Nathaniel Hawthorne 's The Scarlet Letter

In the 1850’s, America was undergoing a massive internal changes via the industrial revolution. With this new era, American culture was drastically changed as women started to take a more prominent role in American society. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to stimulate this change by illustrating the positive influence of a strong female character in a Puritanical society through his heroine, Hester Prynne, by putting her in a scandalous situation capable of drawing out the worst in people.

Hester Prynne starts her life as an average respected young woman until she commits the loathsome crime of adultery, which forever condemns her to wear a

In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is more than a literary figure in a classic novel, she is known by some people to be one of the earliest American Hero’s. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne Hester commits adultery and has a child that she must care for all alone. She is forced to wear a powerful, attention grabbing “Scarlet A” on her chest while she must try to make a living to support her and her child, Pearl. Even though she must face all the harsh judgment and stares she does not allow her sin to stop her from living a successful life. She looks past the Letter as a symbol of sin and turns it into a sign of approval. Hester

Though their crime of adultery was mutual, Hester’s pregnancy forced her sin into the spotlight, and in Puritan society, the sin of having an illegitimate child was one of the worst a woman could commit. As punishment for her crime, Hester Prynne is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” upon her chest as a sign of her wrongdoing. Because of this, Hester was forced to acknowledge what she has done and accept the repercussions of her crime, which ultimately makes her a stronger person and supports Hawthorne’s claim that it is “better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain” (Hawthorne 76). Hawthorne reveals Hester’s acceptance of her crime and her guilt the moment she walks out of the prison with her daughter in her arms, explaining that, “In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors” (Hawthorne 31). Because of her crime, many people expect Hester to tremble with fear upon being revealed to the town, but instead she holds her head high and embraces the punishment for her sin. This in turn allows Hester to appear stronger, more beautiful, and more dignified, and choosing to portray Hester in this way shows Hawthorne’s belief that it is better to confess one’s sin and live with it rather than deal with the

Hester Prynne. Hester is shamed publicly for her sin of adultery, for which she bears the mark of

In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as an adulterous woman, having a child out of wedlock. She is forced to display her terrible sin publicly by wearing a letter A the color of scarlet. Though she is seen by the Puritans as sinful, she displays many of the virtues stated in Proverbs 31. Hester Prynne shows moral excellence as well as righteousness and goodness despite being wrought with sin.

When the story commences, the women of the town are crowded around the jail interested in the forthcoming punishment of Hester Prynne. With no sense of impropriety the women speak with a startlingly harsh tone about her. One woman, “a hard featured dame of fifty”, remarks that Hester Prynne received too gentle of a punishment and should of gotten a “brand of a hot iron on her forehead.” However, she is free to cover her shame with “a brooch or some other sinful jewelry.” Another young woman, a wife who was holding her child to her breast, counters that the crime will always “weigh on her heart”.

First of all, the scarlet letter stands for Hester's sin. By forcing Hester to wear the letter A on her bosom, the Puritan community not only punishes this weak young woman for her adultery but labels her identity as an adulteress and immoral human being as well. "Thus the young and the pure would be taught to look at her, with the letter flaming on her chest", also "as the figure, the body and the reality of sin." And the day Hester began to wear the scarlet A on her bosom is the opening of her darkness. From that moment, people, who look at her, must notice the letter A manifest itself in the red color covering not only her bosom, but her own character. The Puritans now only see the letter A, the representation of sin, scorn and hate

Through Hester Prynne’s captivity of sin, as depicted by the scarlet letter on her chest, Hester is granted freedom to observe and live a life of her own choosing as well as grant that for her illegitimate child, Pearl. Hester Prynne is held physically captive by the scarlet letter which binds her to sin and the town’s public knowledge of her adultery: “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast […] as the figure, the body, the reality of sin,” (95). Hester is obligated to be both excluded from the community, but to be ridiculed and scorned daily by it as well because of the physical depiction of captivity upon her chest. The scarlet letter, however, is what grants Hester Prynne freedom: “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness. […] The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread,” (237-238). Hester uses her sin to her advantage and takes her freedom to do right by the community which has thus judged her and becomes a nurse. Hester is also free to disclose at any time

Hester is punished for her sin by standing on a platform in the middle of town while the whole town watched and talked about her; she was also forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her chest for the rest of her natural life. In his novel, The Scarlet Letter, author Hawthorne uses the symbolism of a wild rose-bush, Hester’s cabin, and her daughter Pearl to contribute to

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The ScarIet Letter” describes the heroine (Hester) in a different way than most of the novels do. Unlike in other novel where heroine is easily identified right from the beginning, Hester cannot be identified as a good character nor is she known for good reason rather she is depicted as a criminal at the beginning of the novel. However I don’t agree with the statement that it is impossible to fully identify Hester Prynne as a heroine of “The Scarlet Letter” because her decision to stay in the society where she was publically ashamed and imprisoned makes her extraordinary and her courage to take the punishment and change the scarlet letter ‘A’ from ‘adultery’ to ‘able’ is remarkable act of strong woman and her honesty and compassion differentiate her from other ordinary woman.

The novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was published in the 1850s, and takes place in the Boston, Massachusetts area during the 17th Century when Puritans were the main population. Hester Prynne, is accused of committing adultery and is forced to wear a scarlet A against her chest and care for Pearl, Her daughter who is born from the tryst. In the beginning of the novel, both Pearl and the Letter are introduced at the same time aspressed against Hester’s chest. Though she chooses to hold the child close to her and the Letter is thrust upon her, Hawthorne shows the reader how determined she is to take these symbols of sin and integrate them into her life and create her own identity.

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

When Hester Prynne first comes onto the scene she is already criticized and hated by all the women in the crowd and most the men. They were saying things like,”...they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead.” (42). Prynne is described as a beautiful, marvelous, well-off woman but is hated because she allegedly murdered her husband. Her baby is spoke of vaguely but is already an important character in the story. The author explains many times that her infant is

Hester Prynne, one of the main characters in The Scarlet Letter, was a shy, self-conscious and guilty women of committing an awful sin. The sin that she had committed was adultery. The town of Boston found out about her sin and they punished her in a bad way. At first, she thought that the punishment was unfair and cruel. After a while, Hester realizes that her punishment will not go away so instead of dreading over it, she just deals with it and keeps living her life. Many people in the town would call her names and make fun of her for committing adultery; she wants to yell at them and call them out but instead she lets them go and walks away. Throughout the novel, Hester Prynne has changed, grew and solved her problems in many ways.