Comparing Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter And Easy A

The Scarlet Letter // Easy A

When someone sees or hears the word scarlet, they think of a brilliant red color. However, when others see or hear the word scarlet they think of sin or one who is wicked and heinous such as Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter or Olive Penderghast in Easy A. The Scarlet Letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a story about a Puritan woman, Hester who is forced to wear a letter A to identify her sin of adultery. In Easy A, directed by Will Gluck, high schooler, Olive Penderghast wants to be accepted by others so she starts a rumor that she slept with a fellow student. Similarities and differences such as attention, consequences, and hypocrisy are evident between The Scarlet Letter and Easy A.

Hester Prynne and

Puritans lived their lives under a forgiving God but were not willing to forgive those who committed sin. Hester committed a sin of adultery and Hawthorne writes, “Hester Prynne’s term of confinement was now at an end. Her prison-door was thrown open, and she came forth into the sunshine, which, falling on all alike, seemed, to her sick and morbid heart, as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast.” (81). Puritans believed in a forgiving God, but Hester was publicly humiliated and shamed which showed their hypocritical side. Their God was forgiving of others so they should have forgiven Hester. A Christian group in Easy A also believed in a forgiving God. Members of this group judged Olive openly and behind her back. Based on modern standards, some of these teenagers may have been guilty of the same sin Olive was being judged for, again showing their hypocritical side. Everyone sins in one form or another and no one has the right to judge someone else if they are guilty of the same thing.

Similarities and differences such as attention, consequences, and hypocrisy are evident between The Scarlet Letter and Easy A. Some may think of the color scarlet as sin, but others may think of scarlet as a brilliant red color. In Hester’s and Olive’s time, the scarlet A was meant to represent sin, but for the two females the A was a means to accept their sin and show others they weren’t going to let the shame destroy