Why Is Hester Prynne A Heroic Figure

1289 Words3 Pages

Directions: For each of the questions below, prepare an insightful and supported answer. Strengthen your arguments with text-based evidence and artful observations. This document will be submitted to Turnitin.com on Thursday, September 1 before 7:00 A.M., so be sure to convey original and thought-provoking answers that are YOUR OWN. Please print your answers for Thursday’s Seminar.

Is Hester Prynne ultimately a heroic figure? Make sure to support your argument with textual support, as well as a clear definition of what it means to be a hero. No, in the end, Hester Prynne only came close to undoing a past mistake. Her actions turned a once brilliant man into a demon and both mentally, physically, and spiritually deteriorated (and eventually killed) a righteous pastor. A hero is defined as one who possesses noble qualities, such as courage, or performs an outstanding achievement to help or save others. Although the reader may commend Hester for revitalising Dimmesdale with their plan to escape in chapter 18, Hester herself admits that she is the source for all of his trouble on pages 141-143 by regretting her choice to keep Chillingworth’s secret. In the same passage, Hester also admits that Chillingworth used to be “kind, true, [and] just” and became a monster because of her. Even …show more content…

Although Hester and Pearl are isolated for a while after their punishment (85), the Puritan society’s view of her changes in chapter 13. In chapter 13, Hester is shown to have become a servant of the community, and, rather than scorning her, the community praises her as holy (134). Even the symbol that embodies her punishment, the scarlet letter A, transforms into a symbol of her holiness, being interpreted by the people as meaning “Able” (134). In chapter 24, the story’s conclusion, Hester mentors young women, furthering the idea that she brings redemption from her sin by using her lessons to help others

Show More
Related

  • Scarlet Letter - Pearl as a symbol

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Hester Prynne: Victim or Heroine?

    938 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester is an example. She is doomed to publicly carry her shame by force, but her willful determination to remain strong makes her a heroine. She may have been a victim of a major sin, but she is definitely a heroine to admire. Hawthorne got it right. Hester is a heroine that many will choose and is definitely a great person to study. Learning about Hester can teach so much to one person. Hester is seen by some as an early example of feminine strength. By standing up to her situation, facing her sin, and getting on with her life, Hester is forgiven by not only her peers, but herself, perhaps the most important forgiveness of all.

    Read More

  • Is Hester Prynne A Hero

    748 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Pearl as an Expression of Hester’s Emotions in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 ...

    Read More

  • Hester Prynne And Arthur Dimmesdale In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    541 Words  | 2 Pages

    The letter ‘A’ that she wore on her bosom plastered Hester’s scandal all over the community. Pearl, the daughter of the sinner’s, was being parented by Hester, which constantly reminded her of the sin everyday. The community looked down upon Hester and Pearl, but instead of letting it get to them, Hester accepted the consequences therefore she tried to move on. Although the family dealt with a lot of criticism from fellow Puritans, they did not let those thoughts get into their heads. Hester was a popular seamstress in her time, even though she was unable to make wedding veils because of the sin she committed. “Why, look you, she may cover it with a brooch, or suchlike heathenish adornment, and so walk the streets as brave as ever!” (Hawthorne 49). The sin made Hester determined because she came to self-realization and broke free.

    Read More

  • Free College Essays - The Virtue of Truth in Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

    566 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester Prynne exhibits the essence of truth and pride when she bravely faces the humiliation of the scaffold. In chapter 17, when Hester apologizes to Dimmesdale about concealing Chillingworth’s identity, she says, “In all things else, I have striven to be true! Truth was the one virtue which I might have held, and did hold fast, through all extremity…A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side (pg. 202)!” It is Hester’s pride, which sustains her from the beginning of the novel to the end, when she dies, still sporting the scarlet A on her bosom.

    Read More

  • Hester Prynne Faith In Scarlet Letter

    1857 Words  | 4 Pages

    As Hester makes her way to the platform, a visual image is brought forth that illustrates “ She bore in her arms a child, a baby of some three months old, …… because its existence,therefore, had brought it acquainted only with the gray twilight of a dungeon (Hawthorne 54).” Pearl has been exposed to her surroundings that are now far more than being held in a cell as a hostage. The puritan society is waiting for the two sinners to reveal themselves and express the type of crime they have committed not only against marriage but against god himself. Hester has exposed a delineate biography expressing how the people must see Pearl in clear pristine eyes with no connection to her sin for the idea that, Pearl is her given fruit by God , however she must not receive nor take in any of the humiliation nor the disgrace that has been given by the puritan people to Hester. She has transmitted and exposed the sentiment of emotion and affection which is something that Hester will never be able to do for the conviction of her sin. Pearl must imbibe and comprehend the mental conclusion that her world will be considered and compared to her mother's actions as civilian but she must break the spell and perfect her soul to reflect that her mother's sin has nothing to do with her ability to reach or accomplish the unexpected. Therefore, the violation or sin made by Hester Prynne should not apply to pearl for hallucination that she must project herself as a person that is honorable and dominant without having her mother's sin dictate her life. As a result, in the last moment of the paperback Pearl has become a virtue of loyalty to the upper class as a person to follow thy footsteps in exceeding her

    Read More

  • Conformity In The Scarlet Letter Essay

    1062 Words  | 3 Pages

    The narrator notes her change in morals and beliefs: “She had wandered… much amiss” (180). This passage describes Hester’s state of mind and morals after seven years with the scarlet letter. Compared to Dimmesdale, Hester is much wilder, yet also much better adjusted to the weight of her guilt. She has accepted what happened and uses that acknowledgment to shape her views. She has become stronger, more untamed, and more removed from society. Not only does society reject her, but her crime forces her to question morals and dive into her wilder nature. Religion and law no longer work as simple guidelines for her life. Her act is considered a sin, but out of it she got freedom, love, and Pearl. After being cast out, she now looks at society and its rules—the things most people conform to—from a more negative, outsider perspective. The letter gives her a chance to be independent and find what she believes in as opposed to what she's been told to believe in. She rejects society through both these rebellious views, and also through her actions upon coming back to the community. She helps women in the community by offering support and counselling. In such a male dominated society, this is an important step both towards feminism and away from the

    Read More

  • Analysis Of D. H. Lawrence's On Hester Prynne

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is seen as a hero by some and as corruption and sin itself by others. She commits adultery, perceived as one of the worst sins by Puritan society, but also comes to terms with it. D.H. Lawrence conveys his thoughts on the subject of whether the protagonist of the novel should be considered a hero in his essay “On Hester Prynne”. He claims that the whole idea of Hester being a hero is ridiculous because The Scarlet Letter was meant to be satirical when relating to the topic of who is seen as a hero. Lawrence believes that she has corrupted Dimmesdale, the young and pure minister, and does not deserve the praise she is receiving from Hawthorne and other authors like Van Doren. Hester

    Read More

  • The Scarlett Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester Prynne, an adulteress, is imprisoned by the laws of Puritan society and instead of running away, struggles to accept her badge of shame as a very real part of who she is. When she is first commanded to wear a scarlet letter A, she sees it as a curse. For the first few years she tries to ignore the ignominy under a mask of indifference. “Hester Prynne, meanwhile, kept her place upon the pedestal of shame, with glazed eyes, and an air or weary indifference,” Hawthorne writes. (page 48) Even so, she cannot hide from what her sin has produced. Every day her daughter Pearl reminds her of her sin. The only way to freedom is to avoid being defined by the society in which she finds herself. It is a gradual process but slowly, due to her compassion for the poor and sick, people start to view Hester's badge as meaning “Able” rather than “Adulteress”. Eventually her badge becomes a blessing as other women come to her for advice and counseling in that,

    Read More

  • The Scarlet Letter 10

    1276 Words  | 3 Pages

    Hester's sin is that her passion and love were of more importance to her than the Puritan moral code, but she learns the error of her ways and slowly regains the adoration of the community. For instance, 'What we did had a consecration of its own. We felt it so! We said so to each other! Hast thou forgotten it?';(Ch.17: 179). Hester fully acknowledges her guilt and displays it with pride to the world. This was obvious by the way she displays the scarlet letter with elaborate designs showing that she is proud. Furthermore, she does not want to live a life of lies anymore when she states 'forgive me! In all things else, I have striven to be true! Truth was the one virtue which I might have held fast, and did hold fast, through all extremity save when thy good--the life--they fame--were put in question! Then I consented a deception. But a lie is never good, even though death threaten the other side!';(Ch.17: 177). Hester learns from her sin, and grows strong, a direct result from her punishment. The scarlet letter 'A' was as if a blessing to Hester changing her into an honest person with good virtues. Fittingly, she chooses to stay in Boston with Pearl although Hawthorne admits, ';…that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the type of shame';(Ch.5: 73). She is trying to stay and face her consequences instead of running in the other direction. Most people would leave a town where they are looked upon as trash the scum of society. Finally, the colonists come to think of the scarlet letter as '…the cross on a nun's bosom';(Ch.

    Read More

  • Character Analysis of Hester from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...nts her conflict. Although she still is meek, she retains more inner peace. Enough inner peace as to be able to help others overcome their own sorrows. "…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." (245) She becomes a more active and respected individual in society. Most of all Hester gained strength. A life long mark of shame is a great obstacle to overcome and in doing so, much can be learned about the power of the mind and the strength of an honest woman.

    Read More

  • Hester Prynne Character Analysis Essay

    705 Words  | 2 Pages

    Hester Prynne had outstanding character traits for a person that went through a rough time. She was very trustworthy and kept secrets that could have altered some outcomes in her life. Her unbelievable forgiving nature allowed her to remain helpful to the citizens of Boston and make them articles of clothing even with all the crude behavior she experienced. Hester was also brave, by committing to stay in the place of her sin. Hester is an outstanding

    Read More

  • Suffering from the Tolls of Sin in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

    834 Words  | 2 Pages

    In Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, many of the characters suffer from the tolls of sin, but none as horribly as Hester's daughter Pearl. She alone suffers from sin that is not hers, but rather that of her mother's. From the day she is conceived, Pearl is portrayed as an offspring of vice. She is introduced into the discerning, pitiless domain of the Puritan religion from inside a jail; a place untouched by light, as is the depth of her mother's sin. The austere Puritan ways punish Hester through banishment from the community and the church, simultaneously punishing Pearl in the process. This isolation leads to an unspoken detachment and animosity between her and the other Puritan children. Thus we see how Pearl is conceived through sin, and how she suffers when her mother and the community situate this deed upon her like the scarlet letter on her mother's bosom.

    Read More

  • Sins of Hester Prynne, Reverend Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter

    2123 Words  | 5 Pages

    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...

    Read More

More about Why Is Hester Prynne A Heroic Figure

Open Document