Essay on Hester Prynne

Despite the isolation, Hester supports herself and Pearl with nothing but her inner strength. She is able to deal with the negativity from the townspeople and the local government, and is even able to be honest and compassionate in ways such as acknowledging her sin, keeping the identity of her

In page 100, after Mistress Hibbins, the governor’s sister asks Hester to partner with her to a party at the forest where she promises the devil that Hester will go; Hester replies, “Make my excuse to him,so please you! I must tarry at home, and keep watch over my little Pearl. Had they taken her from me, I would willingly have gone with thee into the forest, and signed my name in the Black Man’s book too, and that with mine own blood.” If Pearl is taken away from Hester, The Devil will take advantage of it and drag Hester deep into sin that she’ll end up in hell. This connection between Hester and her daughter cannot be broken. Hester treasures her young one, and sees her as the light of her life. If Hester wouldn't be a quality mother for Pearl, she would have not cared about the naming of her daughter. Hester wouldn't have thought about "Pearl", she would have just named her with any insignificant name. However she did contemplate over Pearls naming, she wanted her daughter to have a significant name that would show how much she means to her. Hester has proven once more that she does worship her daughter and deserves to have her stay in her safe-keeping.

Hester accounted for pearl’s character by “recalling what she herself had been, during that momentous period while pearl was imbibing her soul from the spiritual world, and her bodily frame from its material of earth.”

Hester is introduced as a beautiful and graceful young woman. Although she has committed adultery, she is prideful and has force of character. Her situation does not stop her to present herself in front of everyone with class. I believe that is very admirable. Although she is being disgraced and ridiculed in front of everyone she knows, she does not show she is hurt. Hester Prynne is brave not only is she judged for her actions, but so is her baby. Although the child has done nothing wrong it is seen as the offspring of adultery, and the mother’s sin. The child is used to make Hester reveal the father of the infant but she refuses, once again proving her determination and force of character. As expected the crowd does not welcome Hester.

Considered an outcast from society, Hester continues her job as the town’s seamstress. In 1888, Emerson publishes an essay called Self Reliance. In Self Reliance, Emerson writes that people must “accept the place the divine providence has found for [them], the society of contemporaries, the connection of events” (Hodgins 190). In essence, Emerson says that people need to accept their life’s path. Hester learns to do just that. She knows that she will live alone with Pearl and accepts her roll as the soul provider. During the tough times, Hester never loses her spirit or determination. She “never sacrificed her moral integrity for the sake of her own benefit” (Analysis). Towards the middle of the novel, Hester accepts that the scarlet letter remains a part of her, but discovers that it no longer defines her. Hawthorne says “…that many people refuse to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able” (Hawthorne 146). What the people say about Hester explains her self-reliance perfectly. The A no longer has its original meaning to the town people. The town people begin to accept Hester for her qualities, not for the symbol upon her

Conflict is first observed through Hester’s ongoing difficulties with her fellow townspeople. Hester receives ridicule from on looking townspeople, as a gossiping woman states, ‘ “At the very least, they

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

First, Hester is a main symbol in the book that represents Puritan beliefs of sin and

Hester raises Pearl all by herself. Yes, without a father and no one else's help Hester cares and provides for Pearl all by herself. This signifies that Pearl doesn't need her baby daddy and no child support she takes all responsibilities like a rightful woman would do. She, knows that she already looks bad because she committed adultery and has the letter on her and that's

The new Puritan society wanted to punish Hester Prynne horribly so that she would set an example of the consequences the others would receive if they committed a

The harsh townspeople force her up on the scaffold to be humiliated in front of the whole town. Not only is she sent up on the scaffold with her sin revealed by the “A” for everyone to see, Hester becomes an example of what a woman should not come to be. The author is talking about Hesters experience on the scaffold and her pregnancy, “Throughout them all, giving up her individuality, 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 frailty and sinful passion”(32). Hester looses her individuality and is labeled by the townspeople and known for the Scarlet Letter. Further, the townspeople singled her out as an alien or outcast of the town forcing her to live an abnormal live. She was ridiculed and known for her one sin, unable to have acceptance back into society. Although the townspeople feel as if Hester has brought sin upon there lives, she clearly have not harmed any of the townspeople physically, and they have no grounds to punish Hester. The cause of the townspeople's harsh disciplinary acts on Hester originates from a strict, unrealistic standards of puritan society and the zero tolerance of any ungodly behavior observed in the town. Due to the absence of proper justice, Hester's sentencing is left up to the harsh townspeople in which they show no mercy or

Imagine yourself on display in front of your whole town, being punished for cheating on your husband or wife. Today adultery is looked down on, but in reality nobody makes a huge deal out of it. Sin can affect a person in many ways, but whether it’s good or bad only time can tell. In the old days, religion and law were looked at as one, and Hester Prynne just so happened to sin, which in turn caused her to break the law. In the novel, Hester displays that how a person deals with sin has a lasting impact on the people around her, and most importantly those that are the closest to her.

     Throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter there are many symbols. One of the biggest symbols of the novel is the scarlet letter A that Hester Prynne is sentenced to wear after she commits adultery. It is a symbol that is sewn onto her clothes for everyone to see. It is a punishment that is meant to humiliate her for the duration of the time that she stays in Puritanical Boston. During the novel, the scarlet letter changes and evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability and even physically changes its form.

Hester’s battle with herself can only be understood by taking a glimpse into her daily life with her beloved daughter, Pearl. Pearl is the physical manifestation of her sin, of the adultery that Hester committed with her secret lover; with every waking hour, Pearl is always alongside Hester, constantly reminding Hester of her transgression. Whenever Hester sees Pearl, she sees a young and energetic girl, who also possesses the same attributes that she loathes about herself, the difficult and wild side of herself that would never give up. Hawthorne writes that Pearl, “lacked reference and adaptation to the world into which she was born. [Pearl] could not be made amenable to rules” (Hawthorne

Hester took residence in a cabin at the edge of town and lived with her young daughter Pearl. Hester became perplexed by the young childs actions, as she watched her