Omika Savant Mrs. Cox Honors English 10 9 May 2024 The Scarlet Letter: Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, protagonist Hester Prynne assumes various roles; among them are a sinner, a victim, and an object. Likewise, she is treated as such. Above all, however, she is a winner. In the novel, Hester is observed as an unusual woman. As opposed to the other women in Boston at the time, Hester is the embodiment of grace, femininity, and beauty, immediately showing the readers that she is far from ordinary. Liberated, defiant, and brave, Hester immediately poses as a stark contrast to the strict standards of Puritan society. Despite this, she is upright, truthful, and virtuous, something that cannot be said about the majority of her fellow townspeople. …show more content…
Halfway through the story, Hester’s view of the letter has changed, and, as a result, so has the people’s view of her. Until this point, Hester had been seen as a symbol of sin and punishment, a testament to what can happen when one commits heinous crimes. Yet, after a meeting with Minister Dimmesdale, her once lover, Hester realized how much pain she was causing him by hiding the identity of Roger Chillingworth, her once husband. Consequently, she decided to become an upstanding member of the community, donating to the impoverished, feeding the sick, and sewing clothes for those in need. That being said, people were no longer able to see Hester as an evil woman, revoking the earlier meaning of the letter in favor of assigning it with a new definition: “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 146). In this reveal, the audience recognizes a new effect of the scarlet letter on the wearer. Rather than serving as a punishment, the mark of a criminal or wrongdoer, the letter becomes a sign of the kind, charitable woman that Hester is underneath her