Hester?the Heroine         The heroine in the cherry-red Letter is Hester Prynne. Even though Hester sins against God, she is a cleaning lady who survives the horrendous trials of a prude bon ton?the society that wants to be a Utopia among imperfect bulk. From her horrendous trials, Hester gains carriage, courage, and her lost screw.
        The tosh begins when Hester appears from the darkness of a rusted jail cell into the stale, repress summer morning. In her arms, she cradles the product of her sin?Pearl. Hester Prynne is a woman accused of committing adultery. Adultery is considered a grave sin among a Puritan society?Utopia. Since Hester sinned against God, the magistrates? evaluators, decide to condemn Hester from paradise (Carpenter, 285). This mode that Hester would non be considered a Puritan. On the an early(a)(prenominal) hand, Hester does not c atomic number 18 about the judgement of the magistrates. Instead, she drive ins that God will judge her.
        As a sign of her sin, the magistrates use the garner A as a living sermon against sin (Carabine, 157). They know that this garner will suppress Hesters rebellious passion because it threatens their well-behaved system (Bell, 152). The cerise letter A does not function its purpose, and it does not suppress Hester from the Puritan society. The first thing Hester does is that she enlarges the letter A for everyone to see on her c everywhere. Instead of making the A a simple letter, she embroiders the letter with intricate designs of gold. The towns batch ar in awe. They have never seen needlework done in that fashion. The scarlet letter is worry an illumination of light that glows like a flashlight for the solemn society of New England. When you intend of a flashlight shining against darkness, it is very narrow. The narrow knowledge of light represents the narrow-minded Puritans.
                                                                                neaten 2 Hester wants to show the scarlet letter, light, to everyone. By doing this, she wants to let people know that all people sin. Hawthorne said, ¦if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a(prenominal) a bosom besides Hester Prynne¦.Â( cherry Letter, 78). A man by the name of Randall Stewart from the Nineteenth-Century literary works Criticism has this to say about the scarlet letter:                 Hester is a romantic heroine, a splendid one. She has been                 much admired, and justifiably. The richly embroidered A                 has been called by one of her modern admirers the red                 badge of courage. (298)         Hester sure as shooting shows courage, especially during the first scaffold scene. For three long hours, Hester does not succumb to the mockery and persecution of the people. The magistrates evict not kill her because they are not certain if Hesters husband is still alive. The magistrates finally agitate tired of waiting for Hesters confession. Therefore, they inform Dimmesdale to ask for her confession. Of course, Dimmesdale is nervous. In actuality, he is the father of the infant, Pearl. After Dimmesdale asks Hester to confess, she still does not tell the townspeople. She clay loyal to her lover.
        After the three hour trial, Hester is sent pole to jail. The next day, she is released. Hester has to decide if she wants to keep on in New England. She can leave the country and hide her shame, or she can stay in New England and face her penalty. Hester decides to stay and face her punishment. Her punishment is not her simply reason of staying in New England. She is in love with Dimmesdale, and she does not want to leave him.
As meter progresses, Hester accepts her conflict?external, with the Puritan society because she knows that she is an outcast. The townspeople mock her by calling her names. In todays society, they may call her a whore, slut, and other vulgar words.
                                                                                Barber3 While the adults mock Hester, the Puritan sisterren jeer at Pearl?Hesters daughter. Also, Hester is expelled from the church?the holy and sacred place. The religious leaders do not want Hester to corrupt the minds of the sinless Puritan congregation.
Since Hester is an outcast, she is fortifying against society. In a sense, she is becoming stronger. On the other hand, Dimmesdale has an natural conflict with himself. He knows that he is idolized by the lodge since he is being considered as second to God. As a result, Dimmesdale is fighting against himself. Since Dimmesdale is becoming weak, Hester is forced to become stronger. Dimmesdale gains his strength by contact with her strength when they meet in the forest (Waggoner, 292). This love for Dimmesdale is like fuel that fortifies her courage.
        Even though Hester is fortified by the love for Dimmesdale, she is still punished by her daughter, Pearl. Hester has to not only survive the trials of the townspeople, solely she has to survive the tests of Pearl. Pearl is a aeonian reminder of the sin, adultery. At times, Hester looks upon her child as an elf. Day by day, Hester looks into Pearls expanding nature; ever dreading to detect some dark and wild peculiarity that should correspond with the guiltiness to which she owes her being (Scarlet Letter, 80). As a go, Hester, tries to discip origin Pearl. Unlike the Puritan families, Hester does not discipline her child with harsh rebukes, frowns, or spankings. Instead, Hester decides to show affable, but strict, control over her daughter. This discipline method does not work for Pearl. Even though Hester has fortified herself against the townspeople, she succumbs to the misfortunes from Pearl. However, she still thinks that Pearl is a miracle?a gratuity from God. The gift allows Hester to stay alive.
        As time passes, the lonely, single mother begins to do good deeds towards the townspeople. Hester uses her art of sewing in order to suppress the burning passion of                                                                                 Barber 4 love within her. She sews for the governor, military, and ministers. She also gives clothes away to the poor, but the poor mock her. They think that they are better than Hester. The committing of a sin is considered to be the lowest form of social standards. Hester meekly accepts the mocking. After seven age of disgrace, Hester is able to win the prise of her fellow-townsmen by her good deeds (Fogle, 288).
After seven years of raising Pearl alone, Hester decides that Pearl should make out to know her father, Dimmesdale. in the beginning Hester talks to Dimmesdale, she goes and talks with Chillingworth?her husband, the man she never loved. In the Scarlet Letter, Chillingworth is an important character. Hester goes through Chillingworth, the evil villain, in order to get to Dimmesdale.
For approximately seven years, Chillingworth has been plotting revenge on Dimmesdale. Chillingworths devilish grimace can not fool Hester. For her boldness, Hester tells Chillingworth that he will no longer be concealed as her husband.
        As the humbug goes, Hester tells Dimmesdale about Chillingworth. Dimmesdale becomes stronger, and the both of them decide to leave New England after the Election Sermon. This blink of an eye in time is the moment Hester awaits?the moment to be with her lover. After seven long years of loneliness, Hesters soul is finally amended.
After the Election Sermon, Dimmesdale becomes weak again. His troubled amount of money weakens him, and he finally dies. Hester is not really saddened by Dimmesdale death. In a sense, Hester has actually gained her lost love from her courage and strength?the motive of her staying in New England. Hester knows that she will have an eonian and pure reunion with Dimmesdale in the future?after she dies.
                                                                        Barber 5 After the death of Dimmesdale, Hester and Pearl decide to go rear to England. There, Pearl marries and lives a happy life. Hester, on the other hand, comes back to New England. Upon her return, Hester places the scarlet letter A back on her bosom.
The letter A is what defines her being?her soul. From Hesters experience many people give her due respect. The Scarlet Letter states, ¦people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel,¦demanding why they were so wretched, and what the remedy (227).
        Hester Prynne is indeed a heroine. She brings about change in the Puritan society; she faces her battles of persecution; she rises from the line of moral value to the sister of mercy; and she proves that the Utopia of the Puritans can not have jails among perfect peopleÂ. Nina Baym from the Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism states:                 Hester has in fact brought about a modest social change.
                ordination expands to accept her with the letter?the private                 life carves out a small place for itself in the communitys                 awareness. This is a small, but real, happiness for the heroine. (313)                                                                                                                                         Barber 6 WORKS CITED Bell, Michall D. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Janet Mullane. 17 vols. Detroit: Gale inquiry Inc, 1988.
Carpenter, Frederic I., et. al. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Laurie L. Harris. 10 vols. Detroit: Gale Reseach Inc, 1985.
Cunliff, Marcus. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Ed. Joann Cerrito. 39 vols. Detroit: Gale question Inc, 1993.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Viking Penquin Inc, 1983.
Janssen, James G. Nathaniel Hawthorne. Short Story Criticism. Ed.
Sheila Fitzgerald. 3 vols. Detroit: Gale Research Inc, 1989.
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