Hester Prynne's Compassionate Tone

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s development as a character can be considered as heroic. Essayist Mark Van Doren alludes to the consequences of Hester Prynne’s sin into a positive light and presents her as a courageous individual. His essay is effective his use of compassionate tone, benevolent diction, and strong emotional appeal, or pathos, to portray Hester Prynne in a complimentary light. Van Doren’s use of a compassionate tone assists him in strengthening his purpose, which promotes how Hester Prynne flourishes because of her sin. Van Doren illustrates Hester as a “passionate woman whom Hawthorne does not need to call passionate” because it is easily seen through her perseverance (Para. 2). Throughout the

Because Van Doren has an abstract and unique perspective on Hester Prynne, he uses diction that specifically brings the optimistic nature of her personality. Conclusively, he glorifies Hester as being directly affected by Puritan society, and that Hawthorne presents “Hester as the blackest sacrifice [the moral code offers] on its altar” (Para. 3). He takes his own abstract representation of Hester Prynne’s development and is sure to use phrases such as ‘blackest sacrifice’ and ‘ever offers’ to assure the audience that his purpose should be the most regarded. Van Doren uses very powerful language in order to bring a new understanding of Hester Prynne to the audience, and he points out “her sudden relegation that through years of loneliness she [does not consent] to let her soul be killed” (Para. 2). He is sure that Hester preservers to survive in a harsh community and that she should be appreciated for her hard work than her original

He mentions how the audience is “close to her all of the time, and completely convinced her of flesh and blood, of her heart and mind,” and that she witnesses all the same emotions that humans do (Para. 2). By relating Hester to the audience, Van Doren is able to manifest Hester as a strong-willed woman that people should be aspiring to be and that it is possible for individuals to gain courage like her. By relating her to the audience, Van Doren persuades the audience to be more understanding, and less cynical, of her life story. He also comments that Hester Prynne “is not the subject of a sermon, [but] the heroine of a tragedy,” and Van Doren ultimately evokes pity from the reader (Para. 3). He parades Miss Prynne as a character that does all she can to survive in a harsh environment, which allows the reader to empathize with Hester’s shame. This use of pathos provokes sadness toward Hester’s mistreatment in Puritan society, and allows the audience to relate to her times of pain and