Hester Prynne
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Hester Prynne, the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, is ostracized from her community and forced to wear a cloth "A" signifying she has committed the sin of adultery. However, the novel is a condemnation not of Hester but of the community which has so harshly and hypocritically judged her. Hawthorne's novel portrays both the inhumane effects of the cruel enforcement of the morality of Puritanism, and the courage and love of Hester as she lives to transcend that inhumane cruelty. Hester is shown to suffer not because she is evil, but because her human frailties have been judged evil by a community which refuses to accept such frailty in its members. Ironically, her lover is the man who represents more than any other those Puritan values. In Hawthorne's view, Hester is far more human and moral than the others in the community because she accepts herself and her frailty, because she accepts responsibility for her actions, and because she emerges triumphant as a result of her steadfast character and her capacity for love and forgiveness. As harmful as this Puritan marking of Hester as a grave sinner is to her, she possesses a strength of character which allows her to transcend the social and moral judgment against her: . . . The novel is a celebration of Hester Prynne's independence, of individual courage against collective cruelty, of the promptings of the heart against social repression. . . . Hester heroically refuses to reveal the identity of her lo
. . .
nt against her for her adultery, but she has elaborated on the judgment (and the letter) in a way which itself defies that judgment:
On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel
. . . , but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of he colony (Hawthorne 43).
Hester may or may not love Dimmesdale, but she believes she did when they had sex and conceived the "babe" she carries in her arms. She is not ashamed of what she has done, because she knows in her heart it was an act of love, just as the child is a product of that love. At the same time, by remaining in the community, and by accepting its judgment and punishment of her, she has acknowledged that its behavioral standards must be addressed. She may accept the judgment, but she is determined to make it uniquely her own, to embrace it, just as she embraces the child who resulted from the adultery. Ultimately, just as she forgives Dimmesdale for not accepting his share of responsibility, she
. . .
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Approximate Word count = 1637
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)
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