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Hester's Character In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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It’s crazy how a single letter can summarize someone’s character. In the book, The Scarlet Letter, Hester was labeled by her community as an Adulterer. She had to wear a Scarlet A everywhere she went, signifying that she had committed a great sin looked down upon in the eyes of the Puritan’s God. The project given was to wear a letter that shows what we frown upon in ourselves or what we pride ourselves on, character wise. I chose to use the letter B as my scarlet letter because it stands for Broken. Growing up I didn’t get to have a normal childhood that others might have because I was around a toxic environment. My two siblings and I were abused (mentally and physically), starved at times, and neglected by our birth mother. Since I never met my father I always feel like I’m missing something, like …show more content…

It was like I brought out all of my raw insecurities and wore it on my chest for everyone to see the truth beyond my persona. The power of the letter can influence what people think of you and how people treat you because whenever they talk to you afterwards, all they can think of you is what you showed them. IT DEFINES YOU AS A PERSON WITHIN THE COMMUNITY. Hester’s situation is almost similar because she was labeled as a hussy that wasn’t loyal and full of sin, all because of the Scarlet Letter that she was forced to keep on for the rest of her life. Whenever people came and asked me about my letter I was hesitant every time because I don’t like opening up to people like that. Even though they were curious, they didn’t try and push it farther which was a relief for me. I don’t think that people treat me differently when I told them because I feel like they understand, sort of. I still hold back from telling people things based on the fact that I know that they will most likely spread the word and that would make me feel

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As two main characters in The Scarlet Letter, which is written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester and Dimmesdale are committed adultery, therefore, the scarlet letter is patched on Hester’s chest. Accordingly, Hester and Dimmesdale have some similarities and differences. Both of the characters have the same sin, love each other, love Pearl , and indeed, they have been changed by their sin. On the other hand, the way that Hester and Dimmesdale deal with their sin is totally different, and it brings them to different ending as well. Hester and Dimmesdale love each other deeply, even though they have changed totally since their identical sin has revealed.

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While her punishment changes her physical appearance, it has a far more profound effect on her character. Hester seems much older and worn down with the scarlet letter on her bosom. To Hester, the scarlet letter is a

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The Scarlet Letter was Hester’s forced punishment and is a reminder to the whole community of Hester’s sin of adultery. As Hester’s character grows in strength she realizes that “if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom” (59). Hester expresses how everyone sins and if everyone was punished the way she was, many people would have to wear a letter of their own. The punishment of wearing the “A” gave Hester the freedom of not having to hide her sins from others. However, the people with hidden sins have to protect their reputation which causes a lack of freedom.

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In the beginning the scarlet letter represented adultery and shame, but then the A represented “able.” Hester Prynne showed people that greatness can come out of huge mistake. One bad chapter does not mean your story is over. Willingly, Hester wanted to pick herself up again and move on with her life and eventually people noticed that. They began to respect her and think of her as strong and commendable

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To most, the letter “A” is just another letter in the alphabet but imagine living in a society where it meant sin, shame, and ridicule. That is what it means to those living in the Puritan society. The main character, Hester Prynne, lives in the Puritan society and that sin, shame, and ridicule are her daily life. Hester is forced to wear the letter “A” on her bosom every day to be reminded of her wrong doing. The “A” stands for “Adulterer”, which is what Hester was convicted of when she had her daughter, Pearl, without her husband around.

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In The Scarlet letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne is a winner because she overcomes a patriarchal society. Hester overcome this patriarchal society by having her own business that helps her provides for herself with no help of men. She also stands up to the men in her town to protect her daughter. Hester demonstrates being a winner because she changes the meaning of her badge to something more symbolic.

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Even though the Puritans may have designated the letter as a representation of sin, Hester’s renewed sense of pride does not want society to define the A for her. Rather Hester wants to define it herself and by doing so she develops responsibility and power over her own actions. Because Hester has the power to change who she is, she also has the power to change what the Scarlet Letter represents. By letting the letter be “embroidered with gold thread” readers are able to see how for Hester sin is not something to be fearful of; furthermore, it allows one to see how Hester has developed into an independent individual who accepts who she is and the situation she is presented with. Hester’s lover unfortunately

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Hester represents a romantic future which Owen renounces to fulfill what he considers his destiny. When Owen comes to terms with his death, he is abandoning all hopes of a future with Hester. Furthermore, Hester acts as a sacrificial gift that Owen would have to lose in order to execute his predestined path. “AND THERE’S ALSO HESTER TO CONSIDER,” (340). Owen knew death was foreordained, although he wanted to take pleasure in what time he had left.

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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne is used by Hawthorne to break away from the feminine norms of women during the Puritan period. Although Hester Prynne embodies stereotypical feminine traits, she also embodies masculine traits that were unseen in women of the period. Women of the time were typically considered the “domestic workers,” doing things such as cleaning, cooking, sewing, and much more. An article by NPR accurately puts Hester’s controversial personality into perspective, citing that Hester is “the embodiment of deep contradictions: bad and beautiful, holy and sinful, conventional and radical” (Seabrook).

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Feminism is the philosophy advocating equal political, economic, and social rights for women. The idea of feminism was not at all prevalent during the 1850s when Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published. In spite of this, Hawthorne wrote one of the most influential feminist novels of his time: The Scarlet Letter. This novel was hailed as an important feminist novel because of the main character: Hester Prynne.

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Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the first American authors to engender the idea of regenerate his ancestral culture through his stories (Clendenning). Most of Hawthorne's short stories and novels originate from his representation and belief of the harshness and unreasonable Puritan community. For example, in The Scarlet Letter , a character who embodies the opposite of an epitome of a proper Puritan woman. Hawthorne illustrates this character by contrasting the bold attitude of Hester Prynne to the extremely conservative society: But Hester Prynne, with a mind of native courage and activity, and for so long a period not merely estranged, but outlawed, from society, had habituated herself to such latitude of speculation as was altogether

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Hester doesn´t reflect that when she wears it. At first, for Hester the scarlet letter represents the loneliness that she feels, the sense of guilt and how society is judging her for her sin. Later, however, she comes to terms with her fate and accepts it. This is when the letter “A” becomes something secondary because Hester finds the strength and confidence inside her, to a point where she refuses to take the scarlet letter off, saying that is has grown too deep in her. It has become part of

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Receiving the scarlet letter changed every aspect of Hester’s life. Especially at the start of the story, the letter symbolized the solitude and great suffering Hester faced just because of a letter placed on her bosom. The “A” also depicted how no one viewed Hester the same way as before her peccant actions. “…she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance” (Hawthorne 109). The pejorative community Hester lived in never saw Hester as the beautiful, young woman she was, but now, as a horrible fiend.

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“Was that Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. ”(Hawthorne 51). Because Puritans were so against Hester’s sin, they made her wear an “A” on her chest that stands for adultery. The townspeople wanted everyone who sees her know what she did so that she would be humiliated by it for the rest of her life. Hester was basically rejected by the town, and was scorned by the people everyday.

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The meaning of the scarlet letter and the way people view Hester changes throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The scarlet letter was originally suppose to represent adultery and was there to show everyone the sin Hester Prynne had committed. Hester had to

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