Scarlet Letter Free Again Quotes

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.

By initially facing her fears of living in public with the shameful mark of the Scarlet Letter, Hester was able to accept this life and continue without the fear of public scorn and humiliation. Although the mark still played a heavy role Hester’s place in society, she was able to overcome its hindrance to an extent, and turn the letter into something positive in the eyes of the Puritans, as shown when the author writes, “Such helpfulness was found in her, —so much power to do, and power to sympathize, —that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne” (Hawthorne 158.) By accepting her fears initially and standing brave in the face of her apprehension over the Scarlet Letter, Hester was able to live a life free of the fear which could have plagued her, and instead became a positive force in society. Hester faced her fear of the town judging the Scarlet Letter and turned to a life of selflessness and

Hawthorne chooses to have Hester overcome her struggles. At the end of the book, Hester finds at least some degree of peace. The struggles and pain she went through were not pleasant, but they did provoke her to improve her relationship with God. Her burden seems lessened and if there is nothing else for her to be joyful about, her daughter Pearl has adapted and thrived in her new life. Hester Prynne shows mercy upon the sick and does charity work even when it goes unappreciated. She gave her time and effort to help the poor even when they rebuked her as well. Her dedication to try and fix her mistakes is admirable and the reader feels as if Hester has really changed for the better. The change in Hester makes the people respect her and come to her for advice at the end of the story. In chapter 13, Hawthorne writes about how the Puritans have mixed feelings about Hester, but the majority of the people now forgive and hold her in high regard. “They said it meant ‘Able’; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.” (pg. 158) This quote shows how the interpretation of the letter and of Hester herself has changed. The new view of Hester gained by the Puritans is based on her response to the scarlet letter, a symbol meant to ruin her but in reality it made her

Set in seventeenth-century Boston, “The Scarlett Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a story of principal human values and the consequences if said values are replaced with deceit and falsehood. Sincerity and honesty are indirectly pinned as requisites by Hawthorne in order to be a genuine and sane person in society. This is best expressed in the line, "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true.” Hawthorne continued his claim by recounting the stories of Pearl, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth who all went about deceit differently or not at all.

Hester put herself through all of this because she committed a sin that she could not forgive herself for. For the rest of the book she only takes off the scarlet letter once, in the

In Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter Hester is a strong dynamic character. The scarlet letter “A” upon Hester’s chest gives her confidence because she knows that everyone sins and she can learn from her own. She holds her head high during this seven years of punishment. Hester is the first one to come out and confess, which demonstrates her confidence level. Hawthorne says, “In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty

“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 neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared a letter A. (6) As she walked Hester was ladylike, dignified than ever before. I presume that Hester is not proud of the crime she committed but she is willing to stand tall and accept the consequences. The author described the scarlet letter as a spell on Hester Prynne that set her out of ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself, thus bringing her isolation (7). Hester’s walk of shame was the worse part of wearing the scarlet letter, with crude, stark, callous eyes staring at her knowing she will never be considered a part of their society again; though Hester sustained herself as best as she could. She began reminiscing remembering her old house in England with her mother, father, and a scholar, then she realizes the Scarlet Letter will always target her as an outcast. Which leads into chapter

“…it was nevertheless to potent to be resisted,—she felt or fancied, then, that the scarlet letter had endowed her with a new sense.” (72) The fact that Hawthorne gives Hester a new

The central character of the novel, Hester Prynne, undergoes a significant change in character, mainly due to the shame stemming from being forced to bare the scarlet letter. During the first scaffold scene in which she is undergoing trial, Hester is described as: “lady-like . . . characterized by a certain state of dignity . . . her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (Hawthorne 103). Despite the presence of a multitude of women sneering at her as she makes the seemingly endless walk to the place of her trial, Hester maintains her cold, almost pompous facade. It is a testament to her initial immense amount of resilience of character and mental strength to keep from breaking down into tears while on the scaffold. This idea of Hester desiring to and succeeding in maintaining a proud and aloof air is further evidenced by the ornateness and intricacy of the scarlet letter itself.

“On one side of the portal, and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him." Chapter 1, pg. 46

Towards the end of the novel, Hester gets the break in life she’s been waiting for. She put up with seven years of shame and guilt, to finally be the person she used to be. Her rekindled love with Arthur makes her happy again, and everything just seems right for them. She’s filled with hope that her life will finally turn back to normal again. She feels redeemed, and the guilt is no longer on her shoulders. She’s now ready to take on the world, and start her life over to the way it was before the “A” entered her life. Having the courage to show her face in the colony again is just a sign of her bravery.

When Hester fixed the onerous scarlet letter back onto her bosom, “the warmth and richness of her womanhood departed, like fading sunshine,” leaving behind only a “gray shadow” in its place (145). As a result, the beauty Hester once held with such alacrity was snatched away by the venomous stigma society had placed on her. Moreover, society, by humiliating Hester with the scarlet letter, destroyed her very sense of self, thus causing her to grow into a character filled with woe; the infectious remorse placed by society consumed Hester - eating away at her beauty and humanity. Over time, Hester’s face began to incorporate the “frozen calmness of a dead woman’s features,” and Hester seemed “actually dead” (155). Hester, similar to a dead body, was unable to return to the living; she lost everything that once made her a beautiful lady. The woman whom society once viewed with esteem no longer existed, and in her place was a ghoulish, empty shell of a human who could never return to its original form. Hester is comparable to the rose bush with its “delicate gems,” and “fragile beauty,” caged behind the prison door “studded with iron spikes” (33). Hester’s allure is restrained by the pernicious barbs of society’s harsh punishments, so that she herself is an object not of admiration, but of scorn. Shackled by the chains of an immoral

Wherever Hester is victimized with dirty looks or insults. from the other Puritans. They view the scarlet letter as her dark identity. Hawthorne describes it as, "but was red-hot with infernal fire, and could be seen glowing all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the nighttime" (Hawthorne 40). Hawthorn uses intense diction, "red-hot," "internal fire," and "glowing," to emphasize the influence the scarlet letter has regarding Hester's identity and reputation.

Her beautiful embroidery led her to her career and allowed her to make a living off of it to support herself and Pearl. These qualities of bravery and strength sets her apart, it showed her independence in a conformity society. No one told Hester to make the scarlet letter as beautiful as she did; through her scarlet letter, she showed creativity and gained admiration from her skills. She took the matter into her own hand and instead of trying to hide the letter, she embraced

The emotions of Hester also fail to obtain a true form during the course of the novel, and a warm, passionate, charming, and tender Hester is eventually molded into a cold, overly thoughtful, and plain woman. Examples of this in the text include "much of marble coldness of Hester's impression…from passion and feeling to thought" (141) and "Hester Prynne whose heart had lost a regular and healthy throb" (143). Both of these quotes provide clear citations to the apparent change in Hester, and are just more evidence of the pain that the scarlet letter has indirectly brought about.