The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

Repeatedly she stays silent to protect both those she loves and those she is indebted to. One instance of this is when she denies information about Dimmesdale, her lover, to her husband in order to protect him, saying “‘That thou shalt never know!’” (Hawthorne 69). This privilege of trust is not just exclusive to loved ones however, as she turns right around and offers the same deal to her husband, who asks her to “‘[b]reathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband!’” (Hawthorne 69-70). She complies, and no one ever finds out their prior relation. Hester is loyal to more than just the people around her, however. Hester is also loyal to her punishment and societal beliefs despite her lack of respect for the clergymen and their decisions. Hester has the option to escape her punishment, but chooses not to, rather displaying her embroidered ‘A’ to the public “... which was of a splendor in accordance the the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony” (Hawthorne 50). She views this mark of her sin as something to be proud of, decorating the letter like a trophy and taking a firm ownership of her sin. At the same time she also remains loyal to her ideals, refusing to believe she has done anything wrong. Hester “remains unwilling to separate herself from her sin by recognizing it as a sin,” and as a result maintains a strong “devotion to

The children In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter play a major role in the Puritan society. With their honest opinions of Hester and Pearl, the children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults. Due to their innocence, children are capable of expressing themselves without constraints; there are no laws or regulations that they are bounded by. As an adolescent go through the stages of life and grow older, they begin to be more conscious of the how they act as they are more aware of society and the things that are occurring in the world, creating a filter for their actions. When they remain as the children, on the other hand, are adventurous; they are still exploring the universe that seems to fill with mysteries that are bound to be solved. They tend to attach to the truth and they are not afraid to speak it freely. Children differ from adults in their potential for expressing these perceptions. With their obliviousness to the things that are actually going on around the town, children therefore react differently compared to the adults, who are more knowledgeable. Perceived to be immature, young children are presented as more perceptive and more honest than adults due to their innocence, how they are unaware of the reality and the crimes that are presented in society by the adults enables them to be blithe and not afraid of saying what they feel like. Due to their naivety, when they express what they perceive to be true, they do not get punished,

Hawthorne thinks that Hester should have revealed who the father was from the beginning of the story. Meanwhile she is still trying to adjust to the punishments she's been given. In order for Hester to be let off of the cruel punishment, they relied on her. By being able to share the punishment equally instead of just one individual. If she had revealed the father, Dimmesdale would have had to share the blame, or the community might have even understood since he is a person in power and the voice of the community. Instead, she was sentenced to an unfair punishment and had to give up her privileges as someone in the community. We are able to notice that throughout the story she is very loyal to those around her who she cares about. She puts those she is interested in first because it's a sign of respect. In all this, she never once put the blame on him or tried to force him to speak up. Hester wanted it to come out of his kind heart and the love he had for her. Although she was the only one to be there with Pearl and to be judged by many people she was still able to feel the love towards her child without question “In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and with a burning blush and yet haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at

Throughout the novel, it is clear that Hester has deep feelings for Dimmesdale. In the beginning of the novel, she refuses to name him as the father of her child, choosing to endure her punishment and alienation from society alone. She spends the next seven years yearning for him. Chapter five even states that Hester stayed in Boston because, “there dwelt, there trode the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth, would bring them together before the bar of final judgment, and make that their marriage-altar, for a join futurity of endless retribution,” (Hawthorne 77). This quote simply states that Hester, while refusing to admit it to herself, chose to stay in New England because Dimmesdale was

Dimmesdale doesn’t tell anyone that he’s Hester’s lover and when given the chance to admit his sin, he let it go so many times . There is a time Hester asks him for help when the old minister tries to take Pearl away from her, she says “Thou wast my pastor, and hadst charge of my soul, and knows me better than these men can. I will not lose my child! Speak for me! Thou knows,—for thou hast sympathies which these men lack!—thou knows what is in my heart, and what are a mother’s rights, and how much the stronger there are when that mother has but her child and the scarlet letter! Look thou to it! I will not lose the child! Look to it!” (105). At that time there’s an opportunity that he could tell everyone the truth and stand up for them, but he chooses to hide it instead to admit what he has done and allow everyone to learn from his imperfection. He is the worst sinner because he is a coward that he decides not to confess to everyone even though he has so many opportunities.

Reverend Dimmesdale is a character foil of Hester Prynne. Whereas she represents repented and forgiven sin he does not. Dimmesdale cannot forgive himself and tortures himself because of it. He does this by holding vigils and famines. This causes him to be weak and frail, whereas Hester is strong and thusly causing her to be the strength of Dimmsdale both mentally and physically. Together Hester and Dimmesdale plan to leave Boston to return to England, but Dimmesdale dies due to his constant torture.

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.

In nearly everything she does, as a young child, she finds immense pleasure. However, the forest is also a safe place. the unhappy culprit sustained herself as best a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes all fastened upon her, and concentrated on her bosom. Her existence came from what Puritanism deems “evil”. Hester demonstrates human naturalness by obeying her instinctual urges and having a relationship with Reverend Dimmesdale.

Conflict is first observed through Hester’s ongoing difficulties with her fellow townspeople. Hester receives ridicule from on looking townspeople, as a gossiping woman states, ‘ “At the very least, they

Hester and Dimmesdale sinned by having sex, Hester was married and Dimmesdale was a reverend. This act of impurity was turned to a positive with the birth of Pearl, their personal spiritual growth, and their maturity. On the contrary, the love that Daisy and Gatsby had before their separation was pure. They were in love for all the right reasons, and stayed in touch while Jay entered the army. However, Daisy then fell in love with money and the man who brought it, Tom. When Gatsby returned, he tried to make their love work again, but his efforts were made through deceit, and illegal activities. These attempts to win Daisy through a false persona and money made Daisy's love a possession, which could be won or even bought, and subsequently it became impure. These contradictions and paradox continue through the novel into the endings.

Dimmesdale’s love and agony towards Hester was shown in his physical and mental degeneration, furthermore, his love to Pearl, his daughter, was shown when he was trying to kiss her, but he always got her refusal, and this was the climax of his weakness and deterioration of character. yet, at the end of the novel, Dimmesdale’s health was in it’s worst stages, therefore he had nothing to lose, so he confronts his society and tells them about is adultery crime that he committed with Hester, and after he did that he gives up life, but as a matter of fact his death was not a sad one, for he was relieved from the pain in his heart and also got to kiss his daughter Pearl whom he never got to kiss, hence, at the end of the novel, the latter character musters courage and loses his weakness which was replaced with the powerful character that confronted without fear.

Hester Prynne’s ability to sustain her stability and strength of spirit is the express result of her public guilt and penance. She was Arthur Dimmesdale’s partner in adultery, but she is used by Hawthorne as a complete foil to his situation. Unlike Dimmesdale, Hester is both strong and honest. Walking out of prison at the beginning of the novel, she decides that she must “sustain and carry” her burden forward “by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink with it. She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief” (54). Hester openly acknowledges her sin to the public, and always wears her scarlet letter A. In the forest scene, she explains to Dimmesdale that she has been truthful in all things except in revealing his part in her pregnancy. “A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side” (133). Even Dimmesdale himself realizes that Hester’s situation is much healthier than his own when he states, “It must needs be better for the sufferer to be free to show his pain, as this poor woman Hester is, than to cover it all up in his heart” (92-93). This life of public shame and repentance, although bitter, lonely, and difficult, helps Hester retain her true identity while Dimmesdale seems to be losing his.

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester is the main character. Hester is referred to as “Mistress

Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale are the two main characters in the novel the scarlet letter. As parents to Pearl, the daughter out of adultery, these two go through the journey of shunning and hatred, but not together. Their stories are very different, and yet, so very similar.

For several years, Hester is prohibited from seeing her love in public. She can only meet with him privately. Even wanting to still see him represents true loyalty—after everything Hester has been through to protect Dimmsdale's secret is reason enough to be fed up with him (Swisher 53). Hester's loyalty to Dimmsdale continues until the end; she cradles him in his last dying moments on Earth. (Swisher 53) Hester keeps her loyalty to her husband, Roger Chillingworth, as well. He asks her not to reveal his identity in their first discussion of the novel, and she obliges. For many years, she keeps the secret while Chillingworth does dreadful things to Dimmsdale. Dimmsdale's deteriorating health is part due to the awful arts Chillingworth performs on his so-called “patient.” (Swisher 53) In chapter fifteen, Hester goes to confront Chillingworth about the situation. Hester argues and argues but Chillingworth