The Scarlet Letter – Hester as Community Role Model
“Woman, it is thy badge of shame!" (107). Governor Bellingham was describing the scarlet letter to Hester while they were discussing if the punishments that Hester had to go through were adequate enough for the crime. Hester was living in the outskirts of the city in a small abandoned cottage for several years with the only thing that had any monetary value in her life, her child and the product of committing adultery, Pearl. She and her little Pearl were shunned from the community for her acts. In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is punished in more than one way, and she is able to deal with it openly so the community will, over time, forgive her.
The most obvious subject of punishment that Hester had to cope with is wearing the scarlet letter. "By the point which drew all eyes and, as it were, transfigured the wearer. . . was the scarlet letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom" (51-52). Hester wrought the scarlet letter before she stood on the scaffold. When Pearl asks her why she wears the letter she replies that she wears it for its gold thread. Hester wears the letter for many years, even after the people in the community care anymore, so that she will be fully forgiven for her sin.
In the beginning of the story, Hester is faced with serving the temporary part of her sentence, standing on the scaffold in front of the whole town. "It was a circumstance to be noted, on the summer morning when our story begins its course, that the women of whom there were several in the crowd, appeared to take a peculiar interest in whatever penal infliction might be expected to ensue" (48). The citizens of the town had gathered to criticize Hester as she stood on the scaffold, and many of the town’s women were discussing the simplicity of Hester’s sentence, since the usual punishment for committing adultery is the death penalty. Although she had to put up with the remarks about her for three hours while she was standing on the scaffold, the ridicule followed for many years to come. Hester and her daughter were thought upon as sinners long after Hester had served her sentence.
People all over the world continuously commit sins some are bigger than others and some do more damage. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a woman, Hester Prynne, is publicly shamed and force to wear a scarlet A upon her bosom for committing adultery. Throughout the book, Hester and her daughter, Pearl, try to adapt to life as an outsider. The two are continuously judged for Hester’s sin, and humiliated, however, they overcome this judgment and are seen in a different way. Hester and Pearl have been publicly shamed, Pearl has been considered an elfish devil like child, and after all the humiliation they were able to turn their lives around.
Founded by the court in 1920, in the case of, Anderson v. So. Southern Cotton Oil Co., 74 So. 975, (Fla. 1920). FDID imposes vicarious liability upon the owners of vehicles who permits another to use their vehicle. The FDID is unique to Florida, and it has interpreted court decisions for nearly a century.
Gamliel,E., (2012). To end life or not to prolong life: The effect of message framing on attitudes toward euthanasia. Journal of Health Psychology 18(5) 693–703.
Holden, Philip. "Aristotle on Plot". 26 Nov. 2000. University Scholars Programme. 1 Aug. 2001 http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/literature/ccla01/aristotleplot.html>.
It's something that has been said since forever by well meaning parents and high school counselors and in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author reiterates this bit of advice to the characters as well as the readers: "Be true!" When viewed from the surface, almost none of the characters followed the simple suggestion offered by Hawthorne, or the entire conflict of the novel could have been averted. Chillingworth the revenge monger was unwilling to reveal even his real name and intent, and Dimmesdale the sentimental and trusted pastor, was unable to reveal his dark secret. That leaves Hester. In the beginning she was not only forced to be true to herself and the whole town, but to emotionally and mentally evolve. She had found her identity in the novel the day she stood on that scaffold. If given a choice, Hester would have rather worn the mark of shame than not, because the letter had transformed her into who she is. The blood red letter may not be pretty, but it is immensely better than living a lie. By digging a little deeper into the novel, it's plain that Hester is the only one true in the entire book, both to her self and society. Hester and Hester alone had the courage to do what was right by showing who she really was. She let the events of the novel shape her like a ball of clay into the person she would become, instead of controlling events or resisting change. Although many may say she didn't learn her lesson by wanting to run off with Dimmesdale, she had in fact learned her lesson thoroughly and by admitting her love she didn't make the same mistake a second time.
with. Having a heart blinded by love Hester choose to stay in the town and
Hester Prynne’s sin was adultery. This sin was regarded very seriously by the Puritans, and was often punished by death. Hester’s punishment was to endure a public shaming on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter "A" on her chest for the rest of her life in the town. Although Hawthorne does not pardon Hester’s sin, he considers it less serious than those of Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hester’s sin was a sin of passion. This sin was openly acknowledged as she wore the "A" on her chest. Hester did not commit the greatest sin of the novel. She did not deliberately mean to commit her sin or mean to hurt others.
“Man is not truly one, but two.” (Chapter 10 page 125) Stevenson tells his prospective to the world through Jekyll. In his everyday life he saw a continuous struggle. He saw two natures fighting for control, and the winning nature determining his or her place in the dichotomous Victorian society. In the Victorian London society you were either the virtuous upper class that did no wrong or you were the scum of the earth. Jekyll did not only show his prospective, but many of the upper class in this particular society. Jekyll wanted keep the success and reputation that he had, but he also wanted to be able to enjoy his pleasures without being criticized by society. He felt as though society restricted him, and he hungered for freedom. He wanted...
Jekyll says, “With every day, and from both sides of my intelligence, the moral and the intellectual, I thus drew steadily nearer to that truth, by whose partial discovery I have been doomed to such a dreadful shipwreck: that man is not truly one, but truly two” (Stevenson 83). Jekyll believes he will get pleasure from both alters without any backlash; however, Hyde soon becomes more powerful than his ‘good’ alter and ultimately leads Dr. Jekyll to his doom (Singh). Stevenson creates in Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, to coexistent to make up a “normal” individual (Singh). Seeing things as Jekyll did, “Humans are half-good, half-evil” Stevenson separated the two, making one pure good (Jekyll) and one pure evil, as Jekyll says, “Edward Hyde, alone in the ranks of mankind, was pure evil” (Stevenson 88). After all, good and evil are independent objects, people; they possess distinctive psychological characteristics and consistently fight with each
When one analyzes the punishment inflicted upon her, it may seem harsh and cruel, especially for a Puritan society. It seems that Hawthorne agrees with this as well. Throughout the novel, it seems apparent that Hawthorne feels that the punishment Hester received was harsh and self-degrading. When one commits a sin, they should understand their mistake, receive their blame, and receive a "slap on the wrist." However, the punishment Hester received was far worse emotionally. Wearing the letter made Hester the talk-about of the town. When she walked through the marketplace, she received scornful looks, as if society was rejecting her for her wrongdoing. Hester was now living on the outskirts of town, isolated from neighbors and trying to communicate with her daughter Pearl.
Stevenson explains to the reader that humans have lots of different sides to each other and not just one. The final chapter of the novel, ‘Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement Of The Case’ explores the ways in which the author presents Victorian attitudes to the nature of humans. He also explains how duplicitous humans are, which means how people often have two separate approaches to their life. The duality of man means the two sides of the person’s mind and is most apparent in, as the title suggests, the characters ‘Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde’. The separation of Jekyll into two beings, Jekyll and Hyde, is an analogy for humankind’s conflicting forces of good and evil. These characters bring to life the inner struggle between the two powers of the soul. Dr. Jekyll asserts that ‘man is not truly one, but truly two,’ within the book to illustrate the theme of the novel and to help describe Mr. Hyde to more rational people such as Mr. Utterson.
Stevenson’s most prominent character in the story is the mysterious Mr Hyde. Edward Hyde is introduced from the very first chapter when he tramples a young girl in the street, which brings the reader’s attention straight to his character. The reader will instantly know that this person is a very important part of this book and that he plays a key role in the story. This role is the one of a respectable old man named Dr Jekyll’s evil side or a ‘doppelganger’. This links in with the idea of duality. Dr Jekyll is described as being ‘handsome’, ‘well-made’ and ‘smooth-faced’. On the other hand, Mr Hyde is described as being ‘hardly human’, ‘pale and dwarfish’, giving of an impression of deformity and ‘so ugly that it brought out the sweat on (Mr Enfield) like running’! These words all go together to conjure up an image in the mind of an animal, beast or monster. During the novel...
Hester Prynne committed a crime so severe that it changed her life into coils of torment and defeat. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is publicly recognized as an adulteress and expelled from society. Alongside the theme of isolation, the scarlet letter, or symbol of sin, is meant to shame Hester but instead transforms her from a woman of ordinary living into a stronger person.
Hester’s role in the story is described as sleeping with a priest and got accused of committing adultery and got punished by having to wear a scarlet letter “A” on the breast of her gown (Hawthorne 71). Hester Prynne’s punishment is to go to prison and then with her child, Pearl, go and stand out on the platform in front of everybody wearing her scarlet letter on the breast of her gown (Howells). Hester...
... he is warned by Hyde that if he decided to witness the transformation, it could produce disastrous effects. Hyde tells Lanyon “if you shall so prefer to choose a new province of knowledge and new avenues to fame… your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan.“ (119). Yet Dr. Lanyon, in submission to the evil and imprudent side of his dual nature, decides to watch.