Summary Of The Scarlet Letter By Hester Prynne

Hester Prynne of Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter defies the Puritan belief system through her rebellion and compassion. Hester defies the Puritan belief system through her rebellion. Hester Prynne, while in Boston waiting for her husband to come from Amsterdam, commits the crime of adultery and gives birth to a child, causing her to be punished. Hawthorne describes her crime in dialogue between Hester’s husband, who has just arrived in Boston and is unaware of Hester’s circumstances, and a towns member who infers as to what she has done and how much of an uproar it has caused, during her public punishment, in the government forces her to stand on a scaffold for three hours and condemned to wear an A on her chest

This ridicule has a trickle down effect on Hester as she too is banished from her own community for committing adultery. The comparison between Hester and Hawthorne defines the external struggle for the reader to fully understand the effect of opinions from society on them Although reluctant to allow Hester to leave prison, the members of the town suggest that her punishment be to wear a scarlet red letter A on her bosom, thereby allowing all to know of her crime. The scarlet letter “ was red-hot with infernal fire, ” (Hawthorne 81) and defined the state she was currently in, that being eternal hell. Though she was forced to marry an older man at a young age, her rebellion to have an affair is not seen as an internal struggle that she overcame; rather, it is merely seen as a woman who sinned, a woman who shall therefore endure the punishment for the sin, rather than a woman who was never given a say in what she wanted with her life. Time and again, Hester Prynne is seen defying society by allowing herself to stand out from societal norm just as the roses “with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner“ (Hawthorne) did. Instead, she returns to the community and is observed aiding those in need, all with seven year old Pearl by her side.

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

“Here was the iron link of mutual crime, which neither he nor she could break.”

Throughout history, mental illness has been labeled as a defining deformity, that harnesses in its “victims,” into a box, parallel to the familiar “mime in a box” image. In a world where we glorify “normality,” a lack of illness, which by all means is a gift, the beauty of one mind takes away from the beauty of an outlier, even though, ironically people may not even recognize their differences. Hester, at a glance suffers from a literal scarlet letter, but an imprint on her brain may exist as well. Irrational actions, sudden emotional episodes, and destructive thoughts can only prevail for so long following sin; Hester’s persona has branches of self-defeating personality disorder, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder. No one of her time, however, will bring the issue to light, Hester will be left known as the mistress, a witch, or “A,” rather than to explore her “complicated” condition. As decades pass, Hester’s state will remain, as the “A,” the mark of the stigma on mental illness today. When left neglected, society rejects the possibility that under a visible coating, mental deformities may lie; those who are divergent, who require affection more, are made subordinate, marginalized with no quest for a cure.

The Puritan townspeople of Boston, Massachusetts, punish a woman for committing an ignominious act with an unexpected man. Hester stands alone on the scaffold as townspeople scowl and judge, wondering who her lover is. The innocent town seamstress is a sinner in the eyes of the pure citizens. As Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Scarlet Letter continues, the residents notice Hester’s abilities when caring for her daughter. She also regains respect as the bearer of the scarlet letter, the emblem she wears that “takes her out of the ordinary relationships with humanity and encloses her in a sphere by herself” (Hawthorne 51). Mistress Hester Prynne is an example taught to others because of her hardships faced without her true love. Hester transforms

Consequently, she must be punished by having an embroidered (‘ ‘) “A”, which stands for adultery, worn upon her chest for the rest of her life. As a result, her consequence forces her to overcome her past, even though there are many problems and distractions between her husband and the father of her child. Hester grows from her mistake into a better person. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how Hester Prynne

Actions played out in front of society, whether they are good or bad, receive commentary. People can get hurt or suffer from societal scrutiny, which can alter a person’s life. Hester Prynne, the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, undergoes a traumatic transformation in society after being accused of adultery, which is highly denounced in the Puritan community. Similarly, Kim Kardashian-West received public scrutiny after the accidental release of her sex tape in 2007. Both women, scorned for their momentary lapse of judgement and indiscretion, spend their time dealing with the guilt and try to make up for their mistakes for themselves and their families.

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 Prynne was shunned and labeled by society due to the fact she had an illegitimate child while her husband was allegedly lost at sea. She endures seven years of punishment and suffers through extreme physical change because of it. Her punishment was to wear a red scarlet letter on her chest to publically humiliate her and inform everyone of her “Adultery”, people began to accept her as she was, even in her lesser form, and the meaning of the letter began to change to a more positive symbol. By the end of the novel Hester regained her beauty after removing the scarlet letter once and for all. The physical, mental, and spiritual development of Hester Prynne in the novel

Imagine yourself on display in front of your whole town, being punished for cheating on your husband or wife. Today adultery is looked down on, but in reality nobody makes a huge deal out of it. Sin can affect a person in many ways, but whether it’s good or bad only time can tell. In the old days, religion and law were looked at as one, and Hester Prynne just so happened to sin, which in turn caused her to break the law. In the novel, Hester displays that how a person deals with sin has a lasting impact on the people around her, and most importantly those that are the closest to her.

Seldomly in society, a person may be loathed for a number of reasons, but may also be needed for the society to function. This is evident in the novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, a young Puritan woman of Boston, Massachusetts during the middle of the 17th century becomes overwhelmed in a serious predicament and is challenged by the entire society of the city of Boston. Hester is shunned from the community due to her adulterous actions, one of the worst of sins among Puritan life. As a result of Hester’s decision, she was burdened with the gift of a beautiful daughter, Pearl. Although Pearl is loved tremendously by Hester she also functions as a constant reminded to Hester’s heinous actions, as well as a reminder

This ridicule has a trickle down effect on Hester as she too is banished from her own community for committing adultery. The comparison between Hester and Hawthorne defines the external struggle for the reader to fully understand the effect of opinions from society on them Although reluctant to allow Hester to leave prison, the members of the town suggest that her punishment is to wear a scarlet red letter A on her bosom, thereby allowing all to know of her crime. The scarlet letter “ was red-hot with infernal fire, ” (Hawthorne 81) and defined the state she was currently in, that being eternal hell. Though she was forced to marry an older man at a young age, her rebellion to have an affair is not seen as an internal struggle that she overcame; rather, it is merely seen as a woman who sinned, a woman who shall therefore endure the punishment for the sin, rather than a woman who was never given a say in what she wanted with her life. Time and again, Hester Prynne is seen defying society by allowing herself to stand out from societal norm just as the roses “with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner“ (Hawthorne) did. Instead, she returns to the community and is observed aiding those in need, all with seven year old Pearl by her side.

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.

The scarlet letter would be considered a feminist book because of the strength that Hester showed while all of society rejected her, and her daughter pearl. In the scarlet letter there is a women who is introduced to us known as Hester Prynne. In the story it tells us the life of Hester and her struggle living in a society that has alienated her because she has committed adultery. The scarlet letter is a feminist novel because of the strength that Hester has as a women throughout the book. In the scarlet letter we see that the letter “A” on Hester breast that represents adultery changes to able because of her strength and determination to keep silent with the man she has committed this sin with.