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How Is Hester Guilty Of Adultery In The Scarlet Letter

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How Is Hester Guilty Of Adultery In The Scarlet Letter
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s the ‘Scarlet Letter’, Hester Prynne, a puritan woman; in the town of Boston, Massachusetts. Was found guilty of Adultery. Her punishment was being sentenced to prison, and being forced to wear the letter ‘A’ for adultery. When Hester Prynne got pregnant with her daughter, Pearl. The townspeople began to talk and eventually figured out she committed adultery. Although, some people, such as the townspeople and the governor, believe Pearl is some sort of devil child. (Hawthorne 87) The one question that lies is, should Hester be able to keep her daughter Pearl? To begin with, Hester delivers a pair of gloves to the governor; however, that isn’t the only reasoning for Hester’s visit. (Hawthorne 81) The governor believed, as well as some of the townspeople, that Hester wasn’t fit to be Pearl’s guardian. (Hawthorne 81) Think about it this …show more content…
In a way fair, the reason for it being fair was because she refused to reveal the father of the child. Although it wasn’t fair that Pearl had to spend her first few years living in a cold, dark prison. It was also very unfair to Hester because her husband took up the alias of “ Roger Chillingworth” he also supposedly admitted to forcing Hester into the marriage. (Hawthorne 64) Hester was pretty young when she got married, therefore she wasn’t ready for marriage. Also the fact is Hester didn’t know whether Roger was alive or not. It would be overall better for Pearl to be with Hester, because Pearl could learn from her mother’s mistakes. Hester knows what she did was wrong. Hester knows in her heart she was wrong. Hester believes that Pearl can make her better, not only is the scarlet letter a reminder of Hester’s mistake it’s also Pearl, Pearl was also Hester’s consequence for her actions. Pearl is Hester’s blessing as well as a curse that she’s going to have to live with. (Hawthorne
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