Katelyn Barnes Tom Kellerman Bell: 3 2 October 2015 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 …show more content…
Here it seems that the letter “A” on Dimmesdale’s chest may have different meanings to the people of Boston, because some saw it as a result of Chillingworth’s own anger towards Dimmesdale. The readers do not know if the letter is truly on Dimmesdale’s chest, and there are many accounts that report different explanations for its appearance there. While some people believe it represents Chillingworth’s revenge, there is also another theory in which Dimmesdale’s guilt is so strong that it eats away at him, and Heaven itself displayed the letter on his chest: “the awful symbol was the effect of the ever active tooth of remorse, gnawing from the inmost heart outwardly, and at last manifesting Heaven’s dreadful judgment by the visible presence of the letter” (211). In this theory, the letter represents Dimmesdale’s guilt once again, but readers never get a clear answer on what exactly the “A”
Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s transgressions and even has similar qualities as the sin which she represents. Pearl’s life and behavior directly reflects the unacceptable and abnormal nature of Hester’s adulterous sin. Hester is plagued with more than just a letter “A”; she is given a child from her affair who is just as much a reminder of her sin as the scarlet letter. Ultimately Hester overcomes the shame associated the scarlet letter and creates a sense of family for herself and Pearl. This relationship is integral to the theme of this novel and the development of its characters.
Hester is a youthful, beautiful, proud woman who has committed an awful sin and a scandal that changes her life in a major way. She commits adultery with a man known as Arthur Dimmesdale, leader of the local Puritan church and Hester’s minister. The adultery committed results in a baby girl named Pearl. This child she clutches to her chest is the proof of her sin. This behavior is unacceptable. Hester is sent to prison and then punished. Hester is the only one who gets punished for this horrendous act, because no one knows who the man is that Hester has this scandalous affair with. Hester’s sin is confessed, and she lives with two constant reminders of that sin: the scarlet letter itself, and Pearl, the child conceived with Dimmesdale. Her punishment is that she must stand upon a scaffold receiving public humiliation for several hours each day, wearing the scarlet letter “A” on her chest, represe...
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.
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.
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.
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the reader meets the character Hester Prynne who as the novel progresses, one notices the changes in her character are very dramatic. The changes are both physical and in her mannerism’s. There are many significant events which took place before the start of the novel and during the novel. Some of these events that lead to this dramatic change include the affect of wearing the scarlet letter, the secrets which she keeps, and her daughter Pearl’s evil characteristics. By these events, Hester Prynne’s image is transformed throughout the time of the story.
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.
The Scarlet Letter is a novel revolving around a woman who committed the sin of adultery in a small Puritan town in seventeenth-century Boston. Hester Prynne, the adulteress, refuses to reveal her lover’s name, and as a result is forced to wear a large, red "A" on her bosom. This is to tell everyone of her sin. Hester is also forced to live isolated with her daughter, Pearl, who is the result of her sin. Meanwhile, the small Puritan town remains very devoted to and very proud of their young minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. What they do not know is that it is Dimmesdale who is Hester’s Lover and Pearl’s father. The fact that Dimmesdale keeps his sin a secret is tearing him up, both physically and emotionally. To complicate matters even more, Hester’s old and slightly deformed husband is back. He had stayed in England for quite a while allowing Hester to settle into their new home.
Hester Prynne is consider to be a strong person because she was able to stand up to the council when they wanted to take her daughter Pearl away from her, she got yelled at by the council because she refuse to tell them who is Pearl’s father, and was able to change the meaning of the “A” that was given to her by a preacher as a representative of her sin which later changes the way people had thought of her. Due to these brave acts through the book Hester Prynne is consider to be a strong person by the fact that she was able to defend herself in the presents of the council multiple times without the help from the minister or anyone else and by herself she was able to change the meaning of her sin.
‘The Scarlet Letter’ illustrates the lives of Hester Prynne, her daughter Pearl, local preacher Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester’s husband (whom uses the alias of Roger Chillingworth in order to disguise his true identity), and how they are affected after Hester committed an adulterous act with Dimmesdale, hence conceiving Pearl. This mother and child are then ostracized by society, and Hester is sentenced to jail, forced to wear a scarlet “A” on her chest as a symbol of her sin. The novel continues to narrate the four characters’ story for the following few years, until Hester passes away and is buried near Chillingworth (whom had died earlier on), both sharing a letter “A” on their gravestones.
Hester Prynne was a young woman living in a Puritan community in the "New World." Her husband, Roger Chillingworth was said to be lost at sea, and Hester assumed his death. Upon this basis, young Hester committed a crime of adultery with her fellow Minister Arthur Dimmesdale. The result of this extra marital affair was the birth of young Pearl, an "elf-like" child. When the townspeople become aware of what Hester has done, they forced her to wear an ultimate sign of punishment, the scarlet letter. This letter "A" for adultery had to be worn on Hester's bosom at all times.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, the author Nathaniel Hawthorne uses many literal and figurative items to illustrate the significance of various characters or themes. Coupled with the tangible evidence given, the reader can make many miscellaneous assumptions of the importance of these items to directly and indirectly contribute to the issues of the novel. One cryptic item that symbolizes more than it seems to is the appearance of one of the main characters, Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne's appearance and hair signify the levels of will and determination she possesses at the moment.
While Dimmesdale was prodding Hester to hand over the name of her lover at the first scaffold scene, he uneasily speaks for he is the father of Pearl. Dimmesdale conveys Hester to “be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him... though he were to step down from a high place, and stand there beside thee, on thy pedestal of shame, yet were it so, than to hide a guilty heart through life” (212). This is clearly
impression that she views her action as a sin and feels a need to further
The scarlet letter, just a stigma, a symbol of sin, or a main character? In The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne wears a red letter A on her chest because of the terrible act she committed. Many critics of The Scarlet Letter argue that Hester Prynne is the main character of the novel; however, the Scarlet Letter itself is the main character. The Novel revolves around the scarlet letter, and the scarlet letter is seen literally and metaphorically in two important characters throughout the novel.