Essay On Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's Scarlet Letter
Hester Prynne and the Aftermath of her Eternal Symbol How would you feel if you were rejected by a whole city, and nobody wanted you? Well although it might be counterintuitive in his novel The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne is stating that sins can help us change for the better only if they are unveiled to the world. This story takes place in the late 1600’s, and is about Hester Prynne’s pains and sorrows after committing adultery with Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne has a daughter, Pearl, and her legitimate husband is Roger Chillingworth, a man who dedicates his time throughout the story to torment Dimmesdale. Early on in the story we are introduced to Dimmesdale, and we find out that he is Pearl’s father. Soon enough the curious
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After Dimmesdale says this to Hester one can notice that he is a coward and that the guilt is already eating him up. Why must Hester be the one to tell his sin to the public? He should set things right and publicly announce his sin. Later on in the story the scarlet letter begins to take a larger toll on Hester’s life because the townspeople believe that Hester is not a good influence on Pearl. The townspeople believe that if Pearl is not a demon child she is to be taken away from her mother but if she is then she can stay with her mother. This all happens because Hester has committed adultery, a huge sin in the eyes of puritans, so they believe she is no longer fit to care for her daughter. The author writes:
Sometimes the red infamy upon her breast would give a sympathetic throb, as she passed near a venerable minister or magistrate, the model of piety and justice, to whom that age of antique reverence looked up, as to a mortal man in fellowship with angels.
(129)
After Dimmesdale says this to Hester one can notice that he is a coward and that the guilt is already eating him up. Why must Hester be the one to tell his sin to the public? He should set things right and publicly announce his sin. Later on in the story the scarlet letter begins to take a larger toll on Hester’s life because the townspeople believe that Hester is not a good influence on Pearl. The townspeople believe that if Pearl is not a demon child she is to be taken away from her mother but if she is then she can stay with her mother. This all happens because Hester has committed adultery, a huge sin in the eyes of puritans, so they believe she is no longer fit to care for her daughter. The author writes:
Sometimes the red infamy upon her breast would give a sympathetic throb, as she passed near a venerable minister or magistrate, the model of piety and justice, to whom that age of antique reverence looked up, as to a mortal man in fellowship with angels.