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Character analysis of hester prynne
How hester prynne changes in the scarlet letter
How hester prynne changes in the scarlet letter
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The Scarlet Letter describes many different ideas of women that were common during the colonial times. Hester Prynne was a victim of the puritan punishment for adultery, but the punishments that were inflicted upon her only made her a stronger female model for the novel. In his book, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses Hester’s daily struggles in society to reveal her strength when handling situations with different people despite society’s harsh judgement.
Hester faces bitter criticism in her community as soon as she comes out of the prison, but she finds the strength to live on, even with the Scarlet Letter embroidered on her chest. As Hester tries to hide her “A” and mark of shame she “wisely judges that one token of her shame would but poorly
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Many critics view hester in a different point of view than the towns people “This line of criticism, in a curious way, turns Hester completely into a conventional natural heroine, unjustly persecuted by an intolerant society”(Bell 89) explaining how the community is morally wrong for humiliating her. Hester’s emergence out of the prison door is so important because her stance makes it seem as “an act of self-reliance both literally and symbolically”(Fryer 112) this description gives an insight to what people first thought of her as an adultress. This proves that she contains a lot of strength within herself. Later in the story, Hester’s letter A is now viewed as “able” and not “adultress” because of how much strength she depicts. Society begins to drift from the meaning of “adultress” to other interpretations because of how strong Hester is “Hawthorne’s often critical characterization of Hester leads us to consider additional meanings of ‘adulterate’”(Egan 6). Hawthorne describes her relationship with the scarlet letter “The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her, —so much power to do, and power to sympathize, —that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength”(Hawthorne 134). He uses the scarlet letter to challenge her strength when criticized by society, and how she handles it with all the strength that she contains. The scarlet letter A does become a constant presence in her life, but she doesn't let it change who she is or how she is perceived “Hester cannot escape her past, as she demonstrates at the close by voluntarily returning to Boston to wear the scarlet letter to her grave”(Bell 94). She doesn't let the scarlet letter become a vacuum to her strength, but rather a
Reading the Scarlet Letter reminds me of one of my own experience. When I was a fifth grade elementary student, two of my friends and I agreed to cheat on a geography test. On the day of the test, one of my friends was caught. The teacher found the cheat sheet where it showed the handwriting of the three of us. When he was asked who the other two is, he remained silent. The teacher said that he will be punished, standing in the corner of the classroom for one straight week, and it will be lighter if only he told our name. My friend still did not say a word, so he received the punishment. What he did was similar to what Hester Prynne does. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as a woman with remarkable strength of character through direct and indirect characterization.
Throughout the novel, Hawthorn gives many reasons that support both sides of the argument over the affects that both the scarlet letter and Hester have on eachother. Yet, when symbolism depicts the scarlet letter to be Pearl, the argument between Hester and the letter is best epitomized in the following quotation. "In giving her existence, a great law had been broken; and the result was a being, whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder…" (p.62) The quotation, if examined with the thought that "her" refers to the scarlet letter, depicts that although Hester's courage allows the letter to be seen as beautiful, there still remains a shadow of haunting disorder that the letter casts over Hester's life. Hester shapes her life so that it remains in fragile balance with the ominous shadow of the letter.
With a strong female protagonist and two mentally weak males, it is hard to consider Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter anything but a feminist treatise. He obviously intended to put down not only Puritanism, which is an obvious aspect of the novel, but to establish a powerful, secure female in American literature. Hester proves, although she has sinned in the past, she can confront her mistakes, take care of herself and her child, and help others at the same time. She can withhold a position in society that many can respect because of her character something the males of the story obviously could not succeed at doing.
The character of Hester Prynne changed significantly throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this harsh sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life. However, the Romantic philosophies of Hawthorne put down the Puritanic beliefs. She is a beautiful, young woman who has sinned, but is forgiven. Hawthorne portrays Hester as "divine maternity" and she can do no wrong. Not only Hester, but the physical scarlet letter, a Puritanical sign of disownment, is shown through the author's tone and diction as a beautiful, gold and colorful piece.
Elizabeth Hawthorne had a deep impact on her family’s lives and more specifically on Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing. She passed away just months before he wrote The Scarlet Letter, therefore, it is not much of a leap to say that she was on his mind during its creation. These examples of strong, self-reliant women may have been the catalyst that Hawthorne needed to create a heroine like Hester Prynne. A heroine who pushed through adversity and came out with renewed strength, compassion, and identity. Baym writes, “We need hardly look further [than his mother] for sources of the image of a socially stigmatized woman abandoned to bear and rear her child
When she is first commanded to wear a scarlet letter A, she sees it as a curse. For the first few years she tries to ignore the ignominy under a mask of indifference. “Hester Prynne, meanwhile, kept her place upon the pedestal of shame, with glazed eyes, and an air or weary indifference,” Hawthorne writes. (page 48) Even so, she cannot hide from what her sin has produced.
The author writes that Hester gives a haughty smile as she stands among the crowd, proving that she knows what she did is wrong, but she feels no remorse for it. No
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many literal and figurative items to illustrate the significance of various characters or themes. Coupled with the tangible evidence given, the reader can make many miscellaneous assumptions of the importance of these items to directly and indirectly contribute to the issues of the novel. One cryptic item that symbolizes more than it seems to is the appearance of one of the main characters, Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne's appearance and hair signify the levels of will and determination she possesses at the moment.
Three gossips present at Hester’s public shaming moan at Hester’s “merciful” punishment, one even going as far as declaring “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die.” (Hawthorne 36). As time passes, however, and Hester dutifully lives out her penance, the people start to see the piety of her everyday actions. After seven years, they go from crying for her death to exclaiming “None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty…None so self-devoted as Hester, when pestilence stalked through the town.” (Hawthorne 110). They also declared her “a self-ordained Sister of Mercy…Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, and power to sympathize,—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able.” (111). When the people of Hester’s town managed to stop gawking at Hester, they easily saw her true nature and changed their ideas to
Hester Pryne of The Scarlet Letter Hester Pryne, after being punished for her sin, lived an important life. In "The Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester was convicted of adultery. However, after her conviction, she managed to raise a daughter, became an important seamstress in her community, and set an example for her close-knit community. Pearl, the daughter of a convicted sex offender, grew up living a different life from her peers.
After Hester’s sin was exposed to the public, the characters used her iniquities as a basis of morality. Because Hawthorne used Hester’s iniquity as a public mark, and displayed her for public shame upon the scaffold, she “[became] the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist [pointed], and in which they [vivified] and [embodied] their images of a woman’s frailty and sinful passion” (Hawthorne 75). Hester was portrayed as an example of what not to do; she was referenced as someone who made a mistake and was sentenced to live in agony. The scarlet letter turned Hester into a transgressor despised by the public. The townspeople believed that it was Hester who “had brought shame upon [them] all, and ought to die” (Hawthorne 49).
Although Hester Prynne is beautiful, her beauty barely compares to her strength in character. Even when brutally punished for her crime and publicly humiliated by being made wear the scarlet letter for adultery she does not break. Through all this she remains who she is: a strong, humble, kind, proud, and loyal young woman. Nathaniel Hawthorne uses this character to represent the archetypal hero, while also making her a relatable asset throughout the novel.
Not only has Hester changed physically but she has also changed emotionally and cognitively. In chapter two, we are introduced to defiant Hester, standing on the scaffold as punishment for her sins. Hawthorne states “…he laid his right upon the shoulder of a young woman whom he thus drew forward, until, on the threshold of the prison-door, she repelled him by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character…” (9). Hawthorne describes Hester’s actions as natural dignity and forceful to convey her defiance and reluctance to the Puritan society and culture. In contrast, Hester, after seven years of suffering and loneliness with her humanity stripped from
The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason for her change in personality. The secrets Hester keeps are because she is silent and hardly talks to anyone. “Various critics have interpreted her silence. as both empowering. and disempowering. Yet silence, in Hester’s case, offers a type of passive resistance to male probing”
The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was an objective description of the life of Hester Prynne, an adultress. The novel does not go into specific details of the thoughts of the woman except to describe the mien of her character. Throughout the novel she faces humiliation by the other people of Boston, but never loses her sense of pride. Hester Prynne suffers enormousely from the shame of her public disgrace and from the isolation of her punishment; however, she retains her self-respect and survives her punishment with dignity, grace, and ever-growing strength of character.