Hester Prynne: A True Hero
Hester Prynne, the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter”, is definitely a hero. While she may not conform to one’s typical idea of a hero, a perfectly righteous, fearless, and active force, she shows her heroic qualities throughout the entire story. The most frequent definition of a hero is someone that possesses courage, which is the ability to face danger or difficulty either without fear, or by pushing through obstacles regardless of fear. Even without taking action or starting a revolution like most heroes, Hester has already managed to fulfill the basic requirement in only the second chapter of the book. Hawthorne’s initial description of Hester reads “Wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly
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After all, she has no family there, and she’s apparently not too concerned about waiting for her husband. Contrary to expectation, however, she stays in town and continues to live normally. Chapter five addresses her unusual reason for remaining, saying “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” (Hawthorne 55) Hester is determined to not allow her circumstances to get the best of her, but instead resolves to come out the other side a better person. By the end of the book, she’s earned the respect of the townspeople by remaining strong, helping the needy, and treating others better than she’s been treated. Eventually the people warm up to her, which is described in chapter 13; “Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” (Hawthorne 111) She ultimately proves her bravery by returning to the town long after the events of the book, solidifying her position as an unshakable
After all, she has no family there, and she’s apparently not too concerned about waiting for her husband. Contrary to expectation, however, she stays in town and continues to live normally. Chapter five addresses her unusual reason for remaining, saying “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” (Hawthorne 55) Hester is determined to not allow her circumstances to get the best of her, but instead resolves to come out the other side a better person. By the end of the book, she’s earned the respect of the townspeople by remaining strong, helping the needy, and treating others better than she’s been treated. Eventually the people warm up to her, which is described in chapter 13; “Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since.” (Hawthorne 111) She ultimately proves her bravery by returning to the town long after the events of the book, solidifying her position as an unshakable