Not only could Hester not work to her full ability, she also was shamed by the public. While she was to stand on the scaffolding, the townswomen would whisper about Hester. “There was, moreover, a boldness and rotundity of speech among these matrons, as most of them seemed to be” (Hawthorn pg. 35 ) Hester faced judgment from the townspeople no matter how hard she worked to achieve a better life. As time passed their shaming went down, but she was never able to have a normal place in their society, because everyone's first impression of her would the the red letter of her
By wearing the “A,” Hester was publicly humiliated, however, her development in character causes a change in the meaning of the Scarlet Letter, which leads her to taking pride in the letter as it grows a part of her. After Hester’s sin the Puritan community places a false
Throughout Hawthorne’s novel, a direct connection can be made through narration and the events that supposedly a “pure” man has to encounter. Hawthorne encourages you to take a deeper look in the nature of sin and the corruption surrounding religion. To add ingratiate his plot and to distance himself from the narrator, Hawthorne uses a story-in-story approach to further insure his credibility, increasing the author’s ethos. Regarding his position on the nature of sin and corruption of religion, Hawthorne is not for the Puritan Church of Salem because of the corruption within the system. During chapter three, with the prior knowledge of Hester Prynne’s sin, Hawthorne exposes Minister Dimmesdale as the father and lover of Hester.
She is brave and does not deny that she sinned. She realizes that she needs to let go of the misery that the scarlet letter has brought upon her. Rather than letting it define her, Hester uses the letter. She helps out in the community. It does not define who she is.
Hester was publically humiliated in the form of wearing letters and standing on the scaffold. Punishments like these were used in the time period of when the book was written and Puritan America. These two time periods affect events in the book as well as characters decisions. The book The Scarlet Letter is highly new historic. Although Nathaniel Hawthorne has shared the story of Hester, there are many things that have happened to people in the past that we do not know
Hester subverts the power structure which condemns her both by her decorative presentation of the scarlet letter and the conversion of the scornful badge into a badge of capability. Through her good works, Hester achieves the conversion of society’s scorn into something more acceptable: “They said that [the scarlet letter] meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 106). As Hester proves herself as a capable and virtuous woman, the townspeople start to regard the A less as a badge of shame and more as a badge of capability, thereby reducing the Puritan intent of punishment. In the process of subversion, Hester also carves a role for herself in the community as a caretaker for the sick and the poor. She involves herself in the community without sacrificing the traits which society condemns; she still refuses to apologize for her sin.
(Hawthorne, pg. 48). This demonstrates that Hester perseveres through her hardship by working hard because she risks her own punishment and more consequences for someone else 's reputation. As she provides for Pearl, she works hard enough that the community gradually accepts her sin. Although she still wears the scarlet letter, they begin to see her differently. She is viewed as a symbol of pride for the community.
This passage further enhances the theme of The Scarlet Letter, which is the importance of staying true to yourself, no matter what society thinks- to not hide your worst qualities so that you may live your life in the open, and so that you can be free of secrets and lies. The passage does this effectively, using a compare and contrast structure*, by contrasting Hester and Dimmesdale- Hester, who has lived her life in the open, not held back by society and its regulations, and Dimmesdale, who has kept his affair a secret, therefore remaining in the firm grip of society’s regulations. Hawthorne’s characterization of these two characters, both in this passage and throughout the book, is vital to this theme. Hester is characterized as a free person;
In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester shows signs of being a virtuous woman despite occurrences of sin throughout the novel. Proverbs states that a woman has to meet certain qualifications to be virtuous. Hester works with her hands, gives to the poor and dresses Pearl in scarlet. Although she has sinned and had Pearl out of wedlock, Hester has changed and become a better woman who shows virtue.
In John 8:1-8, several scribes and Pharisees bring a woman caught in the act of adultery to Jesus and question him if they shall follow the law of Moses and stone her to death. Shockingly however, Jesus responds with “Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her” (United States of Catholic Bishops Bible, John 8.7). Because of this response, no one attempts to condemn the woman. After everyone leaves, Jesus forgives the woman, instructing her not to sin again. This encounter teaches the idea that everyone sins, and no one has moral superiority.
One would think that being placed in front of a crowd of people would bring forth the feelings of guilt, shame, and embarrassment, but Hester is different. After she gets over the initial shock of the situation, she is able to own it. The letter separates her from
As stated by a philosopher named Elbert Hubbard, “down in their hearts, wise men know this truth: the only way to help yourself is to help others”. Hester displays this claim through her devotion to charity in the novel, The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne. She turns to assisting the needy to redeem herself, ultimately resulting in a shift of her personality. Consequently, the meaning of the scarlet letter alters to mean “able” because of this shift. The change in the meaning of the Scarlet letter shows Hester changing into a reserved women and devoting herself to performing charitable acts.
The townspeople “[began] to look upon the scarlet letter as a token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” This quote exemplifies how sin is not a death sentence for Hester. Through hard work and charity it allowed the rigid Puritan society to see her as something different, and as someone who would not let society define who she was. Hester, thus, was not only able to change herself, but also the image in which society viewed her by working hard to benefit the public. Likewise, the scarlet letter which was supposed to represent sin was instead “fantastically embroidered with gold thread, upon her bosom.”
The change in meaning of the Scarlet Letter contributes to the themes of honesty and forgiveness Hester is on the scaffold in front of everyone while the narrator describes her appearance. Specifically noting that the scarlet letter is removing her from “ordinary relations with humanity” (Hawthorne 81). This is the initial drive for Hester to stay honest to herself. This
Hester Prynne is also made to wear the Scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest which reminds her and the people of the Puritan society about the sin she committed. She is constantly made to feel guilty and suffer just because the law and the people of the puritan community think adulterous behavior is a serious crime. Hester suffers more than she deserves just because of a simple mistake she committed so it makes her a sympathetic
