Essay On Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne depicts Hester Prynne as a strong woman able to resent the conforming laws of the Puritan Society. However, Hawthorne also depicts another side of Hester that is much more worrisome, especially in regards to her daughter Pearl. Hester continuously wants the best for her daughter and wants to be able to protect her as she grows older, but the Puritan society builds a sort of barrier that Hester must break through. On the outside, Hester is confident and doesn’t allow the townspeople to see her weaknesses, but on the inside, Hester is upset and worried about what the future holds for her and Pearl. As the novel continues, the outer Hester begins to take over, and the inner Hester …show more content…

They even begin to refer to her as “’our Hester, - who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!’” (127) which begin to take away the penalties of isolationism. The townspeople realize the inability to reach Earthly perfection through Hester and Pearl, and begin to accept her into the society more. This fortunate view they have come to in regards to Hester is due to her wanting to show not only to them, but to herself as well, that she still wants to be a ‘soldier’ for God and help people. Hester is also able to get the church board to debate “’whether or [not], …, yonder scarlet letter might be taken off’” (132) which would be going against the typical Puritanical rules, but the work she has been doing is lifting her punishment. Hester declines the churches decision of her removing the letter due to her possibly not being personally ready for the release of her punishment. Her belief in fate and integrity in making her own decisions is what drives to her declination, Hester does not yet believe that she has fully repaid the sin she has

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