Scarlet Letter Transformation

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

The scarlet letter, the judgement from the public, and the seclusion all combined to take away something from Hester that she may never get back. Seven years after she is forced to withstand public humiliation for many hours, a sad transformation overcomes Hester. Hester’s emotional transformation is so drastic that it makes her less of a woman. The seclusion that Hester has been living in for the past seven years has resulted in her losing her ability to love, the emotion that makes you the most woman. “It was due in part to all these causes, but still more to something else, that there seemed to be no longer any thing in Hester’s face for Love to dwell upon; nothing in Hester’s form, though majestic and statue like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace; nothing in Hester’s bosom, to make it ever again the pillow of Affection” (Hawthorne, 1994, pp. 112). However, it is apparent that this needed to happen to Hester in order for her to survive what had happened to her. “Some attribute had departed from her, the permanence of which had been essential to keep her a woman. Such is frequently the fate, and such the stern development, of the feminine character and person, when the woman has encountered, and lived through, an experience of peculiar severity. If she be all tenderness, she will die. If she survive, the tenderness will either be crushed out of her, or… crushed so deeply into her heart that it can never show itself more.” (Hawthorne, 1994, pp. 112). The reader watches Hester slowly become less and less of herself, making this transformation exceedingly difficult to

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne presents the reader with the harsh, life changing conflicts of three Puritan characters during the 17th century. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Robert Chillingworth must endure their different, yet surprisingly similar struggles as the novel progresses. Despite their similarities, Hawthorne shows these individuals deal with their conflicts differently, and in the end, only one prevails. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s intricately critical diction helps determine his didactic tone; during the course of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne reveals that happiness can be harnessed through one’s perseverance.

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.

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.

Pearl, Hester’s child out of wedlock, then emphasizes on the idea of darkness following Hester when she declares to Hester, “the sunshine does not love you. It turns away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Hawthorne 167). The letter on Hester’s bosom not only repel the townspeople, it drives off the sunshine and light that used to follow her wherever she went. She is considered as a social outcast among her peers and even the children of the community. However, still in the forest, when Hester rips the Scarlet Letter from her chest and throws it into the nearby brook, “all at once, as with a sudden smile of heaven, forth burst the sunshine, pouring a very flood into the obscure forest, gladdening each green leaf, transmuting the yellow fallen ones to gold, and gleaming adown the gray trunks of the solemn trees” (Hawthorne 186). Once the letter is no longer attached to Hester, she is set free from her guilt and grief that she has endured for so many years. She is no longer controlled by the “iron-framework” (Hawthorne 111) of the puritan society and is able to be with Dimmesdale, her true lover, without the guilt that was brought upon her by the Scarlet Letter.

Anne Hutchinson, a Puritan settler, gets exiled from the Puritan Settlement because of her actions. Similarly, Hester Prynne’s sinful action results in her confinement in prison, away from the town people. In the 1850’s, Nathaniel Hawthorne publishes The Scarlet Letter. Set in a Puritanical Society, The Scarlet Letter tells the story of how one simple act of passion upsets the very basic thread of society. In the novel, Hester Prynne personally transcends the judgments of society through her discoveries in nature, while she lives a simplistic life and becomes more self-reliant.

“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

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne was a young, beautiful and buxom woman who got shunned out and alienated from the society for committing adultery. Hester was humiliated and insulted from everyone in her community. With its consequences, Hester used her strength and ability to get through all the disgrace and pain the scarlet letter supposed to cause. Hester Prynne seeks for companionship and sympathy but nothing avail at first. She started charity work hoping to find forgiveness and sympathy.

Years of carrying this guilt take a physical toll on Dimmesdale as “[h]is form grew emaciated; his voice, though still rich and sweet, had a melancholy prophecy of decay in it” (106). Just as Hester’s acceptance and repentance for her sin creates a halo around her, Dimmesdale’s repression of his sin causes his body to slowly die. As time progresses Dimmesdale continues to punish himself in private, but he reaches a point where he cannot bear to keep his crime a secret. In his sermons, the reverend begins to lament how he is a sinner, more sinful than all of his followers even, but, ironically, confessing his misconduct only makes the Puritans love him more. They believe that Dimmesdale is completely pure and that he only claims to be a miscreant to comfort his earthly followers.

“She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off sunshine with a gleam. Her face was beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion” he writes, in contrast to the townspeople, which he describes as “dark, and gloomy”. It is evident that the scarlet letter on Hester’s chest determines how she is treated during those years and here, he creates a sympathy with the readers for Hester, and Pearl, and their lives onward. Though Hester still remains in the town, even when given the opportunity to leave if wanted, she remains strong for Pearl and their overall welfare. The townspeople still avoid her and don’t talk to her due to the letter on her chest.

When addressing his lover, Hester, at her public trial, he implores her passionately to reveal the identity of her lover, well knowing that it is himself. “Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him…through he were to step down from a high place” (63). While Hawthorne has the minister committing a sin in and of itself by requesting Hester to reveal the identity of the lover, the minister is also forcing Hester to commit another sin because of her knowledge—lying. The knowledge between the lovers results in undeniable sin for the both of them. Yet, Dimmesdale’s sin with Hester gives him insight into how to connect with his congregation. As the narrator states, “this very burden it was that gave him sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrated in unison with theirs.” (129). Hawthorne utilizes the paradox of a sinful minister to highlight Dimmesdale’s inner sin. Yet, Dimmesdale becomes a better preacher and arguably a better person through his fall into sin. He can relate to the masses, instead of being held up on his own pedestal. As such, Dimmesdale’s sin brings him knowledge.

In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester has committed a very terrible sin. As readers read this story, they get to experience the life that Hester is living. Readers also get to encounter how she feels about herself. She went from being a gorgeous woman, to an outcast in the matter of one decision. Nathaniel Hawthorne typically writes very descriptively. This descriptive writing helps readers focus on the different tones that are occurring during each chapter. Every chapter, Hawthorne is describing the setting or the way Hester looks. Since Hester is living a life full of stares, she is trying to change that by hiding behind ordinary values.

Hawthorne is highly descriptive of both her mental and physical state, which are equally corrupted (save for her ever-present beauty). Her excessively harsh punishment mandates she wear a mark of her shame upon her chest: a scarlet letter “A.” To Hester, this simple symbol is a powerful reminder of her past and constantly impedes her sense of morality and self-confidence. Essentially, she is unable to cope with her past until she either sheds her mark of shame or matures to the point of accepting her transgressions. Until then, however, Hester buys into the precept of her punishment and isolates herself from the rest of society. All the while, she restricts herself to the confines of the absolute bottom of the town’s social hierarchy.

The Scarlet Letter, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorn takes place in Boston of 1640 of Puritan community. It shows a dark, gray, violently moral society found as a kind of Puritan Utopia. The main characters in the story are Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. This novel illustrates the effects of sin on the heart and minds, how a person's downfall may be caused by the destructive human emotions of hidden guilt and revenge. In The Scarlet Letter, hidden sin destroys Dimmesdale, obsession of revenge causes downfall of Chillingworth, and exposed guilt and sin turns Hester into stronger woman than she was before.