The Scarlet Letter: A Comparison Of Prynne And Jesus Christ

In a surface examination of the work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, it is quickly evident that no good things come from the wilderness. Therein, the wilderness is often associated with the savages and the devil. In his work The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne finds herself exiled by society for having an adulterous affair with the town reverend which brought forth the child known as Pearl. Pearl is quickly established as the child of the wilderness: wild, capricious, and thought by the town to be a demon-child. She represents several entities in the novel just by her being, but when her morality is delved into, much more of the nature of the story can be revealed. Pearl’s role is often overlooked as a formative force in the novel. Some scholars have gone as far as to denounce her as unnecessary to the story’s makeup. Upon close examination, it can be determined that Pearl is indeed a necessary element. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Pearl presents themes of morality, both personal and cultural, as well as the divide between society and nature, through her interactions with Hester, Reverend Dimmesdale, and the scarlet letter itself.

Nathaniel Hawthorne portrays the ideology of Puritan society in the novel the Scarlet Letter; however reader also get to witness his characters being an illustration of hypocrisy and victims to their own guilt. In the Scarlet Letter, as in many of Hawthorne’s shorter works, he makes profuse use of the Puritan past: its odd exclusionary belief, its harsh code of ruling, its concern with sex and witchcraft. The Scarlet Letter is a story that is embellished but yet simple. Many readers may view this novel as a soap opera due to the way Hawthorne conveys this Puritan society’s sense of strictness and inability to express true emotion along with the secrecy and how deceiving the characters are being. As the story unfolds the main character Hester Prynne is bounded in marriage at an early age. She engages in an adulterous affair with an unknown member of their small village. Hester soon becomes pregnant and with her husband’s absence the chances of this child belonging to her husband are slim. The towns’ people know that she has committed a sin and imprisons her for her crime.

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

Hester Prynne, the main character of the book "The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, commits adultery, is considered a hussy, and has a child as the result of her sin. She cheats on her husband while he is absent from town and receives a harsh punishment for her behavior already. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet letter “A” on her bosom for the rest of her life. It is now on debate on whether or not Pearl should be taken away from her mother’s guidance. This is due to the fact that she is a sinner and might not be a qualified mother for her child.It is true, that no matter what you did in the past, a child is a blessing and parents change due to the love they have for their children. Therefore, Hester

““There was witchcraft in little Pearl’s eyes, and her face, as she glanced upward at the minister, wore that naughty smile which made its expression frequently so elvish.” (Hawthorne 145) This, is a misleading description that Nathaniel Hawthorne depicts of Pearl, the daughter of Hester Prynne, in his classic novel The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is the living product of sin for her mother. Born out of wedlock, Pearl is a unique child that tends to be very moody and unpredictable. However, Pearl, at such a young age, demonstrates outstanding knowledge and exhibits curiosity to her mother’s scarlet letter, and the hypocrisy of Puritan society. Although Pearl portrays devilish characteristics and performs mischievous behaviour, she

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne relays the theme of guilt using symbolism that is portrayed in the scarlet letter itself and in the main character’s daughter. The story follows the protagonist, Hester Prynne, who commits adultery with the town minister, Arthur Dimmesdale, producing the child she raises on her own named Pearl. Guilt is a common theme for the duration of the novel which covers all aspects of the shame each character feels. These particular dimensions of shame come specifically from different objects in the novel and what they represent.

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.

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.

1. Hester Prynne is portrayed as a Christ figure in The Scarlet Letter. She displays self-sacrifice, saintlike features, and exemplifies some biblical teachings throughout the book. The first, which is self-sacrifice, is shown when Hester is standing on the scaffold in front of the whole town and will not uncover the other participant in the adultery. Reverend Wilson questions her of this man that helped commit this crime, “Speak out thy name! That, and thy repentance, may avail to take the scarlet letter off thy breast” (60), with the attempt to bribe her by promising the possible removal of the scarlet A. She refuses to sell out her secret lover with the responses “Never” and “I will not speak!” (60) but the young clergyman keeps questioning Hester. She is willing to take the fall for the both of them and stand up there with the humiliation of their actions. “It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (60). This reinforces her firmness in protecting Dimmesdale and from completely razing his name as a minister by telling the public. She is willing to endure the ignominy from the public without exposing him, which is an example of self-sacrifice. With saying that, Hester is like Jesus Christ because he was crucified for our sins as a form of self-sacrifice so we could have eternal life and go to Heaven. Hester's actions for Dimmesdale caused her much more agony and humiliation by the public because of the

Hawthorne juxtaposes the incredible grace and poise of Hester with the grotesque words and figures of the established Puritan women. When she is heading up to the scaffold, Hester is described as, “lady-like, too, after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days, characterized by a certain state and dignity” (Hawthorne 46). The idea of Hester being “lady-like” and having “gentility”, which are very positive qualities to have for a woman, especially in Puritan times, is used as a foil to the malicious treatment Hester receives. These positive traits also show the beauty and desirability of

The man asks a fellow member of the community “Who is this woman? - and wherefore is she here set up to public shame” (Hawthorne 55)? He responds to him and says this woman has committed the worst sin in the Puritan belief and she will be publicly shamed until she has a letter A carved upon her tombstone. This man is shocked by how the townspeople treat sin and their punishment for the sinners. The scarlet letter causes many problems for Hester as the readers see throughout the chapters. “I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this” (Hawthorne 99)!

The mesmerizing novel The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, denounces the story of a young woman, named Hester Prynne, who was sentenced to a solitary life from her adulterous actions of the sin of passion. Although Hester was completely isolated from society, she was accompanied by Pearl, her daughter. Pearl being named for being created through the impurity of adultery while not taking away from her worth and value, symbolizes the scarlet “A” embroidered with gold that was indelibly placed over Hester’s bosom to signify to the public of her misconduct. The scarlet letter is embodied through Pearl’s character by her extensive and wild passion that represents her parents’ adulterous passions towards each other. She is the product of the scarlet letter and the scarlet letter is Pearl.

In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl Prynne embraces characteristics influenced by her adulterous mother, Hester. In the Puritan belief system, they enforced strict rules and commended harsh punishments. Pearl’s qualities are sparked by her mother’s reputation in the town due to her forbidden love affair. Pearl Prynne has encompassed the traits of being an outcast, causing mischief and rebellion while expressing curiosity and intelligence.

The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, deals with adultery, sin, and morals. Hester's daughter, Pearl, is a symbol of innocence, sin, and a the scarlet letter.

Through out the course of history, those who were considered sinners were often out casted from the society. This is much the case with Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After a public trial, Hester is considered a sinner due to her birthing of a so called “devil child”. Hester is convicted to the life long bearing of a scarlet letter on her chest. The Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears symbolizes the change in perception of sin through out the novel. Due to the revelations of the governor Winthrop and the reverend Dimmesdale, the way sin is perceived changes from one of shame to the idea that every one is a sinner in their own right.