In the scene where Dimmesdale invites Hester and her daughter to the scaffold, they see the meteor brightening the dark sky. As the minister looks up, he sees letter “A” marked with the red light in the sky. The natural sign, like meteor, is important to the minister because he, a Puritan, perhaps believes it as a divine will. In this chapter, Hester becomes more active in the society by helping the poor and nursing the sick. Even though she is still alienated from others, many people start to see “Adultery” as “Able”, which indicates that something inside her makes them to view her more positively than before. In this chapter, Hester meets Chillingworth at the beach to prevent him from making the minister suffer. In their conversation,
It's something that has been said since forever by well meaning parents and high school counselors and in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author reiterates this bit of advice to the characters as well as the readers: "Be true!" When viewed from the surface, almost none of the characters followed the simple suggestion offered by Hawthorne, or the entire conflict of the novel could have been averted. Chillingworth the revenge monger was unwilling to reveal even his real name and intent, and Dimmesdale the sentimental and trusted pastor, was unable to reveal his dark secret. That leaves Hester. In the beginning she was not only forced to be true to herself and the whole town, but to emotionally and mentally evolve. She had found her identity in the novel the day she stood on that scaffold. If given a choice, Hester would have rather worn the mark of shame than not, because the letter had transformed her into who she is. The blood red letter may not be pretty, but it is immensely better than living a lie. By digging a little deeper into the novel, it's plain that Hester is the only one true in the entire book, both to her self and society. Hester and Hester alone had the courage to do what was right by showing who she really was. She let the events of the novel shape her like a ball of clay into the person she would become, instead of controlling events or resisting change. Although many may say she didn't learn her lesson by wanting to run off with Dimmesdale, she had in fact learned her lesson thoroughly and by admitting her love she didn't make the same mistake a second time.
In the beginning of the novel, Hester Prynne exits the prison of the Puritan community of Boston, a large letter “A” clearly visible on her chest and a child in her arms. This is the first time the letter makes an appearance, and it is here where readers realize Hester has done something terribly wrong. The letter “A” sewn onto her clothes initially represents “adulterer”, but who exactly is the father of Pearl, the child Hester is holding, if her husband has been missing for two years? The townspeople would love to know the answer to that question, too, but it is only revealed to readers a few chapters into the story as being the unexpected Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale faces an
with. Having a heart blinded by love Hester choose to stay in the town and
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...
Chillingworth saw Hester, after emerging from a great period of solitude, as a symbol of life. He regarded her as almost a savior. ...
When Hester Prynne becomes pregnant without her husband, she is severely punished by having to endure public humiliation and shame for her adulterous actions. Hester is forced to wear a scarlet “A”on her breast for the rest of her life. (1.) She lives as an outcast. At first, Hester displays a defiant attitude by boldly march from prison towards the pillory. However, as time goes on, the public humiliation of her sin weighs heavily upon her soul. “An accustomed eye had likewise it’s own aguish to inflict. It’s cool stare of familiarity was intolerable. From first to last, in short, Hester Prynne had always th...
free from the laws and regulations made by the king of England. In the new
A group of settlers feel that Hester’s punishment is justified on a social level and we should , now accept her back in the settlement. Our reasons for this decision is that we feel that she has suffered enough. She has gone through enough torture in life and we should forgive her. Hester’s social stigma was having to support pearl and herself , pearl reminding her of the sin she committed , and living alone with pearl outside the settlement.
People may think that if they are an outcast that they will always be an outcast. That is not true in the case of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. At the beginning of the book, Hester is an outcast because she committed the sin of adultery. Towards the end of the book, she is respected for how she handled her punishment of wearing the letter A on her chest. Because of her actions, Hester shows people they can overcome their outcast status if they deal with their punishment in an honorable way.
One of Hester’s greatest qualities is her unrelenting selflessness. Despite her constant mental anguish due to her sin, the constant stares and rude comments, and the
To many of the Puritans in the colony, the letter “A” stood for Adultery, because of the sin Hester committed with Arthur Dimmesdale ,the minister of the colony. The outcome of this decision led to Hester having a daughter named Pearl. People resented her for these actions and that letter “A” was a reminder to everyone that she was no good. Hester Prynne then became an outcast and excluded herself from the people of the colony. In the book, Hawthorne mentions that Hester lived in a small thatched cottage on the outskirts of town within the verge of the peninsula (Hawthorne 46). It said “her own
When Mr. Dimmesdale finally confesses to the townspeople in the last hour of his life, he reveals what many saw to be a red A on his chest. Whether the letter was carved by him in an act of self-mutilation, if it was merely a figment of his guilt-ridden imagination, of if it was indeed created by Chillingworth’s torture, it is a symbol of the guilt that Mr. Dimmesdale endured. While it may seem like a poor mockery of Hester’s letter, which was visible to everyone, Mr. Dimmesdale’s caused him much more pain than Hester’s caused her. Over time, Hester’s letter came to be accepted by the townspeople, and once Hester had been accepted there was discussion of allowing her to remove it. In contrast, Mr. Dimmesdale’s letter was not visible to the public, though it caused him much pain.
‘But let it pass! It is of yonder miserable man that I would speak’” (164). This statement shows how while Hester can cry for Chillingworth because of how much she pities him, but this eventually changes, where after their conversation, Hester grows this sudden hatred toward Chillingworth, when Hester literally states, “‘Be it sin or no’ said Hester Prynne, bitterly, as she still gazed after him, ‘I hate the man!’... ’Yes, I hate him!’
(Elbert, 258). One may refer back to the scene at the beginning when Reverend Wilson is trying to get the name of the other sinner. As Hester refuses, one may see this as a foreshadowing of other events. Hester is a strong woman who would not tell a soul the secrets that interconnect Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. The secrets however begin to take a toll on Hester especially as Chillingworth comes to town and is dying to know who the father of Pearl is.
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.