Hester Prynne's inner strength, her defiance of the law, her honesty, and her compassion may have been in her character during the entire novel, but The Scarlet Letter brought them to our attention. Hester was such a strong woman who did not pay any mind to what others thought of her. For example, Throughout the novel she faced humiliation by the other people in her town,but all the while remained a woman of great probity, and she never lost her sense of pride. When she walked to the scaffold from the prison, she held her head high and wasn't affected in any way by the evil glares from the public. As an adulteress, she was forced to endure shame, and judgment from her peers and was sentenced to have the letter “A” pinned to her gown until death parted her from it. In the novel, the author made it clear that the meaning of the "A" stood for adulteress. The public shaming was harsh enough, but the punishment to sew an "A" and wear it on her gown for the rest of her life was unnecessary. Even though Hester was given this punishment, she decided that if she was forced to sew an "A", she wanted it to be noticed. The author described the "A" as on that was "so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom..." (Hawthorne). This is another …show more content…
Unfortunately, on the day that she was displayed to the public as an adulteress, it just so happened to also be the day her husband reappeared and stood in the crowd along with all the others who silently judged Hester. Nobody knew who this man was, but Hester recognized him almost instantly. Even at a moment like this, Hester didn't run in shame. She still stood proudly facing the public, including the man that she betrayed. This might have been hard for a lot of woman, but Hester Prynne still continued to be strong. Even as the Hawthorne constantly explained why women aren't in anyway powerful, His own character, Hester Prynne, proved him