How Does Hester Prynne Commit Adultery

Everyone has sinned in their life, and it can be very hard to win over the trust you have broken. In the novel, Hester Prynne commits adultery with one of the town's ministers, Arthur Dimmesdale, and names their daughter Pearl. As a punishment, both parents receive a Scarlet letter ‘A' that they must wear at all times. Hester's true husband was held captive by Indians and when he is released, he finds the town in which Hester lives, and poses as a physician by the name of Roger Chillingworth in order to conceal his true identity. Because of how these characters deal with redeeming themselves of their sin, Chillingworth becomes the physician of Dimmesdale and causes spiritual torture to him, while Hester is not affected. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale both commit adultery. However, the two sinners use two different approaches on how to go about redeeming themselves.

Because of this, she is treated much differently. For example, when Hester is publicly humiliated for committing her crime, she, “with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours” (Hawthorne 37). Hester seemed to act arrogant and proud of her sin. She even says that she, “...named the infant ‘Pearl,' as being of great price- purchased with all she had- her mother's only pleasure” (Hawthorne 168). Hester seems to be very proud of her child, and presumably her sin! But as time goes on, she quickly becomes an outcast of society and very quiet. Dimmesdale, however, took a much different path in trying to redeem