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Hester Prynne: Comparion beween Reynold and Herzog Essays
Hester Prynne is a very well recognized character in The Scarlet Letter, by
Nathaniel Hawthorne. She is a character about whom much gas been written
such as, Toward Hester Prynn, by David Reynolds, and The Scarlet A,
Aboriginal and Awesome, by Kristin Herzog. Reynold's essay dealt with
Hester as a heroine, who is an artistic combination of disparate female
types. Herzog's essay dealt with the idea that Hester is both wild and
passionate, as well as, caring, conservative, and alien.
Towards Hester Prynne, by David Reynolds, expressed Hester as a heroine
composed of many different stereotypes of females from the time period
Hawthorne was writing. Hawthorne created some of the most skeptical and
politically uncommitted characters in pre-civil war history. Reynolds went
on to say, His [Hawthorne's] career illustrates the success of an
especially responsive author in gathering together disparate female types
and recombining them artistically so that they become crucial elements of
the rhetorical and artistic construct of his fiction (Reynolds 179).
Hawthorne used ironies of fallen women and female criminals to achieve the
perfect combination of different types of heroines. His heroines are
equipped to expel wrongs against their sex bringing about an awareness of
both the rights and wrongs of women. Hester is a compound of many popular
stereotypes rich in the thoughts of the time ...portrayed as a fallen woman
whose honest sinfulness is found preferable to the future corruption of the
reverend (Reynolds 183). Hester was described by Reynolds as a feminist
criminal bound in an iron link of mutual crime (Reynolds 183). According
to Reynolds, Hawthorne was trying to have his culture's darkest stereotypes
absorbed into the character of Hester and rescue them from noisy politics
by reinterpreting them in Puritan terms and fusing them with the moral
exemplar.
Kristin Herzog had a somewhat different view of Hester in The Scarlet A,
Aboriginal and Awesome. She described Hester as both wild and passionate,
and caring, conservative, and alien. Herzog stated that The Scarlet Letter
is a story set at the rough edge of civilization. Hester is as much an
outcast as any Quaker in the Puritan colony and she takes the colony's
abuse laid upon her with a Quaker's dignity. Herzog described Hester's
Aboriginal characteristics as caring and conservative. This aspect of
Hester's femininity is not the only trait, however, which separates her
from the Puritan women around her. She is also ...an alien with a touch of
the exotic (Herzog). These characteristics have been further strengthened
by social isolation causing her attitude to grow out of her native courage
and activity. The awesome side of Hester is expressed as passionate and
impulsive and yet showing a natural dignity and force of character (Herzog).
She was also described as inwardly passionate and outwardly composed, of
subhuman nature, a typical romantic heroine.
Hester is a very complex character that represents many different things to
different people. These are two different interpretations of the same
character that are different, but have certain similarities. Both Herzog's
and Reynold's essays were pretty good except I thought them to be long-
winded and avoiding the subject Hester. Granted, some background
information is needed to emphasize or explain the points being made, but
some of the ideas I felt were not needed. Both authors had similar ideas
about the character of Hester, a feminist heroine who is composed of many
different stereotypes of the time period in which the novel takes place. I
agree with the descriptions of the authors in their opinions of Hester. In
the novel Hester is a typical housewife, staying home and taking care of
the kids, except for the letter she has to wear and deal with from day to
day. She was also stereotyped as a passive voice in both of her
relationships: one with the reverend, and one with Chillingworth.
Chillingworth controlled her to keep his identity a secret and Dimsdale was
in enough control to keep Hester from telling that he was her partner in
sin. These are both examples of common stereotypes of women during the
pre-civil war period.
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
Symbolism In The Scarlet Letter
The Scarlet Letter is a book of much symbolism. One of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the book is Pearl,
The Scarlet Letter 4
Throughout time, the power of the people and their laws have differed in many ways. The Puritans are one example. Many p
The Scarlet Letter: The Symbolic Scaffold
Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the powerful scaffold setting three times throughout his novel, The Scarlet Letter to portray t
Scarlet Letter: Who Should Punish A Sinner? Religion, Society, Or Individuals
Scarlet Letter: Who Should Punish A Sinner? Religion, Society, or Individuals Who should punish a sinner? Should it be r
Crucible 4
Hester Prynne, Nathanial Hawthorne's character from his novel, The Scarlet Letter, and Abigail Williams, from "The Cruci
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