The Scarlet Letter: Hester Prynne And Adultery

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out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped" (Hawthorne 1185). The environment surrounding Hester is instrumental in making her pay for her sin. Hester can actually feel the burning on her chest as the people stare at the letter A attached. "It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and inclosing her in a sphere by herself" (Hawthorne 1185). Immediately we see that Hester is alone because she has set herself free. The townspeople repress her quest for personal freedom, and oust her from the community. Thus, Hester is thrown into a world of moral ambiguity. She cannot deny the sin that she has committed, nor can she regret it.
Indeed Hester is overwhelmed by shame. Hawthorne reveals to us her thoughts upon her first visit to the scaffold. "It was almost intolerable to be borne…she felt, at moments, as if she must need shriek out with the full power of her lungs, and cast herself from the scaffold down upon ...

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part of Hester's world. She is the synthesis of Dimmesdale's Puritanism and Hester's feminism. Being a product of the two, and possessing an intuitive knowledge of what happens in the adult world, Pearl represents the possibility of the ends of sin in the community (Salzman/Wilkinson 646). The intellect which she possesses is undeniable. When Hester has finished talking to Dimmesdale in the forest, she discards the scarlett letter near the brook. She asks pearl to come along, but Pearl refuses. By making Hester put the letter back on before she will go, Pearl shows that she is indeed part of her mother's environment. Pearl will not allow her mother to escape the sin until the ...

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