Shame In Scarlet Letter

What constitutes the definition of something? Is it personal meaning or rather a clever deduction? In the book The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne, the main character, commits a sin in the Puritan society in which she lives. She has committed adultery and given birth to a daughter. As punishment for her sin she is forced to wear a scarlet letter A on the front of her dress. From several alternative perspectives the letter has different representations. However, in all reality, the letter A is simply that, the letter A. To the people of the community it is a symbol of shame, to Roger Chillingworth it is a symbol of betrayal, to Reverend Dimmesdale it is a symbol of deep guilt, and most importantly to Hester, it is imprisonment.

The people of the time period are strict Puritan thinkers that view the letter that Hester must wear upon her bosom as disgrace. She has shamed not only herself, but the community as well. With the obvious bright red letter glaring like a warning, people receive the signal to interact with her as little as possible. Hester becomes an outcast and lives alone with her daughter and tries to support them by becoming a seamstress. Hester even does things that would be see as redeeming or saint-like by making clothing for the

He is the other adulterer. He is the father of Hester's child. To Reverend Dimmesdale his letter A and Hester's is a reminder of his sin. He is consumed by guilt and despair. So much that he grows physically ill. He often has his hand over his heart where the letter A was burned into his skin. The secret of adultery that he has kept eats away at him slowly and when Roger Chillingworth discovers him as the father of Pearl, Hester's daughter, he seeks to make it worse. The reverend also sees himself as a hypocrite because he preaches against sin and yet has committed a huge one in Puritan