|
|
|
 
Hester Prynne
The character of Hester Prynne changed significantly throughout the novel
The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne, through the
eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against the
Puritan ways, committing adultery. For this irrevocably harsh sin, she
must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life. However, the
Romantic philosophies of Hawthorne put down the Puritanic beliefs. She is
a beautiful, young woman who has sinned, but is forgiven. Hawthorne
portrays Hester as "divine maternity" and she can do no wrong. Not only
Hester, but the physical scarlet letter, a Puritanical sign of disownment,
is shown through the author's tone and diction as a beautiful, gold and
colorful piece.
From the beginning, we see that Hester Prynne is a young and beautiful
woman who has brought a child into the world with an unknown father. She
is punished by Puritan society by wearing the scarlet letter A on the
bosom of her dress and standing on the scaffold for three hours. Her hair
is a glossy brown and her eyes deep-set, and black, her attire is rich,
carefully caressing her slender figure. The scaffold is a painful task to
bear; the townspeople gathered around to gossip and stare at Hester and
her newborn child, whom she suitably named Pearl, named because of her
extreme value to her mother. In the disorder of faces in the crowd, young
Hester Prynne sees the face of a man she once was fiercely familiar with,
whom we later learn is her true husband, Roger Chillingworth. Her
subjection to the crowd of Puritan onlookers is excruciating to bear, and
Hester holds the child to her heart, a symbolic comparison between the
child and the scarlet letter, implying that they are truly both
intertwined.
Prynne is imprisoned with her child, both of whom are emotionally and
physically exhausted from the punishment at the scaffold. The husband,
Roger Chillingworth, passes by and is commissioned to be the physician to
the two, and remedy them of their sicknesses. She is surprised he had
come at such a time where she was at a point of such horrendous turmoil.
He demands that she cannot reveal his identity, yet he also wishes to know
the identity of her lover, the father of the child. She refuses to tell
him. Later in the novel, we discover that Arthur Dimmesdale is the
confidential lover.
Hester is released from her cell, after which she resides for the next few
years in a hut by the sea. Her child, Pearl, is a devilish, impish,
terribly behaved child, that is indifferent to the strict Puritan society.
Pearl is a pain to please, having her way all the time because of her
motherÆs failure to subdue her to the proper Puritan etiquette. Hester
knits and weaves for the townspeople, except for weddings, which people
believe would cause misfortune and unrest in their marriage. They knew
that the Seventh Commandment was thou shalt not commit adulteryö and they
stuck by those rules. The Puritans were truly a people governed by God.
The novel explains that the Governors repeatedly attempt to take the child
away from Hester, as she has been deemed unfit to raise the child without
the influence of genuine Puritan law and order. These attempts are failed,
for Arthur Dimmesdale, the father and minister of Hester Prynne, insists
that the child is a bond, a necessity of the young woman who has nothing
if she does not have the child. Another influence upon Hester is Mistress
Ann Hibbens, who is reputed to be a witch throughout the community. When
Hibbens asks Hester to join her in the forest at night to sign the Black
ManÆs book with her own blood, she insists that she cannot, but if her
little Pearl would be taken away, she would gladly join the ôwitch-ladyö
in the forest that night, and sign the great book in her own blood!
Pearl continuously mocks authority in the novel, a key characteristic of
the imp-childÆs demeanor. She asks stupid questions that she already
knows the answer to, like, ôMother, did you ever sign the black manÆs bookö
, and, Why does the minister Dimmesdale hold his hand over his heart?ö
The mockery does not end there, however, and Pearl goes on about her
retarded ways, throwing rocks at other children that look at her the wrong
way and swearing at them. It pains Hester to watch her child go about the
world as if possessed by an agent of Satan, and she both loves, and in
some ways, loathes the child. When Chillingworth is at the beach picking
up plants for formulas to cure Dimmesdale, who is deteriorating in health,
he talk to Hester, who hates him deeply for what he has done to Dimmesdale
over the last few years. He mentions that the magistrates may let her
remove the scarlet letter, but she declines. She now she is revered and
respected by most members of the community because of the letter upon her
bosom, for to many it represents able, and not adultery. Her strength to
satisfy the needs of others and comfort them is a gift that many of the
townspeople respect, and the word in town is that the letter does indeed
stand for able. Hester is strong with her letter, having it be a part of
her for so many years, while Arthur has concealed his letter upon his
chest, which gnawed out from his inner soul.
Later in the novel, when Chillingworth is at his height of having his way
with immesdale, the weakened minister, Hester and Arthur meet in the
forest to discuss their future. Here in the forest, Hester removes the
scarlet letter, and drops it on the ground. She then removes her cap,
letting her beautiful, glossy brown hair shine in the rays of the forest
sunlight. Here, Hester Prynne has made a significant change from her
somber, drab appearance, to her beauty of days long passed. However,
after feeling rejuvenated, she is disappointed to see that her own child,
Pearl, will not recognize her change, and, demands that her mother bind
the ôbadge of sinö back upon her bosom. She then goes back to business,
telling her beloved Arthur that she will set sail with him and Pearl to
the Old Country in after the Election Day sermon, which Dimmesdale is to
speak at.
Soon enough, however, the drama unfolds as Chillingworth discovers that
the trio are boarding a boat across the sea after the Election Day, and
he books himself up to travel with them, since he is obsessed with
torturing Dimmesdale. Then, the big day came, and Hester was gleaming
with joy in anticipation of a new life without ridicule or guilt. After
preaching a powerful sermon, the good minister was walking along with the
crowd, when he felt the weight of an overbearing guilt upon his shoulders;
a power that he had felt before had grown immensely domineering upon his
frail frame. Hester comforted him to the scaffold, and stuck by him to
the end, as he admitted his sin of adultery, which shocked the people of
Boston. , leaving many with their jaws dropped.
After Pearl got married, and Chillingworth was long dead, Hester Prynne
returned to Boston to recollect and to repent. The townspeople came to
her, some staring in awe, some revering her presence. She had changed so
much after she had taken the first step onto the Boston scaffold. After
death, she was buried near Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne was truly an able
women.
Word Count: 1265
ADDITIONAL FEATURED ESSAYS
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
The Effects Of Sin On Hester P
rynne Nathaniel Hawthorne believed his task was to analyze the effects of sin, whether thought or committed, on the huma
The Scarlet Letter: Do You Dread Guilt?
? What is guilt? We all have guilt about something. Maybe forgetting something, lied about something, or even did someth
The Scarlet Letter: Do You Dread Guilt?
? What is guilt? We all have guilt about something. Maybe forgetting something, lied about something, or even did someth
|
|
|
|
