Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter

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.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is a compassionate yet riveting piece of English literature that supports the movement for equality of suppressed women during a most tumultuous time during the 1800’s. Hawthorne’s use of emotional diction and imagery throughout his novel employs a deplorable tone upon the story. It serves as a stark representation of an imaginative yet realistic example of the indifference of men and women during these changing times. Deeply held Puritanical beliefs led countless of people to believe that individuals, especially women, who committed sins of any type would never reach heaven upon their passing. Men, on the other hand, were judged less severely if accused of a crime. Hester Prynne, the

She had to live outside of town in a small cottage, apart from the rest of the society. While she could still sew for a living, she could not make a wedding dress, for the people feared that she would stain the purity of the bride. Most importantly, she must forever wear that scarlet letter, so that no one would ever forget that she was an adultress: “The poor, as we have already said, whom she sought out to be the objects of her bounty, often reviled the hand that was stretched forth to succor them… If she entered a church, trusting to share the Sabbath smile of the Universal Father, it was often her mishap to find herself the text of the discourse... They (the children) pursued her at a distance with shrill cries, and the utterance of a word that had no distinct purport to their own minds, but was none the less terrible to her, as proceeding from lips that babbled it unconsciously.” (Hawthorne, 1994, p. 58-59) The Puritan society never let Hester live down the crime that she

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne develops the dynamic characterization of Hester Prynne from a beautiful, innocent girl into a somber, hardened women to showcase the evils and hypocrisy of Puritan New England’s culture of shaming. Hawthorne employs rhetorical devices such as metaphor and juxtaposition to further develop the characterization and his critique of Puritan society. When initially describing Hester, Hawthorne emphasizes her incredible beauty, and juxtaposes this with the other ugly, judging Puritan women, adding to the hypocrisy of her being shamed for sinning. Hawthorne emphasizes the verbal assault on Hester by employing metaphor and imagery in its description. After the community shuns and shames Hester for years, Hawthorne uses metaphor again to show how Hester’s body and character changes for the worst, emphasizes the malice and evil of public shame.

The main character, Hester Prynne, is publicly shamed for adultery and forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest. Although one might view Hester as an evil character considering that she has committed a rather unbearable sin in the eyes of 1650 Boston, she is not at all a bad person. Though she commits one of the worst sins for a woman, she is not entirely unvirtuous. Though Hester is punished by being forced to wear the scarlet letter, she turns the letter “A” into more than adultery. “Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize, - 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”

Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses several biblical allusions to emphasize the Puritan society this novel was set in and give the reader a comparison of Hester to biblical figures, both holy and unholy. The Puritan society was one of strict adherence to the Bible and its teachings; consequently, Hester’s sin is not easily forgiven. Through his use of biblical allusions Hawthorne provides the reader with a historical figure that portrays characteristics or aspects similar to that of Hester. Hester’s curious child, Pearl, is both a blessing and a curse. She completely changed the course of Hester’s life, at a great price.

The Results Of Being Hunted To The Letter “A” Imagine wearing a scarlet letter that is so powerful that it leads to society shunning you. This is the image that Nathaniel Hawthorne throughout the novel. In the novel, the author explains and talks about the life about a young woman named, Hester Prynne, who lives in the Puritan town of Boston whose life is not the same because she committed adultery. Adultery is a serious and sinful crime, which lead to Hester acquiring the scarlet letter.

This was the form of admonishing Hester, displaying her sin for the many onlookers to gaze upon and demean. Meant as a demeaning condition, the puritanic punishment of public humiliation endured by Hester only lead to a further development of her character building upon her preexisting strength. Puritan values contextually misrepresented women as inferior to their male counterparts and this punishment was designed to further instill that along with punishing Hester for her actions. Retrospectively, the latter occurred as this public shame lead to an acceptance of guilt and allowed Hester to develop into a more conscientious woman. Hester demonstrates an unimpeded lifestyle, “she repelled him by an action marked with natural dignity...stepped into the open air, as if by her own free will” Hester composes herself through every trial she is put up against allowing no negative circumstance to define her.

The Puritan townspeople of Boston, Massachusetts, punish a woman for committing an ignominious act with an unexpected man. Hester stands alone on the scaffold as townspeople scowl and judge, wondering who her lover is. The innocent town seamstress is a sinner in the eyes of the pure citizens. As Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter continues, the residents notice Hester’s abilities when caring for her daughter. She also regains respect as the bearer of the scarlet letter, the emblem she wears that “takes her out of the ordinary relationships with humanity and encloses her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 51). Mistress Hester Prynne is an example taught to others because of her hardships faced without her true love. Hester transforms

"Those who before had 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" (39).  Hester, who is being openly condemned for her sins, Hawthorne describes ironically.  To the Puritans, Hester should be dim and obscure, surrounded by darkness and evil.  However, Hawthorne instead describes her shining beauty and the godliness she makes out of her sin and shame by exposing it to the public.  The Puritans condemn Hester for her sin and look towards her as evil, yet she is exposing her sin to the sunshine, to the public, something that Hawthorne praises in the novel.  "A blessing on the righteous Colony of the Massachusetts, where iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine!  Come along, Madame Hester, and show your scarlet letter in the market-place!" (40).  The Puritans feel that they are hurting Hester Prynne by exposing her sin, yet it is only making her stronger and making her grow.

In 17th century Puritan societies, gender roles were very prevalent. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how they affect the way Hester is perceived by society after committing adultery. Hester Prynne breaks through the gender norms of her community and achieves victory as an independent woman in a male-dominated world. Although she is frowned upon because of her sin, Hester carries herself with pride and turns her punishment into a small victory. She flaunts her “elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread”(50) on her “letter A”(50).

Puritans come from a very conservative background and very hating towards sin. Hence comes the sinner, Hester Prynne, who is to wear the letter “A” upon her bosom. But then again, unlike the Puritans, Hester was not ashamed of the act of adultery she committed. In fact, she was proud that she had done something the Puritans were not accustomed to. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne shows individuality, shows how her daughter’s support helps her ignore the Puritan’s, and evolves her personality with the letter.

The punishment that Hester Prynne endured reflects the harsh nature of the Puritan society. The Puritan’s disciplinary action for Hester wrecked havoc on her life, and destroyed any sense of normalcy she had. She was publicly humiliated unnecessarily, and her shame was broadcasted to the entire town. Whether or not the town was made aware of her actions, Hester would have suffered enough internally having to live with her own guilt. The public showing reflects upon the cruel nature of the Puritan society.

During the reader’s first impression of Hester, Hawthorne describes her as an elegant, very beautiful women whose “beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (37). Despite being punished in front of the whole Puritan community, Hester appears so radiant that even while being punished, she looks beautiful. In addition to having “dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes”, Hester is also dressed well (37). This can be seen when one of the female spectators says, “It were well...if we stripped Madam Hester’s rich gown off her dainty shoulders...” (38).

In the eyes of the Puritan community, Hester commits one of the worst possible sins that can be imagined: adultery. The scarlet letter that she is forced to wear burns a hole to her heart but, Hester refuses to take it off. The first thing her daughter Pearl notices when she is born is the letter