Nathaniel Hawthorne’s protagonist Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter is the subject of many interpretations and perceptions. In his satirical essay, D.H. Lawrence clearly explains his opinions about sin and pure appearances in society, and focuses on those of Hester Prynne. Lawrence uses sarcastic tone, concise syntax, and Biblical allusions to express his disdainful opinions of Hester Prynne. Lawrence uses a sarcastic tone throughout his critique to mock Hester Prynne and the people who believe that she is worth honoring. Lawrence hides true motives behind phrases and ideas all over his essay. One time, he acknowledges that people”[p]ut [Hester] upon the scaffold and worship her there… The Woman, the Magna Mater. A. Adulteress! Abel” …show more content…
Lawrence also uses succinct syntax throughout his essay to clearly communicate his beliefs about Hester. Most of the essay is made up of short, simple sentences that are aligned to resemble bullet points. Lawrence purposefully organizes his critique in this manner to make his argument more clear to the reader without any room for error. This style of writing also gives the reader an impressions that Lawrence is verbally striking Hester down. She is put under a barrage of claims, allegations, and aspersions. Lawrence wants the reader to be able to understand every point against Hester that he has to make. At one point in the essay, Lawrence simply repeats several one word sentences to label Hester such as: “Adulteress,” “Abel,” “Alpha,” and “Adam.” All of these labels are used to degrade Hester in one way or another. He uses “Adulteress”and “Adam” to focus on her sins. “Abel” and “Alpha” are ironically used to show that Hester is neither innocent nor a leader. These labels put onto Hester add extra punctuation to Lawrence’s already short sentences, and adds power to the lingual “punches” that Lawrence is throwing at …show more content…
Although other allusions are applied in his essay, Lawrence specifically uses references from the Bible to make stronger connections to Hester and her sins. Lawrence mocks Hester and calls her “Abel” many times and also says that “[Hester] lives on and is Abel” (Lawrence). Lawrence uses this ironical allusion to explain that Hester is nothing like Abel from the Bible. She is not innocent or a victim. In fact, she is believed to be the total opposite. Lawrence does not look past her crimes and uses this specific allusion to express his belief that Hester’s transgressions are mortal sins and unpardonable, not venial ones. Lawrence also refers to Hester as “Mary Magdalene.” He claims that Hester is just “another Magdalen, [who] stand[s] meek on the scaffold and fool[s] the world” (Lawrence). Lawrence is explaining that Hester has a villainous ulterior motive. Although Hester may seem to be respectable and humbled like Mary Magdalene, Hester is still morally corrupt and the existence of her sin overrides all other “appearances.” Both allusions are used to set Hester apart from ideal models of the Puritan society and to convince the reader that Lawrence’s view of Hester Prynne is correct. That she is sacrilegious, corrupt, and tainted with
Hester, however, was not some adulteress and sinner, in fact, she had more integrity than the self-proclaimed righteous townspeople. After her punishment in the book the townspeople end up saying, “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) and describe her as the loving angel of the town even though they still shame her for the crime she committed about a decade ago. Going hand and hand with Boo Radley, Hester was misunderstood by the people until they actually saw her for the kind woman she was and not for the letter upon her chest. Hawthorne, unlike Lee, wrote with a portrait lens, for he captured a picture of a detailed and realistic character with Hester, who was punished for the crime she committed. Hawthorne described the injustice in the same view as Lee as “the young woman - the mother of this child - stood fully revealed before the crowd” (Hawthorne 36) publicly shamed in a world that failed to witness the wrong that they have done. The two different lenses of the authors connect together as they create a bigger picture than themselves on the topic of punishment. Though the authors tell the same view on punishment they did it by coming at it at different
Nathaniel Hawthorne paints Hester Prynne as a person, a person that made mistakes, but who worked tirelessly to atone for them. Hawthorne’s use of of positive diction and profound imagery also set Hester’s tone as a woman scorned, but
Lawrence creates a sarcastic tone throughout his essay to exhibit Hester’s iniquitous behavior. He utilizes the biblical story of Cain and Abel to describe how “this time it is Mr. Dimmesdale who dies [while Hester] lives on and is Abel” (Lawrence). Lawrence mocks Hawthorne’s depiction of Hester by calling her Abel, which is ironic because Abel was the victim of the story. The sarcastic tone portrays Hester as a complete divergence to Abel, who was faithful to God and trustworthy. This tone also urges the readers to examine Hester and conclude that she goes not have these morally good characteristics like faithfulness and trustworthiness. Lawrence claims that placing Prynne on the scaffolding and exploiting her sins will “[become] a farce” (Lawrence). His mocking tone underscores the severity of adultery, which Hawthorne falsely describes Hester’s transgression as a “farce”. Lawrence’s use of sarcasm implies that her sins were substantial and grave. This conveys to the readers that Hester is a deplorable character and was portrayed wrongly by
Hester Prynne is seen by many as worthy of respect and admiration throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. She is ultimately seen as a hero in many areas of the novel. Literary critic Mark Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne is a heroic citizen who rises above the consequences of her sin. Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne should be seen as a noble hero through his use of repetition, praiseworthy diction, and admirable tone.
Hester’s true character is shielded from view when the archetype of temptress is placed upon her, both verbally and through the scarlet letter, and this archetype changes her appearance and she conforms to society because of it. Defiance and resistance are Romanticism characteristics that Hester portrays, and through her resistance Hester sheds the stereotype of an immoral temptress and is viewed as a misunderstood artist. [This is where I put my profound sentences about labels and their
Lawrence uses a satirical tone to negatively emphasize Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester Prynne. Throughout the Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne depicts Hester in a way in which the reader develops a sympathetic attitude towards
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
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”
Lawrence uses biblical allusions to help demonstrate that Hester is a sinner because they compare her to well-known figures in a way that brings out her corruptness. Lawrence compares Hester to Mary by saying she is “the sacred image of sinless Motherhood, whose infant was to redeem the world” (Lawrence). Mary is one of the most pure figures in religion and Lawrence is blatantly being sarcastic in his comparison of the two character to provide an idea of how ridiculous it is to consider Hester a hero. Mary was given the gift of Jesus by God while remaining a virgin and faithful to her husband. Hester on the other hand had a baby with a man she was not married to. Moreover, Hester is compared to Abel from the story of Cain and Abel. While Dimmesdale is the one who dies for their sins, Hester “lives on and is Abel” (Lawrence). One would think that Lawrence would compare Hester to Cain instead, considering he is the one who lives and Abel is the one who dies. By stating this, Lawrence is showing the irony and ridiculousness that Hawthorne ensures by condemning the pure and innocent Dimmesdale to death but the sinning and corrupt Hester to live on. He is also using “Abel” as a play on words in an ironic way, demonstrating that the A stands for able and Abel, but is given to the person farthest from resembling
Lawrence again refers back to sarcasm in his tone to emphasize his criticism. For example, he talks about the idea of Hester “Glittering with gold thread. Abell Adultery. Admirable!” (Lawrence). It is clear that Lawrence is simply mocking the tone of those who sympathize with Hester Prynne. By criticizing and retaliating against the idea that Hester Prynne is an admirable character, Lawrence succesfully attacks how Hawthorne seeks to portray Prynne, as well as those who cannot see Hester Prynne as a contradictory symbol to pure society. In this case specifically, Lawrence targets the seduced reader who fails to detect Hester’s mortal sin, mainly because it helps him lead into the gravity of her sin itself. Lawrence also warns those of pure society to not “let [Hester] start tickling [them]” (Lawrence). Lawrence issues a direct statement to the reader that Hester Prynne’s characterization is used for the mere purpose of seduction. Those who have been seduced undermine the virtues of pure society, and are therefore criticized by Lawrence. Lawrence warns his fellow members of pure society to not fall under this
When it comes to dealing with her sin of adultery, Hester takes a peculiar approach. Instead of displaying her guilt and remorse for her sin like the townspeople expected, Hester goes ahead and taunts the townspeople by embracing the scarlet letter “A”. In the beginning of the novel
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses his novel, The Scarlet Letter to critique the Puritan faith. In developing his story of the adulteress Hester Prynne, he uses both religious and natural imagery to show his disdain for the Puritan religion. The Scarlet Letter is a vivid portrayal of his utter dislike for the Puritans and everything that they stand for. Hawthorne is in complete disagreement with them and makes it clear throughout the book.
In his work “On the Scarlet Letter,” D.H. Lawrence criticizes and mocks Hester Prynne. Lawrence uses this work to analyze her character and act of adultery, ultimately labeling the woman as a shameful sinner. He looks past any sympathy built up by Nathaniel Hawthorne, instead showing the adulteress off as an evil and deceptive individual. The critic is effective in conveying Hester’s demeaning portrayal by using disparaging diction, a sarcastically insulting tone, and biblical allusions.
One of the main symbols in Lawrence’s short story is Hester. She is the mother of Paul and both are main characters. Hester is a good representation of greed, selfishness and being materialistic. She values money more than her children “She had bonny children, yet she felt they had been thrust upon her, and she could not love them” (Lawrence, 295). Hester is not capable of creating...
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...