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Full character analysis of hester prynne
Character of Hester prynne
Full character analysis of hester prynne
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After evaluating chapters one through eight Nathaniel Hawthorne clearly shows the readers Hester's positive parenting skills in The Scarlet Letter. The character demonstrates that Hester is able to raise the child from infancy to childhood safely and lovingly.
Due to her background Hester is able to teach Pearl lessons about life and society. She does so by not hiding the scarlet letter from the child and telling Pearl the truth about her “sin.” By Hester being open about the scarlet letter it promotes Pearl to develop in a nonjudgmental environment. The author shows that Pearl exhibits this in chapter four when he refers to Pearl as “a little imp” and “like a little elf.” Early on in the novel Hester reminiscences about her own parents with
a loving sentiment which leads the reader to believe that she has a positive parental background to base her parenting style on. Additionally in chapter eight when Hester and Pearl visit the governor Hester stands up to the Governor and Reverend Wilson in a non-traditional female Puritan way by asserting her motherly instincts when she states Pearl is her blessing, and her curse and despite the circumstances, she would rather die than relinquish Pearl to the Puritan community. One can correlate Nathaniel Hawthorn's character Hester to modern day single mothers. Much like Hester, single mothers of the 21st century are likewise judged as having a non-traditional family. Single mothers are often questioned on their capability to parent due to the lacking of a co-parenting partner. Hester also shares this same dilemma when she speaks to the Governor and Mr. Wilson. It is obvious that Hester, despite seeing Pearl as a blessing and as a sin, proves herself worthy of custody; she clearly supports and loves Pearl by showing strength and love in a nonjudgmental parenting way. Parenting styles come in many forms, today and in 1642: traditional and non-traditional. Overall after analyzing the beginning eight chapters of the novel I am lead to believe that Hester is an adequate mother and deserves to have custody of Pearl.
Pearl is a symbol of Hester’s transgressions and even has similar qualities as the sin which she represents. Pearl’s life and behavior directly reflects the unacceptable and abnormal nature of Hester’s adulterous sin. Hester is plagued with more than just a letter “A”; she is given a child from her affair who is just as much a reminder of her sin as the scarlet letter. Ultimately Hester overcomes the shame associated the scarlet letter and creates a sense of family for herself and Pearl. This relationship is integral to the theme of this novel and the development of its characters.
Pearl is first introduced as the young babe clutched to Hester's chest, as she stands before a crowd of puritans beholding her humiliation. Embarrassed of the glaring letter on her chest, Hester thinks to hold little Pearl in front of her scarlet mark; however, she resolves that “one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another” (P.37). It is here that we see for the first time that Pearl has been reduced to nothing more than a symbol of Hester's sin, synonymous with the scarlet letter. As Pearl grows, so does the obvious nature with which Hawthorne portrays her as the scarlet letter. Throughout the book, we see Pearl dressed in bright clothes,
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well known novel, The Scarlet Letter, extensive diction and intense imagery are used to portray the overall tone of the characters. In particular, Hester Prynne, the wearer of the Scarlet Letter, receives plentiful positive characterization throughout the novel. Hester’s character most notably develops through the town’s peoples ever-changing views on the scarlet letter, the copious mentions of her bravery, and her ability to take care of herself, Pearl, and others, even when she reaches the point where most would give up and wallow in their suffering.
From the moment she is born in the cold, heartless prison, Pearl is placed under scrutiny. The townspeople see her as a visible reminder of sin, and it isn't long until even her own mother searches for evil in her. The girl is described as "the scarlet letter in another form; the scarlet letter endowed with life!"(Hawthorne 103). With her fascination from an early age with the scarlet letter, Hester believes that Pearl's very reason for existence is to torment her mother. Hester fails to realize that the letter is just something bright and significant to which Pearl reacts; instead, she sees every glance, every word aimed at the letter, every touch of Pearl's tiny fingers to her bosom as an added torture resulting from her adultery. Hester, considering Pearl's very existence, goes so far as to question if the impish child is even her own. "Thou art not my child! Thou art no Pearl of mine!"(Hawthorne 99) she tells Pearl, only half-jokingly. In her own way, she wonders whether Pearl was sent to her by God or by a demon wishing to cause her pain. She is not alone in this speculation; many of the town's citizens believe there is something of the Devil in Pearl.
Hester Prynne is seen by many as worthy of respect and admiration throughout Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. She is ultimately seen as a hero in many areas of the novel. Literary critic Mark Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne is a heroic citizen who rises above the consequences of her sin. Van Doren argues that Hester Prynne should be seen as a noble hero through his use of repetition, praiseworthy diction, and admirable tone.
He defies the system of education by leaving the institution and starting his own school. He did this because he believed following a set system with rules would hurt his integrity. This similar act plays out in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In the novel, main character Hester Prynne cares for her child despite what others think. She puts little importance to the townspeople's ridicule and judgement and continues to walk through the marketplace with her head held high. Hester keeps her integrity and continues to focus on her most important goal, which is to look after her daughter Pearl and give her all the love she deserves. Like Henry, Hester showed strength through her determination of keeping her strong moral principles and making her own decisions. Despite being judged and hated, Hester stayed sane and together because she had her integrity and knew the importance of defying against all external forces to be able to stick to what she believed
Despite the public shame she has experienced and many years of wearing the intimation of her adulterous sin, Hester Prynne remains proud and displays her letter boldly. Anyone that did not possess quite her level of emotional stamina and pride would have surely decreased in character and may possibly even lose all hope in life, but Hester proves to be very different. Instead of reacting to the humiliation and remarks of the commons in a hostile manner, Hester instead ignores these things and focuses her mind more toward memories of years past, as she did while standing on the scaffold for the first time. Hawthorne thus uses her young, spriteful daughter, Pearl, to represent the emotions that Hester either cannot, or chooses not to, display openly to others. In chapter 6, Pearl is described as showing “a love of mischief and a disrespect for authority,” which frequently reminded Hester of her own sin of passion. Similarly, in Pearl’s games of make-believe, she never creates friends. She creates only enemies – Puritans whom she pretends to destroy. It is a rare occurrence that a child so young in age should think such thoughts of morbidity, thus strengthening the evidence of Hawthorne’s use of Pearl as a display of Hester’s thoughts – thoughts of retaliating against the Puritans for ...
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).
Hester Prynne is a character who gave up everything, even love, for her child. Hester Prynne sacrificed her peace, her beauty, her entire being for her child and this shows her determination and profound understanding of the world. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s piece, “The Scarlet Letter” shows the other side of the sinner’s story and not as a villain, but a victim.
As a living reminder of Hester’s extreme sin, Pearl is her constant companion. From the beginning Pearl has always been considered as an evil child. For Hester to take care of such a demanding child, put lots of stress onto her life. Hester at times was in a state of uncontrollable pressure. “Gazing at Pearl, Hester Prynne often dropped her work upon her knees, and cried out with an agony which she would fain have hidden, but which made utterance for itself, betwixt speech and a groan, ‘O Father in heaven- if Thou art still my Father- what is this being which I have brought into the world!’” (Hawthorne, 77).
Pearl and the other Puritan children have a huge role in Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Pearl is displayed as very different from any of the other children in the book. The attitudes of the children tell the reader a lot about the lives of the Puritans. The story emphasizes that children were to be seen but not heard however, Hester chooses to let Pearl live a full and exciting life. Hester does not restrict pearl or hide her from anyone or anything. This is part of the reason that Pearl becomes such a colorful child. People see Pearl as a child of sin; the devil’s child. Pearl is quite the opposite. She is a happy and intelligent little girl. Pearl is born with an incredible sense of intuition. She sees the pain her mother feels but does not understand where the pain is coming from. Pearl knows somehow deep in her heart that Dimmesdale is her father. She takes a very strong liking to him. This makes it much harder on dimmesdale to work through the guilt seeing what a beautiful thing came from his terrible secret. Pearl serves as a blessing to and a curse to Hester. Hester Prynne loves her daughter dearly but she is a constant reminder of the mistakes she has made.
Initially Pearl is the symbol of Hesters public punishment for her adultery. As the novel progresses and Pearl matures she symbolizes the deteriation of Hester's like by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter "A". Pearl in a sense wants her mother to live up to her sin and, she achieves this by constantly asking her about the scarlet letter. Another peice of evidence that shows how Pearl symbolizes the sin Hester has committed, is when the town government wants to take Pearl away from her Revrend Dimmsdale convinces the government that Pearl is a living reminder of her sin. This is essentialy true, Hester without Pearl is like having Hester without sin.
This, as Arthur Dimmesdale almost prophetically expresses in the early scenes of Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, was the role of Pearl, the elfish child borne of his and Hester Prynne's guilty passion. Like Paul's thorn in the flesh, Pearl would bring trouble, heartache, and frustration to Hester, but serve a constructive purpose lying far beyond the daily provocations of her childish impishness. While in many respects a tormentor to Hester, Pearl was also her savior, while a reminder of her guilt, a promoter of honesty and true Virtue; and while an embodiment of Hester's worst qualities, a vision of a better life for Hester and for herself.
By being with Hester, Pearl got to experience a different manner in life which enabled her to see an outside perspective of Puritan life and learn moral lessons from it. Pearl was not born into the typica...
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.