Scarlet Letter: The American Dream

Hester Prynne had to live in isolation in order for her to be peaceful. Living in this way was hard she would not be able to see Dimmesdale, her love, and the father of her child. Throughout the years, Hester became more in touch with society. Society was starting to accept her more and this use gave her the push to change for the better. People still questioned who the father of Pearl was and when that day came it was a big relief.

From the start of the novel, Hester is portrayed in exile. She begins in the jail, and soon after is paraded through the streets to start her public exile with her child, Pearl. This first public shame caused Hester to feel “as if her hear had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon (Hawthorne 52).” The

The narrator covers the events of several years. After a few months, Hester is released from prison. Although she is free to leave Boston, she chooses not to do so. She settles in an abandoned cabin on a patch of infertile land at the edge of town. Hester remains alienated from everyone, including the town fathers, respected women, beggars, children, and even strangers. She serves as a walking example of a fallen woman, a cautionary tale for everyone to see. Although she is an outcast, Hester remains able to support herself due to her uncommon talent in needlework. Her taste for the beautiful infuses her embroidery, rendering her work fit to be worn by the governor despite its shameful source. Although the ornate detail of her artistry defies

To start the book, we find that a young woman has committed adultery and when standing in front of a mocking crowd, she is ashamed of her actions. Continuing through the book we find that the adulteress, Hester Prynne, displays many examples of positive outcomes arising from negative situations. She becomes more and more aware of the faults of society and becomes wiser as she deals with the consequences of her actions. Even though Hester made a terrible decision that came with many extremely negative effects, she gained personality traits, perceptions, and people that rose from her mistake.

One important symbol was the letter “A” that Hester Prynne was bearing which meant to represent expulsion and suffering; as the story goes on, she learned that it became a part of her unique identity instead.The

She states that when she was no older than the boys, that she herself had went to the circus. Hester was a loyal and faithful wife, but she knew that her boy’s needed some freedom from working all the time. She felt that since her boys had worked non-stop for quite a while; they should be rewarded for their hard work on the farm.

Upon the gallows, she is ordered to reveal the name of the father of her child yet she remains steadfast in her resolve to remain silent and create a life for herself and Pearl. This decision allows the reader to understand the tension that the puritan way of life created for all of the citizens. The novel begins with the story of the narrator and his role within his customs house duties two hundred years after Hester’s story ended. The narrator’s story is a direct reflection of Hester’s story and has many of the same symbolisms. Within the custom house the narrator is surrounded by men who are the embodiment of do as I say not as I do.

Hester committed a serious crime among the Puritan people, yet she still found a way to live through every single day with hope still shining in every movement even with her sin shining in her

A great deal of Hester’s suffering was caused by those around her, whether they meant it or not. An example of pain in the family is when

When Hester Prynne is first introduced to the story, she is described as “passionate”. Hawthorne first portrays Prynne in the book as passionate towards her baby, Pearl, and when the old puritans wanted to take Pearl away from Prynne in chapter 8 Hester “caught hold of Pearl, and drew her forcibly into her arms, confronting the old puritans magistrate with almost a fierce expression. Alone in the world, cast off by it, and with this sole treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt that she possessed

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

In June 1642, in the Puritan town of Boston, people surround Hester, a woman who is suspected of adultery. She is required to wear an A on her dress to make her feel terrible for what she has done. Hester is told to tell the name of the father of the child Hester has. When Hester looks over the crowd she notices a man, it was her long lost husband, believed to be lost at sea. At first the husband didn’t understand why she was being punished, so he asked someone, they told him about the adultery, so he furiously decides that the man should be punished along with her. After she returns to her prison cell, Roger Chillingworth, a physician, is brought in to calm Hester and her child; however, it is her long lost husband, but he changed his name.

This chapter continues at the scaffold when Hester notices a man that resembles her husband from England. Their eyes meet but he motions her to not let anyone in the crowd know that it is her husband. He then finds a man in the crowd and ask him about the woman and the baby. The man in the crowd explains that Hester is the wife of a well know Englishman who decided to immigrate to America. He first wanted to send his wife and said he would join her soon. He never came and then it was later revealed that Hester was pregnant. Hester’s husband asked the man in the crowd who the dad is but Hester will not say.

In this chapter, Hester Prynne, a young woman, emerges from a prison door while carrying a child. Prynne is to be condemned for committing adultery and for giving birth to an illegitimate child. As she makes her way to the platform, the women in the crowd makes criticizing comments about the elaborate letter “A” stitched onto her chest. Prynne then remembers her earlier life about her childhood and questions if her current situation is real.

            In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is illustrated as a woman who has committed adultery, which is considered a grave sin that is punishable by death in Puritan society. However, her pregnancy became a huge factor in her being acquitted of the charges. Instead, she was forced to go to jail where she would spend the duration of her pregnancy until her daughter was three months old. She was also forced to stand on the scaffold for hours holding her daughter Pearl. At this time, she had been questioned by Dimmesdale about the name of the father of her child, to which she had refused to say. Despite her continued silence, the leaders of the town still continuously badgered her to the father’s name.