Is Hester Guilty?
The exception indicated the ever relentless vigour with which society frowned upon her sin.” (Hawthorn, pg 48.) Even years after she committed adultery, her reputation was still so foul that the townsfolk would not allow her to make things deemed “pure.” They thought it was inappropriate. Still later, seven years after Hester was forced to stand upon the scaffold, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale announced that he was the one Hester committed adultery with, and then fell down, dead.
Terence Martin makes an intriguing point in this discussion of Hester in Chapter 18 when he asserts his claim that “seven years of ignominy have left her a resolute priestess of a private cult”. (Martin) This is an intriguing assertion because it shows the dangers of moral ambiguity. Hester “wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest”, (Hawthorne 399) and like the forest that the Puritans so greatly fear, Hester has made a pact with the Black Man in the forests of moral ambivalence. Perhaps Hawthorne would say that Hester has transcended the moral confines of the archaic and hypocritical Puritans, but clearly Hester’s venture into the moral badlands have bestowed upon her a false moral compass fashioned from “seven years of ignominy” (Martin) and guilt.
Hester and her daughter, Pearl, were constantly ridiculed by the inhabitants of the town, and many citizens believed that Hester deserved a harsher penalty for her actions. One woman mocked Hester while gossiping with her peers when she declared, “‘This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die’” (36). Agreeing with this claim, many of the villagers continued to mock and scrutinize not only Hester’s actions, but Hester herself. Another woman suggested that “‘a brand of hot iron [should have been put] on Hester Prynne’s forehead’” (36). While this sentence seems less harsh than death, this woman’s comment proves that she too believed that Hester deserved a severe punishment for her despicable sin.
People can be seen “sinning” all throughout the novel, however people always seem to be able to simply look the other way as it has become a regular event. However, Hester’s sin has been opened to the public which in the
Some may say Hester's sin was justifiable, some may say not. Either was, no one is free of sin. In this Puritan society mans law is God's law. They can’t speak to God, but they still hand out punishments for him. Roger Chillingworth’s wife that he sent ahead of him to the new world, cheated on him and had a child
Hester being a woman- Hester has to have her secrete told and she could not hide from sin or was not awarded the option to find salvation by herself because she was a Puritan woman. Because she is the one that got pregnant as result of sin she had not time to hide from her sin and no option. Being a woman she also faced much harsher judgements than Dimmesdale did or would have if he came forth with the truth at the time when the scandal was all the hype. Hester was not given an opportunity to hide from her sin nor was she awarded the convenient timing of confessing Dimmesdale did.
Hester Prynne, at the beggining of the novel, is put on trial due to the fact that she has commited adultery. In the events prior to the trial Hester was sent over to the America's with her husband in hopes to start a civilization; however, Hester was not accompanied by her husband due to business. Once she arrived to Salem she awaited her husbands arrival for many months but he never returned to her. Under the circumstances Hester
This is just another example of how women and their bodies are policed under this dichotomy. Yet men are free from the being either the Madonna or the whore because that separation is exclusive to women. Throughout the story, Hester’s torment is contrasted with the man whom Hester had an affair with, Arthur Dimmesdale. Despite Arthur revealing his part in their adultery, the townspeople do not condemn him. In the conclusion, the narrator reveals how the spectators refused to believe that Arthur’s “dying words, acknowledged, nor even remotely implied, any, the slightest connection on his part, with the guilt for which Hester Prynne had so lone worn the scarlet letter” (Hawthorne 566).
The question “Is Hester Prynne guilty?” has been up in the air. Hester has committed a crime, sinned to her Puritan religion, and refused to state the identity of the father of her daughter. Hester is without a doubt guilty for all the reasons stated above. Hester and her husband married in the Puritan religion. She then sinned by committing adultery.
Enough evidence was given in the book that Hester deserves the punishment. To prove that she does, Hester was raised as a Puritan so she knew what would be the consequences she has committed adultery and is left with a baby alone to raise without a father role model. As well she is not suited to be a mother. She can’t keep Pearl.
Despite Hester knowing it in her heart of hearts that she is not alone in her sin she is the only one to be punished for her actions. As she lives her days and walks about her hometown her scarlet
All of the people in the community suddenly saw her as this horrible person that should ought to die. Hester almost loses her child, Pearl, and basically her freedom to live and do whatever. What people fail to realize about Hester, or
Society in general had shunned Hester for the adultery she had committed. After she was released
Not only could Hester not work to her full ability, she also was shamed by the public. While she was to stand on the scaffolding, the townswomen would whisper about Hester. “There was, moreover, a boldness and rotundity of speech among these matrons, as most of them seemed to be” (Hawthorn pg. 35 ) Hester faced judgment from the townspeople no matter how hard she worked to achieve a better life. As time passed their shaming went down, but she was never able to have a normal place in their society, because everyone's first impression of her would the the red letter of her
Throughout the novel, Hester is fraught by the Puritan society and her suffering is an effect of how evil society is. Hester continues to believe that the crime she committed was not wrong and she should not be punished for it. Her desire to protect and love Dimmesdale, turn her into a stronger person and become a heroine in the book. Although society still views her as a “naughty baggage” (Hawthorne 73) and is punished for her wrongdoing, Hester never thought to take revenge on them, yet she gives everything she has to the unfortunate and leaves herself with very little. She continues to stay positive no matter what society has for her.
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