Literary Criticism Of Hester Prynne

In his essay, “On The Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence provokes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne as a miraculous hero. Throughout the whole essay, he implies that Hester Prynne is a shameless transgressor, who only cares for herself. Hester Prynne is shamed by Lawrence for her atrocious actions. Lawrence provides several writing techniques in his essay including biblical allusion, degrading diction, and hyperbole, to prove that Hester Prynne is a wicked sinner.

     Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a dark tale of sin and redemption,centers around the small Puritan community of Boston during the 17th century. In the midst of this small community is Hester Prynne. She is a woman that has defied the Puritans, taken the consequences and in the end conformed with the Puritans. It did,

Individualism, emotion and the purity and simplicity of nature are at the foundation of American Romanticism. Essays such as Thoreau’s Walden and Emerson’s “Self-Reliance” call on humans to look inward and avoid conformity in order to find meaning and purpose in life. Nathaniel Hawthorne is also sympathetic to these ideals, but in The Scarlet Letter, he conveys them in the format of a novel where one of his main characters, Hester Prynne, is surrounded by rigid and unforgiving Puritanism in seventeenth century Boston. Through Hester’s struggles, Hawthorne paints a human and personal perspective of Romanticism, but, rather than using The Scarlet Letter simply to echo Thoreau and Emerson, Hawthorne also uses Hester’s story to condemn Puritanism as heartless, unreasonable and unnatural.

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

The author, in lines 24 to 29, compares Hester’s scarlet letter to a “passport into regions where other women dared not tread,” and later mentions how the mentors of her life—shame, despair, and solitude—taught her strong but amiss, different from other women. These metaphors depict the dual nature of Hester: the sinful bearer of the scarlet letter and audacious woman of brooding resilience. In spite of her emblem of shame, Hester boldly continued to hold her head high, resisting all the consequences of her adultery. The metaphors employed here, therefore, provide a thorough inspection of Hester’s state of mind and paints a deeper and more poignant picture of Hester Prynne’s

In his essay “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence criticizes Hester’s immoral behavior for her adulterous actions. Lawrence views her as a shameful member of Puritan society and centers his argument on her sin and its effects on the story’s plot. D.H. Lawrence’s use of different literary techniques strengthens his claim that Hester is not the heroine through his sarcastic tone, abrupt syntax, and biblical allusions.

The character of Hester Prynne changed significantly throughout the novel "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this irrevocably harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.

In his work “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence addresses the controversial character of Hester Prynne. He is just one of many critics who have analyzed Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fictional character, where some look to her as a hero and others blatantly shame her for her sin. Lawrence makes up the latter of this crowd, and is able to prove his case in a very meaningful manner. The critic believes that Hawthorne sugarcoats Hester’s image, and tries to make it look as if she is the victim of the tale. Disregarding this sympathy, he addresses the root cause of her sin rather than its consequences. As he writes, he uses a multitude of literary techniques to help convince readers of Hester’s seemingly evil character, using descriptive diction, a

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

All of the major characters in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne are dynamic and go through some form of character development. Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, who are at the forefront of the central conflict in the plot of the novel, are no exception. While their respective evolutions in character were noticeably different, each was emphasized by the three scaffold scenes. The differences of Hester and Dimmesdale’s respective character developments are highlighted and emphasized by the three scaffold scenes in the novel.

In D. H. Lawrence’s essay “On The Scarlet Letter,” Lawrence analyzes Nathaniel Hawthorne’s portrayal of the adulteress Hester Prynne. He argues that Hester’s character is not worthy of the praise she receives in The Scarlet Letter because of the severity of the sin she commits in the novel. Instead of focusing on Hester’s character after the sin, he bases his argument on the sin itself. Lawrence uses terse syntax, an accusatory tone, and biblical allusions to depict Hester as the sinner of the story.

Hester Prynne, protagonist made by Nathaniel Hawthorne in his novel The Scarlet Letter, is a female seductress. Not only does she seduce the town, but even the reader into pitying her situation as it unfolds. In D.H. Lawrence’s article “On the Scarlet Letter,” he proves this most effectively through praising diction, repetition, and biblical allusions.

Hester Prynne is the protagonist of The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. She was a beautiful woman who, because of her adultery, experienced persecution and was ostracized by everyone in her town. Her shame and guilt gave her an understanding of sin and redemption. She serves as an example of someone who is rejected by society and, because of it, grows in both strength and wisdom. Hester’s sin overshadowed her beauty and talent, but her humble and generous deeds gained her respect over many years.

The title of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter refers to the literal symbol of ignominy that Hester Prynne’s community forces her to wear as a reminder of her sin. Though the word “ignominy” is used in sympathetic passages that describe Hester Prynne’s disgrace as an adulteress and out-of-wedlock mother, its use at the same time reveals an extremely critical description of Hester’s community; Hawthorne finds that what is truly disgraceful is the way the community relishes and exploits the opportunity to punish one of its members.

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.