Of Sin and Consequence

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne committed adultery with the town’s most loved minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. During the Puritan era, marriage was sacred, and breaking the bond was punishable by death (Hawthorne 49). As fate would have it, only Hester was found out for her sin because of her pregnancy. Hester’s life was spared, but her sin forever changed her. Hester’s sin warped her interactions with society and her loved ones, altered her way of life, and ultimately changed her persona.

As punishment for her sin, Hester was made to bear public humiliation on a scaffold for three hours and wear a scarlet letter for the rest of her life. This isolated Hester from the rest of society. Nathaniel Hawthorne writes, “Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished, and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature by other organs and senses than the rest of human kind”( 80). Although by the end of the novel Hester had achieved reverence in the public eye, she never was able to become a normal member of society (152). Hester’s only hope for love was Dimmesdale, and they almost achieved a life together by planning to run away (192). Their plans were later thwarted by Dimmesdale’s death, also the consequence of their sin. Hester finally achieved some solace when Dimmesdale kissed their little Pearl, and inadvertently gave the child back the human feelings she lacked as a punishment to Hester for her sin.

Hester’s youth, although poor, was filled with heartening memories of her parents and their humble abode. Her new life marked with ignominy was a drastic change from what sh...

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...nce. She could have stayed in a place where no one knew of her sin, but she had transformed into an independent woman who decided for herself what she did with her life. Hester’s sin proved to be a lot more life changing than she bargained for. Her whole life was turned upside down, from a new child, to social banishment. Hester couldn’t live how she once did, speak to those she once knew, or act the way she once did. However strenuous life was, Hester still prevailed in a society controlled by sin. Hawthorne states, “Such helpfulness was found in her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet ‘A’ by its original signification. They said that it meant ‘Able’; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (152).

Works Cited

Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Signet Classics, 2009. Print