The Character Of Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

"Lovely ladies ready for the call. Standing up or lying down or any way at all. Bargain prices up against the wall" (Boublil). The selling of one's body is consensual. When a woman decides to put herself for sale, she will be given the cold shoulder by her peers. Many women make the decision to sell themselves solely to provide for a child. The song "Lovely Ladies" from the musical Les Misérables, involves whores in France selling themselves to men in a Parisian back ally. The musical Les Misérables was based on a book written by Victor Hugo. One character in this book goes by the name of Fantine. She had a child out of wedlock to a man who left her and their child alone. She had to work to support not only herself but also her daughter, Cosette.

Fantine is fired from a low paying job in a factory and has to result in prostitution in order to provide for Cosette.

In a similar way, the character of Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter goes through the same struggles as Fantine. Hester had an affair with the town priest, which resulted in a daughter named Pearl. She was shunned by everyone she knew and had to work as a seamstress to provide for Pearl. The priest knew about Pearl, but did nothing to help with her costs for fear of being called out for his sin. Since the priest didn't admit to what he had done, Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter A on her chest for the rest of her life as a reminder of her sin. Little Pearl was also a living reminder of the adulterous crime Hester and the priest committed. Even though they are from different stories, the characters of Fantine from Les Misérables and Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter are disadvantaged as women when they have children out of wedlock, work only to provide for their daughters, and are shunned by their

community.
Fantine and Hester both face many struggles as ladies in times where there were not many rights for women. Having children out of wedlock was extremely frowned upon in the olden days. Fantine (as mentioned above) had a child unmarried at age nineteen, named Cosette. Her lover, named Felix, “took Fantine’s childhood in his stride” (Boublil). After Fantine found out she was pregnant, Felix left her alone with no money to take care of their child. When Fantine and Felix were together, their relationship was secret. Alone and afraid, Fantine was left with the challenges of raising a child as a single mother. Her love affair did not turn out as planned.
Hester also participated in a forbidden love story. Her affair was with a priest, Arthur Dimmesdale.