Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Being a woman in a Puritan society, Hester did not have much influence, and her crime as an adulteress made her a public figure of shame. Over time, Hester became accepted and also accepted herself, and this caused her dealings with sin to not be as heavy. In the 13th chapter of the Scarlet Letter, “Another View of Hester”, Hawthorne describes how Hester has found her place. (13-146/147). This quote shows how Hester’s role has changed and how she had developed.

Actions played out in front of society, whether they are good or bad, receive commentary. People can get hurt or suffer from societal scrutiny, which can alter a person’s life. Hester Prynne, the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, undergoes a traumatic transformation in society after being accused of adultery, which is highly denounced in the Puritan community. Similarly, Kim Kardashian-West received public scrutiny after the accidental release of her sex tape in 2007. Both women, scorned for their momentary lapse of judgement and indiscretion, spend their time dealing with the guilt and try to make up for their mistakes for themselves and their families.

Hester Prynne, on the other hand, contradicts with this statement, as she proves time and time again that she is a strong, female character. The novel would undeniably be viewed as a feminist novel as it makes a strong statement on women and their impact and role in society. Nathaniel Hawthorne showed a sense of feminism with the character of Hester to show readers that women are not always secondary and are capable of doing anything. Hester is certainly a feminist through her respectable actions and beliefs throughout The Scarlet Letter. She shows personal strength in herself as she demonstrates how, throughout all of her humiliation and punishment, she still believed in her own humanity. Hester has shown to be a strong character as she overcame the mortification of the scarlet letter, took care of her daughter Pearl on her own, and protecting her partner, Arthur Dimmesdale, even through the long years of shame and humiliation. Knowing the Puritan crimes, Hester faced the years of embarassment while still holding onto her ideals and beliefs, which allowed her to grow stronger and stronger with each experience. It is, without doubt, that Hester’s “sin” definitely changed her into the strong character she is. Overall, Hester became a symbol of a strong minded individual to the

Hester is forgiven because Dimmesdale confessed and conscience which is Pearl kisses him. Another is Pearl’s inherited guilt and inherited redemption.

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne the characters who condemn Hester Prynne are hypocrites because they too go against many Puritan beliefs. Puritans are supposed to live conservatively, yet Governor Bellingham himself decorates house lavishly and Hester Prynne makes her living embroidering people's clothes to make them more fanciful. Both of those things show the puritan community not following its own strict laws, but not having any punishment. Lying is also a sin in the bible, yet Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale never says that he is the father of Pearl and therefore never ostracized by the community like Hester Prynne. He does receive his punishment from Roger Chillingworth who torments Dimmesdale until Dimmesdale's death. It is hypocrisy

For instance, a member of the colony displays their bewilderment when he states, “It irks me, nevertheless, that the partner of her inquiry should not, at least, stand on the scaffold by her side” (59). A woman with such strength was a rare sight during this time period. Hester proves the townspeople wrong by displaying to them that she will not only accept her sin but also the consequences it entails. Essentially, Hester asks for pity from no one and will face her punishment without complaint. Hester holds a confident mindset through her choice to face the wrath of the town alone, and by leaving it to her co-sinner to repent for his equal mistake on his own time. Likewise, in defiance of the strain of Reverend Dimmesdale as well as the members of the town, Hester’s heroism is illustrated by refusing to expose the name of Pearl’s father to the town. In fact, with much self-assurance, Hester responds to the towns questioning when she exclaims, “And my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!” (64). Hester illustrates her view that people must own up to their mistakes in order to atone for them when she

Similarly, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne is defined by a scarlet A. The scarlet letter accomplishes the Puritan’s intended office of stripping Hester of her humanity by shaming her and also instills fear of disobeying in the townspeople, thus exposing the Puritans as puppets to their magistrates. The scarlet letter’s intended office is to shame Hester.

Hester Prynne, a well- known adulterous in the Puritan society of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is taken to jail and publically shamed for her sin. Unlike some others in her society, her sin is shone to light due to the fact of her pregnancy, while her husband is nowhere to be found and her lover in the woods. Ms.Hester has given birth to a baby girl she calls Pearl, and too many she uses her newborn as a shield, covering her scarlet letter ‘A’, she is deemed as an unfit mother. Consequently, the ones with authority in the Puritan country are actually trying to rip apart Hester from her child. However, the way Pearl was produced should not question Hester’s ability or role as a mother, as a matter of fact, it has very little say in Hester’s love and care she has for her child, Pearl.

When asked the paradoxical question “Can evil actions produce good consequences?”, giving a justified answer requires much intellect and thoroughness. For example, in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne a woman named Hester Prynne committed adultery while living in a repressive Puritan society during the 1600’s. As a result of her sin, a child was born and the real question that arises is, “What punishment does Hester Prynne really deserve for her maleficent actions?” The first outlook is that Hester is a victim of society by being punished for adultery because it actually wasn’t her wrongdoing. The second perspective is that she is a heroine of her time for earning respect from society.

With Hester Prynne’s first appearance in The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne describes the reactions of “Those who had before 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” (480). In this sentence Hawthorne describes Hester’s ability to conquer the unfavorable situation she is in while coming out stronger and showing her unique character that shines bright in contrast to the Puritans. By looking at this quote in the context of The Scarlet Letter it is quite apparent that Hawthorne has developed Hester’s character in contrast to the Puritans to show not only the flaws in the

The scarlet letter has affected Hester in many ways. One of the biggest ways it has affected her is in the way of feeling very guilty and shameful. She thinks she “would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s sinful passion” (Hawthorne, 76). Hester believes that her sin will serve as a walking example to the whole community and that people will always remember her for her adulterous act. Likewise, when she made the decision to still live in her town, on the outskirts that is, she feels that by facing her sin head-on and cope with the people who will continue to gossip about her, it is her only way to make herself pure again. When she enters

I think it can be said that Hawthorne, for his time, took a mostly pro-feminism stance in The Scarlet Letter, as he made his lead character a female who not only survives, but ultimately thrives in, a society in which she socially does not belong.

Hester Prynne is a strong and defiant character. “Hester Prynne has no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment.” She is kind and loving to her daughter, and is a hard working seamstress. She takes her punishment with grace and yet is haughty, possessing a natural dignity. She is beautiful and rebellious. Married to Roger Chillingworth, Hester despises him and commits adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale. Without repentance, she raises Pearl, refusing the order from the authorities to give Pearl up for a better education. Everything is against Hester from the beginning, and yet she perseveres through. She clings to Pearl who is her sole happiness and her punishment. Hawthorne compares Hester to Anne Hutchinson,

What comes to mind when the reader hears the word “feminist?” Amongst that thought bubble, determines the words “equality” “rights” and “beliefs” included? A feminist notices the “[…] gendered power relations and the ways in which the distribution of power impacts on social relations” (Seymour 22). In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne accidentally portrays Hester Prynne as a feminist, due to her situation. Hester Prynne does not like that fact that women act inferior to men causing her to become financially and emotionally independent.

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.