Hester Prynne In Scarlet Letter

In chapter two of The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne describes Hester Prynne as she stands on a pedestal in front of her community and gets publicly condemned for her adultery. Hawthorne shows the irony in the situation through the symbol of Pearl being just as sinful as the letter A embroidered on Hester’s clothing. He also irony irony in describing the A and how it is so similar to how Hester herself is portrayed. Lastly, Hawthorne describes Hester’s physical beauty and the irony of how the town doesn’t see her as someone who wasn’t a Puritan would be.
In this passage from chapter two, Hester is shunned by her community; the author describes Pearl and her in front of the crowd and the irony of the situation. While she is standing on the pedestal, she is clutching Pearl “closely to her bosom.” This is ironic because, though she is covering the A, Pearl also represents the sin, so “one token of her shame… poorly serve[d] to hide” the other. When the
When she is standing on the pedestal, as she is being announced to the town as a sinner, she is described as “a figure of perfect elegance;” though she is technically below all the people around her, she is physically above. The author also explains that if there had “been a Papist among the crowds of Puritans, he might have seen this beautiful woman… [and] remind him of the image of Divine Maternity.” Here, the author is literally comparing her to a virginal figure, while she being condemned for not being pure, showing the irony in the situation. In conclusion, Hawthorne’s use of irony is shown throughout the novel, but particularly in the passage from chapter two where Hester is first being condemned for her wrongdoings. Such as, the symbolism of Pearl and the A, and similarly the comparison between Hester herself and the A, and way she is described in such a positive