She continues to hold onto her regrets; however, her personality flourishes. Hawthorne portrays Hester as a strong individual, who even alters the stigma surrounding her. The women of the town eventually see her positive attitude, and they begin to interpret the scarlet letter differently: “Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize, - that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (151). Their interpretation of the letter shifts, and although Hester becomes an outcast of the community, she embraces her sin and learns to live with it.
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
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.
She did good deeds towards the sick, so comfortable to the people. “The tendency of her fate and fortunes had been set free. The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dare not tread” (208). Hester is a daring woman who has the courage and who has taken risks that could have destroyed
The Scarlet Changeling One of the base human principles that have followed us through time and insured our survival is the ability to adapt and change to best suit our current needs. In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The main things that bring about Hester Prynne’s acceptance of the Letter are her reflection, self realization, and adaptation to survive and thrive in her ignorant troubled world. As she reflects on what the Letter has done in her life she realizes that she should not be suppressed by the Letter that it should be the factor in what makes her unique and as she empowers herself she changed in ways that redefine her current and future self from her past self. And not only does Hester’s Letter affect every aspect her it, but it forces her to reflect on how it has affected her.
Hester was viewed by the society in assorted ways throughout the course of the story. Before her sin was committed, she was a beautiful lady that was new in town and awaiting for the arrival of her long lost husband who was supposed to becoming over from England. After her good name had been disgraced with the blemish of her sin, the public's view of her changed dramatically. They were cruel and harsh to her but this only helped her to become a stronger independant woman. She realized no one was going to help her because then they'd have to bear her shame as well, so, in turn she learned to fend for herself.
The interpretation of the letter eventually shifts to Able, after the community recognizes her endeavors. Hester acknowledges and addresses her sin which sparks a change in meaning of the scarlet letter that contributes to the themes of honesty and forgiveness. Hester most notably displays honesty when she embraces her sin and makes an attempt at salvation. In the first scaffold scene, the narrator illustrates Hester and her letter while she stands ignominiously, specifically indicating that the scarlet letter removes her from “ordinary relations with humanity” (Hawthorne 81). The citizens of Massachusetts Bay abash Hester for her wrongdoings, leading to an estrangement between the two; however, the stigma that Hester carries will not
(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.
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.
At first, the harsh words, and actions of the people affected really bad to Hester, but she learned how to ignore them. In Chapter 5, Hawthorne describes how other ladies will usually attack her with insults, “but Hester had trained herself well. She never responded to these attacks, except that her cheeks would slowly turn red before the blush faded into the depths of her heart. She was patient, a true martyr”. Showing how she slowly learned to accept all the bad comments and critics of the people and don’t make them affect her too much, she get used to live with the Scarlet letter.
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
Hester embraces Pearl as her daughter despite being a product of sin. Also against the will of the meaning of the scarlet letter, Hester starts helping the very Puritans that condemned her. Hawthorne describes that “Such helpfulness was found in her… that many people refuse to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able;” (69). Hester chooses to help those in need as her alienation gave her empathy for outcasts after seeing from their point of view, and spending time on her own led her into becoming a freethinker.
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.
