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Essay On The Scarlet Letter Hester's Transformation

1097 Words5 Pages

In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the element of change is paramount in the understanding of Hester’s personal transformation as well as her relationships with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the Puritan community. Throughout the story, all three of Hester’s major relationships go through many shifts that affect the plot of the book. In the beginning, none of Hester’s relationships are benefiting to her. However, they slowly progress into either a loving relationship or relentless bitterness towards one another.
In the beginning of the story, Chillingworth is trying to find the man that Hester cheated on him with and bring him to justice, as well as keep Hester as his wife. As time goes on, his soul is slowly consumed with his …show more content…

Hester is in an emotional state that differs a lot from where it was at the beginning. At the opening of the book, Hester made the bulk of her life decisions with her heart, opposite of Chillingworth who started with making decisions with his head. An example of Hester making choices with her heart is when she made the decision to commit adultery with the Reverend Dimmesdale. If she had been thinking with her head at the time she would have known that under no circumstances would this bring anything but trouble and misery for those around her. The main consequence of her love affair with Dimmesdale was being an outcast in the Puritan society. All of the Puritans were very irritated at Hester for disrespecting their community and felt she deserved a worse punishment, “At the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead,” (78). As the story progressed Hester’s decision-making process went through many various shifts. She was no longer making decisions with her heart but instead was choosing with her head. This served to be only helpful for only one thing, fitting in better with the Puritans, which was not something that Hester cared deeply about. The Puritans were raised on the morals of the head before the heart, anyone who did otherwise was not considered to be a true participant in their

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