The Scarlet Letter: The Book vs. the Movie Essay

In The Scarlet Letter, Hester is forced to act a certain way because of her mistake. Hester is described as being a different type of person than the one she presents herself as:

For the purpose of this assignment, I watched the 1995 version of The Scarlet Letter movie. This was a previous novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The movie tells the story Hester Prynne, a woman who was harassed and antagonized for conceiving a baby through an affair and the struggles she phased living in this new town. The movie was centered around a time where the early Puritans who first came to America founded a colony in Plymouth, Massachusetts during the 17th century. While half of the colonists died that first year, the other half survived and began to make settlement. Over the years, these first settlers were followed by a wave of more Puritans that would arrive every summer by ship. Some settled in an area near present-day Boston

At first Hester, agrees to Chillingworth’s terms to keep his real identity a secret. This in return hurt Dimmesdale, her secret lover. She does not stand up to Chillingworth out of fear of the chain effect of damage it would cause. Hester says, “I will keep thy secret, as I have his”, which in essence shows her weakness towards a male. Yet, at the end of the book, she recognizes that she must “do what might be in her power for the rescue of the victim on whom [Chillingworth] had so evidently set his gripe”. She comes to the conclusion that hiding Chillingworth’s secret does not help Dimmesdale like she hopes, but in fact, hurts him further. The fact that she realizes this, though, displays her to be an devoted and loyal person. These qualities display many things a female, main character, in those times, did not have much opportunity to play, especially in the role of which Hester plays it.

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

The Scarlet letter shows hester as a humble person. She had to suffer a lot in the beginning. I tried to convey this with her distaste of the town shaming her. I also made sure to highlight her persistence to protect herself and her child. That’s the one thing Hester always did, protect Pearl. I decided

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.

Together with the transformation of Hester, the scarlet letter once again symbolizes her identity as pure as an angel. Though she committed adultery and had to suffer a lot from this sin, her soul still remains in an original shape of purity. And the red color of letter A on her bosom, which once was the call of scorn, hate and bitterness towards Hester, now attracted people's warmth, admiration and love as if it were a red burning color deep inside her heart. Hester deserves the highest recognition that the scarlet letter has done for her: a woman with a pure heart and soul of an angel.

The letter A changes its significance throughout the novel as in the start as a mark of sin, shame and punishment ,as this symbol is responsible for separating her from the society thus leading to isolation. Thus Giving the letter A a new dimension of ‘Alone’ or isolation that leads to self realization and awakening of conscience as she is separated from society and this isolation and feeling of aloneness gives her time and space for redemption. Hawthorne is more interested in the consequences of sin as he says in The Scarlet Letter: “Lonely as was Hester’s situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she, however, incurred no risk of want” ( 65). The Scarlet Letter is not a novel lingering on sin but the afterwards

She feels isolated from the world and the lack of interactions with people eventually starts to take a toll on Hester as she begins to develop mental issues. Hawthorne writes “In all her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished” (97) Hester feels left out from the world and the isolation, as it would do to anyone, causes her to doubt herself. She is left alone to only her own thoughts which at times become very dark. Hester is overwhelmed with Pearl and is unable to find any consolation from the outside

At the same time, she becomes a compassionate figure. For example, she cares for the poor by bringing them food and clothing. By the end of the novel, Hester really is seen as an example, but not the type of example the Puritan leaders wanted her to be seen as. By “[wandering] without rule or guidance,” she becomes a profeminists figure to the women of the community. The shame associated to her scarlet letter is nonexistent; instead, it represents a whole new meaning:

Most women relied on a man in their lives to do the important work, while they stuck to simple tasks and jobs. Hester didn’t rely on anybody but herself, living alone away from her village. She completed the tasks women were expected to complete, plus additional ones to be able to be successful on her own. She did all of this herself, including raising her daughter, Pearl. The magistrates themselves saw this as odd, and threatened Hester’s guardianship over Pearl, to which she argued that “God gave her into” her keeping, and that she wouldn’t give the girl up (Hawthorne 189). She continued to argue in order to keep Pearl, showing her strength and ambition as a woman. Hester’s needlework also showed how she worked with being outcast as an adulteress. She decorated “The letter A, in scarlet, fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom” (Hawthorne 100) elaborately and beautifully, earning comments from many local women, many admiring her sewing. She made the punishment look pretty, almost as if it were an accessory you’d wear around. Hester wanted to be proud, “little will she care what they put upon the bodice of her gown!” (Hawthorne 87). By stepping out of these guidelines to become an independent woman, Hester defied the Puritanical way of life, her becoming a feminist

Hester's true beautiful self been shown to the world again after being locked away because of the scarlet letter. “Her sex, her youth and the richness

For her punishment of committing adultery, Hester first had to stand on the scaffold and face public humiliation. She also had to wear the scarlet letter “A” for the rest of her life. Most women would have begged for mercy but Hester faced her punishment with bravery and courage. She stood on the scaffold with pride. Hester did not hesitate to help others even when she was wearing the letter because that did not define the person that she really was. Hester is a feminist in every way, because she did not give in to the humiliations she faced, but actually ended up overcoming

Hester defies the typical female gender roles. She does this in a multitude of ways. For instance, women are generally portrayed as the weaker gender. Hester defies this by essentially embracing the scarlet letter she is forced to wear upon her chest. The scarlet letter was

Hester develops by changing from an outspoken woman to a lady that speaks up for herself when things go wrong. Hester was outspoken because in the beginning, everybody walked all over her and shunned her for the act that she committed. Hester also had the most beautiful face, hair, and complexion, but unfortunately it had been hidden underneath a cap and of course the Scarlet Letter. She is a strong woman on the inside and it takes a lot of pushing and prodding for her to realize her self-worth. Her inner strength, defiance of convention, honesty, and compassion may have been in her character since the beginning, but the scarlet letter brings them to the reader’s attention.