Scarlet Letter
HESTER PRYNNE: THE INDIVIDUAL vs. SOCIETY
In Nathaniel Hawthorne's American classic the Scarlet Letter, the main character Hester Prynne is a very strong and emotionally unstable young woman who finds herself caught up in the harsh ideals of Puritan society which looks down on women who stray from being pure and sinless to committing acts of adultery. As an individual, Hester Prynne lives in a society with very strict rules related to how to act in public and how to be a good mother and an upright member of society.
But since Hester has other things on her mind besides acting properly in a society burdened by strict religious devotion, she becomes the target of the men in power where she lives who upon discovering that she had committed adultery forces her to wear a scarlet "A" on her dress, a symbol of adultery and sin against God and all Puritan ideals. In essence, Hester Prynne is a non-conformist, a person who goes against the rules of society in such a way as to mark them as undesirables and social outcasts. But because of her own inner strengths as a woman of character, Hester goes against all of the principles of Puritan society and ends up spoiled and ruined by bigotry and prejudice.
As to the themes found in the Scarlet Letter, it is clear that Hawthorne meant to tell a moral story with Hester Prynne as the main focus. Perhaps Hawthorne was attempting to tell the reader that Hester Prynne, due to her innate compassion and defiance of Puritan law and customs, stands as a literary symbol of non-conformity which in the end of the story causes her to be cast out and admonished for her sins. After all, Hester's physical beauty appears to have created in the eyes of the men in her village a "halo of misfortune and ignominy," two negative traits which "enveloped" her entire inner and outer self, much like the scarlet "A" on her dress.
" (Hawthorne, 71) This statement of intent strikes as a core romantic value, contending with no small degree of irony that there is a sense of moral authority in the air which bears a dominant effect on the lives of New Englanders. Indeed, this is consistent with our understanding of Hawthorne's critical response to the forces of Puritanism. That the author is from the infamous settlement of Salem, Massachusetts, commonly referenced
First, her sin is committed out of love and not from any negative motive, and second, her quietness and industriousness afforded her the time for self-reflection that led to her change and salvation. Abigail, in contrast has no family in the Crucible. She latches on to John Proctor as a sort of father/husband substitute, reflecting the twisted nature of her character. Her manipulation of the other girls also reflects the
Hester Prynne and Christ Symbology Nathaniel Hawthorne's character of Hester Prynne in the novel The Scarlet Letter remains one of the most powerful literary figures of all time and much has been made about her critically throughout the decades. Literary critics have compared her as an early feminist leader and others have compared her to a magical superhero. This paper intends to discuss how Hawthorne actually works very hard to consistently
" This seems powerful evidence that she has not accepted Puritan gender roles, but instead, is defending and helping to uplift the man who got her into this situation, and who is looked up to as a spiritual leader, while she is a spiritual outcast. The contrast is striking between the two, yet she is the strong one. There was neither "irritation or irksomeness" in Hester (124) and the "blameless purity
That's a very sad thing and it again shows that lack of forgiveness in the Puritan society of 16th century. Pearl thus stands for innocence in the novel- innocence that is tainted by someone else's sins. Dimmesdale represents the psychological damage that wrong teachings of the Church could produce. He is also symbolizing the weakness in the structure of the Church. He is a minister who preaches people against adultery
Hester refers to her label as a "passport" revealing that it is freeing for her, and Dimmesdale is able to preach and understand humanity better because of his relationship. True sin is not understood by the other preachers, but evil is found in the closeness of love and hate in the society. Another major theme in the Scarlet Letter is identity. Hester embraces her "A" identity and refuses to leave
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