Character Of Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Letter

Hester sees the letter as shameful but in a way for her to rise above it. Like stated above, Hester becomes someone you would not expect her to be. She acknowledges her sin, but disregards what it means. She does not let her sin or her letter define her. Hester changes with the meaning of the letter by being seen as bad to being seen as good. Her shame is only shown by the letter she wears but not by her actions. She is helpful to the poor, becomes a successful seamstress, and befriends the man who she committed the sin with. Hester becomes an able woman. Although she does good deeds, raises her daughter well, and strives, the real shame is within her. "Ah, but," interposed, more softly, a young wife, holding a child by the hand, "let her cover
the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart”(49). The meaning of the letter to her as shame is purely inside her soul but as Hester progresses through the story, she realizes a letter cannot express the guilt inside her. She eventually takes off the letter, confesses her sin, and the shame of the letter she wore and the shame in her heart is freed.