Virtue in Hester From The Scarlet Letter
Would Hester Prynne have more virtue had she not committed the sin of adultery? In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is described as having virtue. The basis of virtue is from Proverbs 31, which describes how a woman should act to be worthy. Hester is shown to be virtuous in many ways. She is smart and wise, she makes clothing, her husband is respected, and she helps the poor. However, she is shown to not be virtuous because she is not respected by the community.
Firstly, Hester is shown to be virtuous because she is smart. According to Proverbs 31, “She speaks with wisdom, and faithful instruction is on her tongue” (Proverbs 31:26). This excerpt means that she needs to be wise and
…show more content…
to spread her wisdom. In The Scarlet Letter: “What does the letter mean, mother?—and why dost thou wear it?—and why does the minister keep his hand over his heart?” “What shall I say?” thought Hester to herself.—“No!
if this be the price of the child’s sympathy, I cannot pay it!” Then she spoke aloud. “Silly Pearl,” said she, “what questions are these? There are many things in this world that a child must not ask about. What know I of the minister’s heart? And as for the scarlet letter, I wear it for the sake of its gold thread!” (Hawthorne 188)
These lines show that she is wise because rather than telling Pearl the truth and ruining her innocence, Hester decides to tell her that this type of knowledge is not her business, and proceeds to lie to her so the truth does not hurt Pearl. Hawthorne’s character accurately matches the Bible’s excerpt of virtue.
Secondly, Hester creates clothing for people. Proverbs 3l explains this virtue as, “She makes linen garments and sells them” (Proverbs 31:24). This quote says that virtuous women need to create and sell pieces of clothing. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne describes Hester like this as, “It was the art—then, as now, almost the only one within a woman’s grasp—of needlework” (Hawthorne 85). This quote shows that Hester does this, and Hawthorne explains that this is only a work for women. Hester creates clothing for all occasions, and for everyone. This work she does shows that she is
…show more content…
virtuous. Thirdly, Hester's ‘husband’ is respected.
Proverbs 31 says, “Her husband is respected at the city gate, where he takes his seat among the elders of the land” (Proverbs 31:23). Within The Scarlet Letter, “The Reverend Mr. Dimmesdale; young clergyman, who had come from one of the great English universities, bringing all the learning of the age into our wild forest-land. His eloquence and religious fervor had already given the earnest of high eminence in his profession” (Hawthorne 68-69). This quote shows that Hester’s ‘husband’ Dimmesdale, is a respected man of society. He is a priest, and he is a favorite by the town. Hester real husband, Chillingworth, is also a well respected man of society. He is a doctor in Boston, which is a high, sought after role, and he is keeping Dimmesdale alive. Hester is shown to be virtuous through the respect her husband
recieves. Finally, Hester shows virtue because she helps the poor. Proverbs 31 describes this virtue as, “She opens her arms to the poor and extends her hands to the needy” ( Proverbs 31:20). This says that Hester should help the poor when the need it. Hawthorne shows this in The Scarlet Letter, “Hester bestowed all her superfluous means in charity, on wretches less miserable than herself, and who not unfrequently insulted the hand that fed them. Much of the time, which she might readily have applied to the better efforts of her art, she employed in making coarse garments for the poor.” (Hawthorne 86). This excerpt explains how Hester helps the poor. She creates clothing for these people, but they often insult her. Hester’s actions to the needy and poor demonstrate the definition by Proverbs 31. However, Hester also has traits to show that she is not virtuous. According to Proverbs 31, “Honor her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate” (Proverbs 31:31). This excerpt shows that a virtuous woman should be respected and praised by the town, and Hester is not. This virtue is shown in The Scarlet Letter: “Clergymen paused in the street to address words of exhortation, that brought a crowd, with its mingled grin and frown, around the poor, sinful woman. If she entered a church, trusting to share the Sabbath smile of the Universal Father, it was often her mishap to find herself the text of the discourse. She grew to have a dread of children; for they had imbibed from their parents a vague idea of something horrible in this dreary woman, gliding silently through the town, with never any companion but one only child.” (Hawthorne 89) This quote captures how Hester is treated in the town. They do not treat her nicely, no matter what she does. Even though she does many things for the town, such as creating clothing for the needy, she is not respected. This idea shows that no matter how virtuous a woman is, one small action can change all of that. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows Hester as being virtuous in The Scarlet Letter. She is virtuous because she is smart, she sews clothing, her husband is respected, and she helps the needy. On the other hand, she also has non-virtuous qualities, because she is not respected by society. This trait shows that while Hester is being the best woman she can, she still has flaws. These flaws mainly come from her sin of adultery. Had Hester not committed adultery, she would be a complete virtuous woman.
The two of them, after Dimmesdale dies, continue with their plans to go back to England where they hope for a better life. Once in England, the two are able to change their lives around for the better. Pearl is even found to have a family of her own: “Mr. Surveyor Pue, who made investigations a century later, … Pearl was not only alive, but married, and happy, and mindful of her mother; and that she would most joyfully have entertained that sad and lonely mother at her fireside” ( Hawthorne 392). Pearl was able to overcome her old life and create a new one, a better one, one that was just for her. Even though her mother was no longer around she tried her best to kept in touch with her. She also kept her and her mother’s experience in mind never to let herself go back to that life. After spending many years in England, Hester finally returns to New England. When she returns she is full of sorrow and regret; however, she continues to wear her A on upon her chest as a reminder of her pain. With returning to the land of sin, people came to Hester, mostly women, with problems of their own. They hope by talking to someone who has been through so much will help them, or give them insight on what life is like to be on the outside: “And, as Hester Prynne had no selfish ends, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Women, more especially,—in the continually recurring trials of wounded, wasted, wronged, misplaced, or erring and sinful passion,—or with the dreary burden of a heart unyielded, because unvalued and unsought,—came to Hester’s cottage, demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy! Hester comforted and counseled them, as best she might” (Hawthorne 392-393). Even though Hester was miserable and thought that no
Hawthorne seems to take a stance removing himself as a narrator from religious or moral partiality. As Hawthorne pursues the idea of a morally oblivious phycology, he creates Pearl. Perhaps Pearl is symbolic of truly raw human nature. Pearl is an unaltered version of mankind; factors of emotional and mortal influence are lost on her. Pearl is like the “control group” in the experiment of the human condition. This is demonstrated when Hawthorne speaks through the guise of Governor Bellingham, “There is no law, nor reverence for authority, no regard for human ordinances or opinions, right or wrong, mixed up with that child’s composition.” (92) Pearl attempts to connect with Hester as she “sob[s] out her love for her mother in broken words, and seem[ed] intent on proving that she had a heart by breaking it,” but she could not imitate human compassion because she had been shown so little herself. Because of the lasting trauma of Hester’s ordeal and her inexperience as a mother, Hester is inattentive and emotionally unavailable during Pearl’s childhood. Primarily because of her mother’s negligence, Pearl is “like a thing incapable and unintelligent of human sorrow” (64) but can still sense how other’s perceive her as strange. Taking into account her lack of remorse and incapability to express genuine sympathy, one might contend
In the book, Pearl was always the smartest character portrayed by Hawthorne. Had Hester been put to death because of her sin, Pearl might not have been as successful as she became. Hester was a very admirable person. After committing her awful sin (awful as seen by the townspeople), and losing the respect of most of the townspeople, Hester was able to turn her life around for the better. Her turn around, however, happened slowly.
The characters Hawthorne develops are deep, unique, and difficult to genuinely understand. Young, tall, and beautiful Hester Prynne is the central protagonist of this story. Shamefully, strong-willed and independent Hester is the bearer of the scarlet letter. Burning with emotion, she longs for an escape from her mark, yet simultaneously, she refuses to seem defeated by society’s punishment. Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale claims the secondary role in The Scarlet Letter; he is secretly Hester’s partner in adultery. Conflicted and grieved over his undisclosed act, he drives himself to physical and mental sickness. He fervently desires Hester, but should he risk his godly reputation by revealing the truth? Dimmesdale burns like Hester. Pearl, the child produced in Hester and Dimmesdale’s sin, is the third main character. She is fiery, passionate, perceiving, and strikingly symbolic; at one point in the novel she is referred to as “the scarlet letter endowed with life!” Inevitably, Pearl is consumed with questions about herself, her mother, and Dimmesdale. The reader follows Pearl as she discovers the truth. Altogether, Hawthorne’s use of intricately complex, conflicted ch...
Through explaining her resilience, he shares that “her sudden revelation that through years of loneliness she has not consented to let her soul be killed” (Van Doren). It is evident that Hester does not think of her punishment as the end of her life as she continues to live and try to make the most of what she has. This proves to the audience that Hester must, at the very least, obtain the characteristic of perseverance, a quality worthy of respect. Van Doren praises Hester for her valor and believes that “Hester’s life has not been hollow, nor has her great nature been wasted” (Van Doren). His tone is so obviously reflected throughout his piece of criticism that his belief is etched into the readers’ minds, and they, too, begin to believe Hester Prynne is a hero. This quote is effective because it creates a picture for the reader that Hester is resilient and should be admired, as she continues to live her best life with what she
Pearl, the leading child in the novel, is an excellent example of childish innocence combined with almost preternatural perception. Her willpower and imagination make her a blessing and a curse to her mother, who has paid such a dear price for her child. "After testing both smiles and frowns, and proving that neither mode of treatment possessed any calculable influence, Hester was ultimately compelled to stand aside, and permit that the child be swayed to her own impulses" (Hawthorne 82).
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
Throughout the novel, the harsh Puritan townspeople begin to realize the abilities of Hester despite her past. Hester works selflessly and devotes herself to the wellbeing of others. “Hester sought not to acquire anything beyond a subsistence of the plainest and most ascetic description, for herself, and a simple abundance for her child.
Hester is being considered as the devil (Bellis 1), which is a sign that the town’s people are slanderous and judgmental. Their judgment has caused her to be isolated. “… A woman who had once been innocent…” is now considered as “…the reality of sin” (Hawthorne 39). They look at her as a threat diminishing their community’s chance for purification because “there was the taint of deepest sin…” (Hawthorne 24). My apprehension of Pearl is that she is the fruit of evil, because she is seen as “immortal” (Hawthorne 11). Because, she has caused a ruckus, her immoral acts have disturbed the nature of their society. They think this is morally correct because, “Political and generational ambivalence has its psychological counterpart…” (Bellis 2), which give them the right to make her an evil outcast.
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.
At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the “bad guy”. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, but Hester denies this revelation. She does not reveal it because she knows that the information will crumble the foundation of the Puritan religion and the town itself. “‘But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?’ ‘Ask me not!’ replied Hester Prynne, looking firmly into his face. ‘That thou shalt never know!’(Hawthorne 52). Hester knows that finding out that the father of the child, the Minister that is leading the town, will diminish credibility for the church and for Dimmesdale, the Minister. During her punishment, Hester decides to move out near the woods and make a living as a seamstress. Hester is regarded as an outcast from Boston, but she still gives back to the society that shuns her. ‘“Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say to strangers. ‘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). Her acts of kindness, helping the sick and comforting the afflicted, toward the society that makes her an outcast shows the inner goodness of a person. Throu...
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s act of adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale (Hawthorne 231) ultimately leads to negative and positive impacts on her life, including being isolated from everyone in town, being mocked and gossiped about, being more mature, and being more compassionate. One of the negative effects the loss of innocence has on Hester is that she becomes isolated from everyone in town. Hawthorne describes Hester:
Throughout all the sinful things Hester Prynne has done, she still managed to obtain good qualities. Hester was an adulterer from the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester was looked down upon by the citizens of Boston because of the sin she and another person committed, but no one knew who her partner in crime was because she refused to release his name. Towards the very end of the story Hester’s accomplice confessed and left Hester and Pearl feeling joyous, because now they didn’t have to keep in a secret. Hester is a trustworthy, helpful, and brave woman throughout The Scarlet Letter.
The naivete of a child is often the most easily subjected to influence, and Pearl of the Scarlet Letter is no exception. Throughout the writing by Nathaniel Hawthorne, she observes as Dimmesdale and the rest of the Puritan society interact with the scarlet letter that Hester, her mother, wears. Hawthorne tries to use Pearl’s youth to teach the reader that sometimes it’s the most harmless characters that are the most impactful overall. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Pearl has learned the greatest lesson from the scarlet letter through her innocence as a youth and her realization of the identity of both herself and her mother.
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...