Characterization Of Hester Prynne

The Scarlet Letter In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorn makes a commentary on the hypocrisy in the Puritan life style through his portrayal of his characters Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s adored Puritan priest, and Hester Prynne, the ostracized sinner. Throughout the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorn depicts traits that contradict the Puritan’s ideas of how a defiled sinner and a proper Puritan priest should behave by the social conventions of their time. The author does this by illustrating Dimmesdale, who is supposed to be a righteous and holy person, as a sinful and cowardly man. Dimmesdale is also show to be a naive individual who is oblivious to the ever present danger that surrounds him. He is a complete contradiction to commonly held image of the honorable and holy priest. And the character who is portrayed as a righteous and selfless helper is the adulteress Hester Prynne, the woman whom the Puritan people detest for her sin. Hester is also shown to be a confident and strong character, a

Compared to Arthur Dimmesdale, who’s “… spirit lacked the strength that could have borne up… beneath a burden like thy scarlet letter” (81), a weak spirited man who could not face public condemnation for his sins. Hester Prynne is not only shown to be a character of strength, but also a character of compassion and selflessness. She constantly put the wellbeing of Arthur Dimmesdale ahead of herself, even when the community offered to lessen her punishment if she would bear witness to her fellow adulterer. Hester Prynne boldly declared that she “‘will not speak!’” (64), instead, choosing to protect Arthur Dimmesdale’s reputation at the cost of her