Mark Van Doren's Heroic Tone

Praising Heroic Hester
Mark Van Doren’s Critical essay “Hester Prynne” explains how his portrayal of Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter addresses Hawthorne’s opinion and view of Hester. Van Doren’s “Hester Prynne” article explains how Hawthorne praises Hester in his novel. Van Doren goes in depth and uses literary devices to explain his point of Hawthorne’s reference to Hester. Mark Van Doren uses mythological allusion, worthy tone, and selectional diction.
Through his use of mythological allusions, Van Doren displays Hester’s qualities as a hero through Hawthorne’s point of view. Van Doren relates Hester to Odysseus by showing similar characteristics that Hawthorne shows in his novel. For example, Mark Van Doren states that Hawthorne “ is the Homer of that

Hester relates to him and is not willing to back down, which means that Hawthorne wants to show the reader how defiant Hester is and that she can become independent. Hester adapts to New England, which proves Van Doren’s point of Hester’s qualities of a hero.
Mark Van Doren uses an admirable tone to describe Hawthorne’s view of Hester. Van Doren believes that Hawthorne actually improves Hester’s life when he states, “the life of Hester increases, not diminishes” (Van Doren). Hester goes through rough times, but she never gives up until she is free of sin and becomes happy. For example Hester is looked down upon from civilization but towards the end she is respected and idolized in a way. In addition, Van Doren praises Hester and claims she strengthens over harsh events. After all, Hawthorne wrote the novel in a way where Hester is originally seen as a sinner, but relieves her sin towards the end of the novel. Van Doren then states, “she is the heroine of tragedy and she understands tragedy,” (Van Doren). Van Doren praises in this tone to emphasize how Hester is able to persevere which relates to heroic qualities. Van Doren’s praising tone depicts Hester as a