Character Types Essay In the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, two of the main characters, Hester Prynne, the protagonist, and Pearl, her child. Pearl is the dramatic foil to her mother. There are also two other main characters in the novel, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. Dimmesdale is the anti-hero of The Scarlet Letter while Roger Chillingworth is the antagonist. Hester Prynne is a good, helping, quiet, reserved, religious woman, like Julie Andrews. She is also a sinner because she had an affair with Dimmesdale, which is why she is the protagonist of the story. Without her and the affair she had, there would not be a plot to the whole novel. After she had her baby, she had to stand on the scaffold for three hours with her child in the hot sun. The head people of the town asked her to tell everyone who the father is while she was on the scaffold, all she said was “‘I will not speak’ answered …show more content…
She is loud, rambunctious, hyper, bad tempered and a little on the bossy at times. Because of these character traits, she is like the Shirley Temple of the 1630s. Shirley Temple played a lot of the rebellious type roles in movies, such as Curly Top, and the Stowaway. This makes Pearl the dramatic foil of the novel because she is the exact opposite of her mother. If someone says something mean to Hester, she acts like she did not even hear, whereas Pearl would throw something at the person who said something to her (Hawthorne 84). Pearl and her mother also dress very differently. Pearl is always in bright, colorful, airy clothing, but Hester is always in dull, monochromatic, boring, serious like clothes. Pearl is loud, outgoing, and headstrong, some people even call her a witch-baby (Hawthorne 213) unlike Hester. Pearl’s mother is quiet, reserved, caring, and helpful (Hawthorne 140-2). Pearl brings out all of the character traits in her
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.
The main point of Scarlet letter is how Hester Prynne one of the main characters have to wear a scarlet A to Mark her sinning. While the men her heart belongs to Arthur Dimmesdale stay quiet and agonize with guilt, while her husband Roger Chillingworth works towards revenge. The story takes place in the mid 17th century Puritan community of Boston. The theme of this story is mainly guilt and frustration. Other characters of the story are governor Richard Bellingham was the symbol of authority the other character is pearl the daughter of Hester and Arthur.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter tells the story of Hester Prynne, a sinner, living in a puritan society. As punishment, she is forced to wear a scarlet letter on her chest. Her daughter Pearl is the product of her sinful ways, and a constant reminder of her wrongdoing. Pearl’s embodiment of the Scarlet Letter causes her hostile relationships with the world and her mother. However, when Dimmesdale kisses her, he frees her from isolation and allows her to form human connections.
with. Having a heart blinded by love Hester choose to stay in the town and
This, as Arthur Dimmesdale almost prophetically expresses in the early scenes of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, was the role of Pearl, the elfish child borne of his and Hester Prynne's guilty passion. Like Paul's thorn in the flesh, Pearl would bring trouble, heartache, and frustration to Hester, but serve a constructive purpose lying far beyond the daily provocations of her childish impishness. While in many respects a tormentor to Hester, Pearl was also her savior, while a reminder of her guilt, a promoter of honesty and true Virtue; and while an embodiment of Hester's worst qualities, a vision of a better life for Hester and for herself.
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthrone masterfully weaves many themes and uses character development to format the plot of this novel. The themes of The Scarlet Letter are carried out through the four main characters -- Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingsworth, and Pearl -- and also through symbolism. In this novel, Hawthrone hoped to show that although Hester and Dimmesdale sinned, they achieved the wisdom of self knowledge and inner growth through their suffering.
Hester Prynne is the main character of the book. She is still young when she has her child, Pearl. She is a strong and determined, and uses her past sin, and the “A” as something to learn from rather than something to be ashamed of. After the shame of getting the “A,” she moved into the outskirts of town and became a seamstress. The way she was able to move on from her sin and continue her life, even after being scorned and humiliated, is proof of her strength. Years later, when her sin is almost completely forgotten her benevolence is shown in how she cares for the physical and spiritual needs of people in the community.
In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne makes Hester Prynne the central figure in the story much like Susanna Rowson does with Charlotte in Charlotte Temple. The plots of the books are centered on these women; the storylines occasionally move elsewhere to inform the reader of the happenings of other characters, but always returns to their respective female protagonist. The authors’ use of their leading ladies differs when providing a theme, however.Susanna Rowson uses Charlotte Temple as an example for the reader. By taking the reader on a journey through Charlotte’s life of perpetual misery, Rowson’s narrator is able to point out where Charlotte makes poor decisions. With the reader now aware of the misdirected choices of Charlotte, the narrator warns the reader that any young girl could end up in the same type of predicament. She then teaches the young female reader how she should react in a similar situation and the “sober matron” reader how to prevent such a dilemma from happening to her daughter.
Hester Prynne, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, exhibits considerable character growth both over the course of her life and during the events of the novel. Her view of herself and her perspective on the role of women in the world evolve as she learns from new experiences. She moves through the stages of self-centered happiness in her childhood, deep despair and depression as an adult, and a later more hopeful and selfless existence.
Hester Prynne was said to have "perfect elegance on a large scale" (Hawthorne 56). While on the scaffold, Hester smiled and blushed as she held her baby (Hawthorne 56). Hester knew that the townspeople scorned her and thought horrible things about her, yet she was ladylike the entire time (Hawthorne 57). Hester was a prideful woman who was "marked with natural dignity and force of character" (Hawthorne 56). Hester’s pride in herself prevented the townspeople’s hatred from affecting her outward appearance (Hawthorne 56). Yet, despite Hester’s calm demeanor, she felt as if she were going insane. As the townspeople watched, Hester felt "as if her heart had been flung into the street" (Hawthorne 59). The narrator noted times when Hester seemed
A change is to make or become different. In the Scarlet Letter change is very evident in the main character Hester Prynne. Hester has undergone both physical and emotional changes that have made her more acceptable to the Puritan Society.
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.
One of the most complex characters in The Scarlet Letter is Pearl, the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Throughout the story, she develops into a dynamic individual, as well as an extremely important symbol. Pearl is shunned from society because of her mother's sin. She is a living representation of the scarlet letter, acting as a constant reminder of Hester's sin.
In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne analyzes Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne (Hawthorne 70). Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 90). Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth. In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent to prison and later she got to get out of prison but with the exception of having to wear the letter A on her breast every time she went out in to town.
Throughout all the sinful things Hester Prynne has done, she still managed to obtain good qualities. Hester was an adulterer from the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester was looked down upon by the citizens of Boston because of the sin she and another person committed, but no one knew who her partner in crime was because she refused to release his name. Towards the very end of the story Hester’s accomplice confessed and left Hester and Pearl feeling joyous, because now they didn’t have to keep in a secret. Hester is a trustworthy, helpful, and brave woman throughout The Scarlet Letter.