Hester Prynne In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

In “The Scarlet Letter”, a novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the narrator tells a series of events that occurred years before his time. The events take place in the seventeenth century in Massachusetts, in what was a Puritan settlement at this time. This story surrounds, a young woman, who has committed a sin of adultery and therefore is punished by the town. Hester Prynne, the young lady, is sentenced to public shaming, where she is to stand on a scaffold in front of the town. Hester is not only publicly shamed by standing on a scaffold, but she also forced to wear the ‘A’. Because of Hester Prynne’s sin, she becomes identified by the scarlet letter, A’ which initially represents sin then emerges into the meaning of being able and also symbolizes
guilt. Hester Prynne, with a baby in her arms, walks out of the prison, towards the scaffold, where the crowd has gathered for her public shaming.
The crowd consists of “a throng of bearded men, in sad colored garments and gray, intermixed with woman, some wearing hoods, and others bare-headed” (Hawthorne 45). The scarlet letter, embroidery with flourishes of gold thread in the letter of A, was artistically done, that it was her deemed inappropriate by the woman that criticised her in the crowd. The reason her attire and the beauty of the scarlet where criticized is the reason why the letter was stitched on her dress. Other than standing on the scaffold in front of the crowd, Hester is also punished by having to wear this letter A, which initially represents Adultery. As Hester, stands on the scaffold she recognizes a man dressed in particularly different clothes. The man saw that Hester recognized him, and “he slowly and calmly raised his finger, made a gesture with it in the air, and laid it on his lips” (Hawthorne 57). Here we learn that this man is Hester Prynne’s husband, who never followed her to Boston, and she thought he was dead. The man has made a gesture towards Hester, to not mention who he is, as everyone else in the crowd does not know his identity. This provides explanation as to why Hester has been punished. She has carried a child with a man that is not her husband; therefore, she is punished with standing on the scaffold and wearing the scarlet letter for
lifetime, as a daily reminder to the public and herself for her sin. However, instead of simply representing Hester Prynne’s sin of adultery, the scarlet letter comes to mean able.
Initially after being released from prison, Hester is “free to return to her birthplace, or to any other European land, and there hide her character and identity under a new exterior” (Hawthorne 72). Hester refuses to flee; Pearl and she settle in a cabin and Hester uses her talent of needlework to support Pearl and herself. As years pass, Hester becomes more involved in society. Hester was so kind to poor; she helped the sick and had no trouble helping those who were distressed. “ Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize, - that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification”(Hawthorne 141). Although, the scarlet still had its meaning behind it of adultery, many more people started to signify the letter to mean able. Hester become the person she really was behind, the scarlet, a strong Hester
Prynne. As Hester Prynne, becomes something better what the scarlet letter portrayed her to be, the letter brings guilt to Reverend Dimmesdale. In the beginning, Dimmesdale remains the mysterious man that fathers Hester’s child. During Hester Prynne’s public shaming, Dimmesdale had asked her to reveal the identity of who the father is, but Hester does not reveal the name. At this point we were unaware that indeed, it was him. Hester not confessing the nature of the Pearl’s father and Dimmesdale shame to confess eventually gets to him. We start to see that his sin eventually gets to him, as his health gets worse. His guilt causes him to preach on sinning to others, his having a hard time confessing. This guilt also causes in to have vision and pain in his heart eventually the finds himself standing on the scaffold, where Hester once stood. We also come to find that the Reverend had branded the letter A, on his chest. His sin and inability to confess was causing him to mentally and physically hurt himself. As his guilt continued to make him suffer, he still could not find the courage to confess his sin publicly. This guilt and inability to confess through his life ultimately destroys Arthur Dimmesdale, when he finally confesses publicly. In conclusion, the scarlet, A, has represented the sin that Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale did. Although, the scarlet letter, is a visible mark to publicly enforce of her sin and also as a daily reminder to her. But Hester eventually learns to let the scarlet define her of her sin. As she overcomes it, with her generosity to the others in society, the town alters the meaning of the letter A, from adultery to Able. On the other hand, Arthur Dimmesdale suffers deeply by being unable to confess his sin to the town. In the end, as he public confesses he soon drops to the ground and dies.