How Does Hester Prynne Change Society

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale dealt with their sin in different ways due to their personalities, their positions in society, and their ability to hide their crime. Hester and Dimmesdale’s differing personalities were one reason why they dealt with guilt differently. Hester, like her daughter was rather passionate, bold, and prideful. Hawthorne characterizes Hester through her daughter (6-83). This quote portrays Hester to have a gloom and temper.

To begin with, Hester’s sin drove the story, but after the community established her as a sinner, she overcame her sins but she still struggled through other characters. Instead of depicting Hester’s inner turmoil directly to Hester, Hawthorne portrays her tumult through other characters in her life such as Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the community. Dimmesdale proclaimed to Hester, “If thou feelest it to be for thy soul’s peace, and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation, I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and

Hester Prynne is described as a beautiful, young sinner who develops into a passionate, strong, and caring women due to her isolation from a Puritan Society. Roger Chillingworth says to Hester, “I pity thee for the good that has been wasted in thy nature”(Hawthorne 113), he describes the transformation that Hester has gone through as a waste of time because the path that she is headed leads to no good and she recognizes it as well. Although Heter becomes more like those who shunned her, she is able to gain respect within her community and grow into a strong woman who defeats the punishments set to ruin her image. Roger Chillingworth describes the values of Hester as “wasted” because he is blinded by the Hester Prynne that once existed, he

Hester Prynne’s sin was a very concrete sin, and was simply committing adultery. Her sin changed her throughout the book, mainly her physical appearance. The beginning of the book says, “The young woman was tall, with the figure of perfect elegance on a large scale” (46). Even though she is embarrassed of her sin, she had not been transformed of it yet. Hester doesn’t changed until later on the book. She starts to feel the pressure of the people and the pressure of her sin. She starts wearing bland clothes and putting her hair up in a bonnet. She also decides to move away from everyone by moving into a cabin in the woods. Hester becomes very depressed throughout the book, the reader sees this because she loses her light. Hawthorne says she is not the girl everyone knew she was, no one recognized her anymore. In chapter 16, she goes to the to the forest to talk to Dimmesdale. Hester’s appearance starts to

In the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorn, Hester Prynne is often shown as a weak woman who could not resist the cunning temptations of the devil. As she first comes out of the prison and takes her place on the scaffold, she is somewhat shamed by her fellow colonists. In this moment, Hester is completely helpless from the mockery and judgments of the townspeople. Although Hester Prynne committed what was back then the sin of all sins, she shows characteristics of a true protagonist, such as strength, determination, and honesty. One of Hester’s most relevant traits is her strength.

Hester Prynne drastically changes throughout chapters 10-18, not only does her appearance becomes dreary but her passion subdues as well, this also affect the story of how she hurt herself or other characters. During chapter 13 you can see a huge shift in Hester's character, she is explained to never “again the pillow of Affection” (Hawthorne 148) and that “marble coldness of Hester’s impression was to be attributed to the circumstances” (Hawkthorne 148) the reason Prynne undergoes such changes is because of her seven years of the Scarlet Letter on her bosom and the loneliness of being sinned which made her bitter and doubtful of all the people around her. All her kindness, passion, and charm was replaced by coldness, apathy, and grimness. Prynne’s long trial of the Scarlet Letter takes a real toll on her appearance aswell, her “luxuriant hair had either been cut off,

She came, not as a guest, but as a rightful inmate, into the household that was darkened by trouble” (146). This proves that even though Hester was left alone, her actions change the views of the community around her: “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (146). Hester’s abilities surprise community members helping her gain respect from the residents in the Puritan town.

At the end of chapter 5, it is evident that Hester is more of a brooding Romantic; she has a tragic confrontation with the universe around her, she isolates herself and becomes paranoid, and she develops a dark outlook of her scarlet letter by associating it with Hell. After experiencing an extreme amount of public humiliation, it is no surprise that Hester Prynne may think negatively about her reality in Boston. Hester’s negative outlook, a characteristic that can be credited to her broodingly romantic personality, is clearly evident within the end of chapter 5. The cause of this negative outlook is due to a tragic confrontation that she experiences with the world around her.

Hester Prynne’s ability to sustain her stability and strength of spirit is the express result of her public guilt and penance. She was Arthur Dimmesdale’s partner in adultery, but she is used by Hawthorne as a complete foil to his situation. Unlike Dimmesdale, Hester is both strong and honest. Walking out of prison at the beginning of the novel, she decides that she must “sustain and carry” her burden forward “by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink with it. She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief” (54). Hester openly acknowledges her sin to the public, and always wears her scarlet letter A. In the forest scene, she explains to Dimmesdale that she has been truthful in all things except in revealing his part in her pregnancy. “A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side” (133). Even Dimmesdale himself realizes that Hester’s situation is much healthier than his own when he states, “It must needs be better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all up in his heart” (92-93). This life of public shame and repentance, although bitter, lonely, and difficult, helps Hester retain her true identity while Dimmesdale seems to be losing his.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s purpose for Hester Prynne is to show that even when the weight of sin and guilt is bearing down on your shoulders, just put it all behind you and do whatever you can to live a normal life. Hester lived the most normal life she could manage, yet she walked around the colony a living testimony. She was the contradiction in the so called “perfect” world the Puritans created. They told her that she was

     Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner. She has gone against the Puritan ways by committing Adultery. The Puritans believed that Hester was a lost soul that could only be saved by sincere and thorough repentance. For this

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

While Hester is a feminist, not only does she share the ideals but shows superiority to the town while being fearless. " It may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the type of shame.” (chapter 5, paragraph 2) Hester does not let the shame and remorse of the sin keep her away from the town like most would do. Hawthorne even states that Dimmesdale is weaker than Hester by punishing himself and holding his heart while Hester embraces the sin and is strong while carrying the letter on her chest. She leads a self-righteous life, although she could keep what she earns, she gives most away. Even the townsfolk say Hester is "so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted."(chapter 13, paragraph 5) Hester can be seen over the townspeople helping them although they shamed her. Hawthorne presents that Hester’s “tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free.” (chapter 18, paragraph 2) With this Hester has a “radiant and tender smile, that seemed gushing from the very heart of womanhood. (chapter 18, paragraph 12) These quotes from Hawthorne show that Hester’s kindness helps her overcome her sin on her own. With Hester’s contribution to the town, “Her handiwork became what would now be termed the fashion.” (chapter 5, paragraph 6) In his research, Sacvan Bercovitch remarks that “Hester Prynne ‘builds upon the tradition of the biblical Esther -

As her punishment for committing Adultery Hester Pryne has to go and stand and scaffold in the center of town, daily. Her correction reinforces the Marxism ideology of organized religion, showing that she is bending to the society's ways. Although Hester is not entirely submitted. Hester still tries to hold some of her rebelliousness with acts that display defiance such as when she left the prison "with a burning blush; haughty smile" (Scarlet Letter 39). She is not so defiant when in the presence of greater figures of authority. Hester forfeits all resistance when she is called on by Governor Bellingham, "Hearken unto me, Hester Prynne!" (Scarlet Letter 48), while standing on scaffold. Exhibiting that she is still kept in check by greater figures of authority. The greater figures of authority include the governor and a number of sergeants; who use Puritan beliefs to regulate this society. Overall proving that Hester is in this predicament because of this "organized

Hester Prynne, a character within The Scarlet Letter, is a prime example of Hawthorne's common transformation of individuals within his books. These mutations involve the qualities and attributes of her physical appearance, feminine emotions, and reputation among the townspeople. Throughout the novel, the mentioned elements of Hester's character develop and change several times, providing the reader with better understanding of the influence that the scarlet letter and other characters have on her.