The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter, a novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850, is a story about Hester Prynne, a woman who has an extramarital affair, and as a result, gives birth to a daughter named Pearl. During the time in which Hawthorne’s novel is set, adultery was considered one of the highest offenses. The townspeople in Hester’s community shun her for her infidelity and force her to wear a red “A’ on her chest at all times. In the novel, Hawthorne writes, “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 …show more content…
It would have been easy for Hester to close herself off to her neighbors, just as they did to her; instead, she continues her vow to love and care for everyone in the eyes of God by becoming a nurse. She lives as a nun would, although it was not the life she would have chosen for herself. The only time Hester is allowed in anyone’s home is when they are ill. She would never discriminate against those that she helped, rather “she was quick to acknowledge her sisterhood with the race of man” (167), and helped anyone she …show more content…
What begins as a punishment, turns into a lesson of redemption for the townspeople of Boston. Hester teaches her neighbors that kindness, integrity, and resilience can sometimes outweigh the negativity surrounding one single sin. When her neighbors focus on the one flaw in her character, they fail to realize how much more she has to offer the world than just being an unfaithful wife. Hester’s kindness to her abusers, integrity when treated cruelly, and resilience in the face of adversity prove that she is more than “able” to defy the odds and have a successful life despite her rough
The key difference between Hester and all of the other main characters in The Scarlet Letter is that she had nothing to hide. These circumstances enabled her to get the courage to show who she really was. When Hester was forced on to the scaffold for all to see she made no effort at hiding the mark of sin on her chest with the very object produced by it. She is true to her self and the town for making no attempt in hiding who she is, and for lack of a better metaphor, she quite literally wore her heart on her sleeve. After Hesters brief imprisonment, she gives some thought to leaving the town but decides against it.
Throughout the novel, the harsh Puritan townspeople begin to realize the abilities of Hester despite her past. Hester works selflessly and devotes herself to the wellbeing of others. “Hester sought not to acquire anything beyond a subsistence of the plainest and most ascetic description, for herself, and a simple abundance for her child.
When being questioned on the identity of her child’s father, Hester unflinchingly refuses to give him up, shouting “I will not speak!…my child must seek a heavenly Father; she shall never know an earthly one!” (47). Hester takes on the full brunt of adultery, allowing Dimmesdale to continue on with his life and frees him from the public ridicule the magistrates force upon her. She then stands on the scaffold for three hours, subject to the townspeople’s disdain and condescending remarks. However, Hester bears it all “with glazed eyed, and an air of weary indifference.” (48). Hester does not break down and cry, or wail, or beg for forgiveness, or confess who she sinned with; she stands defiantly strong in the face of the harsh Puritan law and answers to her crime. After, when Hester must put the pieces of her life back together, she continues to show her iron backbone and sheer determination by using her marvelous talent with needle work “to supply food for her thriving infant and herself.” (56). Some of her clients relish in making snide remarks and lewd commends towards Hester while she works, yet Hester never gives them the satisfaction of her reaction.
In Chapter 13, “Another View of Hester,” Hawthorne opens a window through which we glimpse Hester’s internal conflict. She has long been contemplating the “dark question” (144.25) of whether or not “existence [is] worth accepting” (144.26), and she has concluded that it is not. The image of our heroine here is troubling as it seems she has lost all semblance of hope in the possibility of triumph over the scorn and humiliation the public has inflicted on her. Her depression is so strong that she wonders if would be better “to send Pearl at once to Heaven” (145.14). Furthermore, she has not only lost hope for her own life and optimism for her daughter’s future, but she has also lost faith in society in general, especially regarding the place of women. She feels the whole system is beyond repair and that the only way to mend the cracks in the foundation is to have the entire structure “torn down and built anew” (144.32-33). Only after such a drastic reordering takes place can women take a more fair position in the world. This middle portion of Hester’s story represents a definitive low-point; her misery here certainly rivals and likely surpasses that which she felt while standing in front her peers on the scaffold in the beginning
Although Hester and Pearl are isolated for a while after their punishment (85), the Puritan society’s view of her changes in chapter 13. In chapter 13, Hester is shown to have become a servant of the community, and, rather than scorning her, the community praises her as holy (134). Even the symbol that embodies her punishment, the scarlet letter A, transforms into a symbol of her holiness, being interpreted by the people as meaning “Able” (134). In chapter 24, the story’s conclusion, Hester mentors young women, furthering the idea that she brings redemption from her sin by using her lessons to help others
Hawthorne depicts the character of Hester as a woman with many heroic qualities. Hester is portrayed as courageous and loyal, although she is ridiculed for her “sin” she refuses to name the father, saying she will “never’ do so, because she does not want him to endure the pain. The community even begins to view her in a different way, the “adulterer” symbol now represents “able.” She continues to be charitable and kind despite enduring dreadful hardships. Her inner strength, her defiance of convention, her honesty, and her compassion may have been in her character all along, but the scarlet letter brings them to our attention. He shows us how strong willed she is, during her confrontation with the Governor she makes it clear to him that he “shall not take her,” “she will die first!" By the end of the book she becomes an angel of mercy who eventually lives out her life as a figure of compassion in the community. Her charitable deeds continue to strengthen throughout her struggle. Hawthorne’s depiction of Hester showed us that even women can be heroic
She really tried to redeem herself ever since the entire town realized she had cheated on her husband. "Hush, Hester, hush!...The law was broke! - the sin here so awfully revealed! - let these alone be in thy thoughts! I fear! I fear! It may be that, when we forgot our God, - when we violated our reverence each for the other's soul, - it was thenceforth vain to hope that we could meet hereafter, in an everlasting and pure reunion." (233). In the end her experience made her and Pearl’s life truly extraordinary and completely changed her outlook on life, this caused her to be helping the poor by the end of the story. "Hester comforted and counseled them as best she might. She assured them, too, of her firm belief, that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven's own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness." (239). After returning from Europe she really helped to give the poor sustenance and was a completely changed person. Hester’s situation really seemed to be pretty bad at first but after getting used to being labeled as a bad person with the letter “A” on her chest she really grew out of it and became a good person who helps the community
"Lovely ladies ready for the call. Standing up or lying down or any way at all. Bargain prices up against the wall" (Boublil). The selling of one's body is consensual. When a woman decides to put herself for sale, she will be given the cold shoulder by her peers. Many women make the decision to sell themselves solely to provide for a child. The song "Lovely Ladies" from the musical Les Misérables, involves whores in France selling themselves to men in a Parisian back ally. The musical Les Misérables was based on a book written by Victor Hugo. One character in this book goes by the name of Fantine. She had a child out of wedlock to a man who left her and their child alone. She had to work to support not only herself but also her daughter, Cosette.
The town's reevaluation of Hester is significant because of what it says about Hester herself, about the changes she has undergone while earning this new classification. The people in her community believe that Hester's charitable behavior is the result of their punitive system working effectively. Hester spends most of her days tending to the sick and feeding the poor and waits for no acknowledgement from those she has rendered services. When confronted by people, she bows her head and places her finger upon the Scarlet Letter. This shift in Hester's nature leads to the re-classification of the letter, so much that it comes to mean "Able" instead of "Adulterer" and leads the townspeople to think that the punishment has successfully humbled her, when in fact, "the scarlet letter had not done its office" (Hawthorne,...
The scarlet letter is first introduced as a mark of shame for Hester, a young married woman who commits adultery resulting with a child. In this time, during the 17th century, women are expected to stay loyal and obedient to their husbands. However, since Hester broke these standards, her puritan acquaintances see this as an immense and horrible crime. Along with a punishment of prison, she was forced to wear the brand of an A on her chest, representing adulteress. She is ostracized from
Punishment among the Puritan religion for adultery is commonly execution. In Hester’s case, her punishment is rather different due to many circumstances, one being, her husband may have died at sea. As her punishment for the adultery committed with Dimmesdale, a God-fearing and reputable Puritan, Hester must not only wear a scarlet “A” for the remainder of her residence in Boston, but also stand on a public scaffold in the center of the marketplace. The ignominious letter of punishment, she wears with great pride and it is “so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” that she is professing her acceptance of all the consequence of her actions (Hawthorne 51). The manner in which Hester conducts herself concerning her punishment establishes her goodness greatly, for even in castigation, she finds morality. Hester Prynne “[makes] a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant as punishment” in her beautiful illustration of her sin upon her chest (Hawthorne 51). She wishes to express her sin overtly, for she accepts it although does not agree with Puritan institution. Again, the fact that Hester dwells in Boston when nothing holds her there is solid proof of her acceptance of her sin. When Hester could “simply hide her character and identity under a new exterior” she gains great respect from many townsfolk for staying despite her abjectness. (Hawthorne 73). Despite popular seemliness, Hester’s roots of sin are the true reason she is bound to the land where she committed her adultery and “a feeling so irritable and inevitable that she has the force of doom” is proof of Hester’s struggle with her sinfulness.
At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the “bad guy”. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, but Hester denies this revelation. She does not reveal it because she knows that the information will crumble the foundation of the Puritan religion and the town itself. “‘But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?’ ‘Ask me not!’ replied Hester Prynne, looking firmly into his face. ‘That thou shalt never know!’(Hawthorne 52). Hester knows that finding out that the father of the child, the Minister that is leading the town, will diminish credibility for the church and for Dimmesdale, the Minister. During her punishment, Hester decides to move out near the woods and make a living as a seamstress. Hester is regarded as an outcast from Boston, but she still gives back to the society that shuns her. ‘“Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say to strangers. ‘It is our Hester, —the town's own Hester, —who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!’”(Hawthorne 111). Her acts of kindness, helping the sick and comforting the afflicted, toward the society that makes her an outcast shows the inner goodness of a person. Throu...
Hester is indeed a sinner, adultery is no light matter, even today. On the other hand, her sin has brought her not evil, but good. Her charity to the poor, her comfort to the broken-hearted, her unquestionable presence in times of trouble are all direct results of her quest for repe...
Faith and religion are important factors that contribute into a puritan society, where sin is the devil himself and those that have condemned themselves to him are isolated from the pure. Hawthorne decoats a soul that has been designated to unblind those that have been haunted by Satan and create a wide understanding on the disconnection that has been made towards the man above. Hester Prynne,who has gained the most humiliation as she once stood on a platform for those to see the embellishment on her bosom shaped like an A, has bared a fruit named Pearl who came to let her live her sin in true regret and seek the penance needed to be forgiven by the souls that see her a adulterer or a criminal. The savior is Pearl. Pearl has come to Hester,
The "human tenderness" Hester exerts shows how she did not care what the Puritans thought and acted. Her sin is also an example of her independence; Hester acted on her feelings and didn’t allow the Puritan’s views to interfere with her emotions.