader's’ thoughts. Hester Prynne suffered from adultery, where she had a child without father’s presence and support. Hester also suffered from bullying, where she was conjectured by superior people in the Puritan Legacy. The Scarlet Letter illustrated many bullying examples throughout certain chapters of the book.

Nathaniel Hawthorne begins The Scarlet Letter by introducing a theme of sin through the use of two symbols. The prison is described as “the black flower of civilized society” (Hawthorne 46), which is the first symbol, and having “a wild rose-bush” (Hawthorne 46) on one side that showed “the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.” (Hawthorne 46). In The Market-Place, the community gathers around to watch Hester Prynne be punished. The first image of the society in this novel is harsh, as they want “the brand of a hot iron on

Nathaniel Hawthorne's "The Scarlet Letter" is set in the early days of Puritan America. Hester Prynne, a seamstress, comes to the New World before her husband in order to prepare a place for them. During his absence, she develops a relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale, a rising minister in the newly founded Puritan community. Hester becomes pregnant. The novel is widely viewed to be a story about her trials and tribulations; however, critic Randall Steward argues that, "…Hester is not the protagonist, the chief actor, and the tragedy of the novel is not her tragedy but Arthur's. He is the persecuted one, the tempted one. He it was whom the sorrows of death encompassed…His public confession is one of

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is often renowned as his best work. The novel tells about the rigid ideas of 19th century Puritan New England through the story of Hester Prynne, Minister Dimmesdale, and Pearl. Hawthorne points out that the Puritans are often more ready to judge, punish, and damn someone than to forgive them. He is very critical of this idea, and goes against it by ending the novel with Hester Prynne becoming a respected individual that other women often look to for advice, and by changing the perception many people have of the Scarlet Letter from, “Adultery” to “Able”. Throughout the novel Hawthorne refutes the harsh ideals of the Puritans through the

In the Puritan society, the Scarlet Letter represents the Puritan’s view on the "sin of adultery" that Hester has committed in her life. However, Hawthorne shows throughout the novel that the Scarlet Letter evolved to be a potent symbol of Hester’s identity. The scarlet letter "A" again was originate to represents adultery, however it also represents rebellion against the puritan culture. Hester's attachment to the scarlet letter isolates her from the puritan’s society but it allows her to have freedom on her beliefs and actions as quote “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom” (Hawthorne). Later when she believes her relationship with the town minister, Dimmesdale is pure base on her 'free will’; she separates her 'free will' against the Puritan definition of 'sin'. As a result, it is a symbol of Hester's pride and burden. Because of this, Hester was forced to carry the scarlet letter of which she later accept the letter and the identity that it has placed upon her as quote, “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, into a moral wilderness... Her intellect and heart had their home, as it were, in desert places, where she roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods... The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers—stern and wild ones—and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (Hawthorne). Overall, her sin teaches her a lesson while obstructs her at the same

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel about guilt and innocence in Boston, Massachusetts during the 1640s. Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel, is a beautiful married woman who has committed adultery and had a child while her husband was lost at sea. She is now forced to bear the scarlet letter on her chest to let the public know what sin she has committed. Roger Chillingworth is Hesters lost husband who has returned back from seas to learn that his wife has been unfaithful to him. He has devoted himself to finding who Hesters lover is and seek revenge on him, even if it wreaks him. Arthur Dimmesdale is the town’s reverend and Hesters secret lover. He is in continuous conflict against himself since he is supposed to be

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is set in the 17th century puritan Boston, Massachusetts, it tells the story of Hester Prynne who has a daughter named Pearl out of an affair and struggles to live her life a new and with dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores the themes of sin, guilt, and revenge. The Puritan town of Boston had gathered around to witness Hester's punishment for her crime of adultery. She was required to wear a scarlet “A” on her dress to shame her. She walks down the scaffold with dignity and takes this punishment and makes the best of it. She owns wearing the scarlet “A” by personalizing it with embroidery and making it beautiful. The women on the street are angered of how graceful and beautifully she

“Ah, but, let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart” (Hawthorne 49). The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne, a woman living in Boston in the mid 1600s. While Hester's husband is assumed dead at sea, Hester has relations with the town's minister, Dimmesdale. She later has a child named Pearl. The Puritans of the town criticize Hester for committing adultery and make her wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest as a punishment for her sin.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne follows the story of Hester Prynne in seventeenth-century Boston and her journey as the ashamed town outcast and sinner. On this journey readers are introduced to Hester’s daughter, Pearl, her lover, Dimmesdale, and her former husband, Chillingworth. The story starts off with Hester and her young child Pearl walking out into the town to climb atop the scaffold where they are to be ridiculed for Hester’s sin of adultery. Hester is identified with a scarlet “A” on her chest resembling the sin she committed and to mark that she should be alienated throughout the town. But, when townspeople see Hester they are mesmerized by her beauty, “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and

Scarlet Letter Essay: Prompt Number One Living through adversity can create a hero in anyone. Attributes of a hero include courage, strength, selflessness, humility and patience. In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne is able to encompass many of these attributes through the main character, Hester Prynne. This character commits adultery and is sentenced to standing on the scaffold and is branded with a red letter “A” that must stay on her bosom for the rest of her days living in Boston, where she has committed this sin. Through this adversity, although it is because of her own actions, Hester Prynne shows attributes of heroism throughout the story.

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel that takes place in the town of Boston, Massachusetts in 1642. Hester Prynne, the main character of the story, commits the sin of adultery. Because of this sin, she is "blessed" with a child named Pearl. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter “A" on her chest for the rest of her life, which affects the way the townspeople look and act around her. Also, she must stand on the scaffold in the town for three hours for the whole town to recognize her grave sins. The man who should be standing upon the scaffold along with her and Pearl is the town minister, Dimmesdale. He is presented as a weak character because of his fear of losing his beloved reputation as such a holy

In the novel Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne presenting the idea for humans to endure the laws of nature and conscience, rather than following the laws of man, to fulfill happiness. The novel consists of a young woman named Hester Prynne carrying her infant daughter named Pearl. The golden letter "A" embroidered on Hester’s bosom symbolizes adultery, a vile sin which is looked down upon in her community. She encounters Dimmesdale, an influential Puritan priest who commits adultery with Hester. Their main priority is to escape their society and live a new life. There are many symbols displayed in the Scarlet Letter, in particular, wilderness vs. civilization. The wilderness represents opposing behaviors while civilization represents bounded to rules.

On the contrary, Hawthorne, demonstrates darkness in Hester’s redemption. She must struggle through the primary years of her life just to get by and provide for Pearl. Hester illustrates hope despite the odds aren't in her favor. As Hawthorne’s heroine, Hester Prynne rebels and resists in the face of oppressive laws. She is sentenced to wear the scarlet letter, but she derides that sentence with her needlework. Once the town is aware of Hester’s beautiful clothing, they wish for her to make them things. This can be viewed as hypocritical because Puritans believe in shunning sinners yet Hester has something they desire so the townspeople converse with her. The burden of her sin has had a major impact on Hester's outer and inner self. Hester's strength of character and ability to cope with the weight of her sin have resulted in a change in meaning of the Scarlet Letter in the eyes of the community. Hester challenged the Puritans by not letting her sin dictate her future. No longer is it a symbol of her sin, but rather it is a symbol of her salvation, which is not the purpose the Puritans wanted it to