People in Hester Prynne’s society were scared for their lives and some couldn’t even trust their families not to turn them in for an offence. Even though Hester isn’t put to death she is put in prison for a time and comes out of it almost broken. Many wouldn’t want to ever feel the sensation of the “sunshine, which, falling on all alike, seemed to [his or her] sick and morbid heart, as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on [his or her] breast.” (p.74) It would feel as though the whole world had turned against them because even a symbol like the sun, usually meant to represent good and happy things, is just there to reveal his or her
This caused her to be humiliated and punished in front of the whole town. Hester Prynne unquestionably the protagonist of this novel even though she had committed sin at the beginning. Hester Prynne was given the chance for this story to never leave the town and she wouldn’t have had to wear the letter “A”, but she decided to stay in the town and succumb everything that was given to her. She tried to accomplish the best and succumb all of the punishments that were meant to diminish her. She constantly made herself useful towards the other people, and used the talents and gifts that were given to change the meaning of her punishment into her becoming he legend of her Puritan Age.
Because Pearl is a product of the passion of the adultery that the Puritan community does not accept, she does not follow by its rules and when she is born into the Puritan community she has to make her own laws to follow. This is shown more clearly in the contrast between the solemn, grave Puritan children who reflect the stern countenance of their parents and ostracize Pearl. She is dressed in bright, festive colors that show off her beauty and “fire” (90) while in comparison the other Puritan children are portrayed as drab and “somber” (91). While the children practice the lives
Hawthorne uses the imaginative and symbolic form of the romance to veil the impression of the serious themes in his novel. The young woman Hester Prynne is the main character in The Scarlet Letter. She is accused of adultery, and because she does not confess who the father of her illegitimate child is, she gets sentenced to wearing a scarlet letter on her breast as a sign and reminder for her and the Puritan community she lives in. Expelled from the community, she lives on the edge of the village as an outcast and has to find her own way. Other important characters in the novel are Hester´s daughter Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.
By not telling Pearl she gets even more curious and determined to ask Hester about the letter A. This causes Hester to get more and more frustrated and a bit annoyed with Pearl. Pearl was seen as an outcast to the Puritans, they even said she was " an imp of evil, emblem of product of sin, she had no right among Christian infants" (140.) Pearl herself knew she was different, and seen as an outcast, because of this she had no friends and soon made up friends with her imagination. Being a little girl which Pearl is, she entertained herself by gathering wild- flowers and throwing them intentionally at Hester's letter A. Hester
But throughout life, people are affected from these lies and pay for them in a way that makes us wonder if it was all really worth it. This issue is often dealt with in literature. In the Scarlet Letter, the characters of Hester Prynne and Dimmesdale commit deception which leads to a variety of negative consequences for Hester, Dimmesdale, and their child Pearl. Hester’s own deception eventually affects herself. First, Hester is
In addition, he and his wife, Elizabeth, are going through a rough time in their marriage where there’s an obvious sense of distance between them. John Proctor evolved most significantly throughout the play because in the beginning his pride and fear of the town’s opinion caused him to keep his sin a secret; however by the end of the play, he is more concerned with his own integrity rather than his reputation. In the beginning of the play, John Proctor is torn between dealing with two different situations; the situation with Abigail who wants Proctor back along with jealousy of Proctor’s wife, Elizabeth; and he is also dealing with his strained marriage with his wife. As Abigail and the other girls begin with the hysterical acts of having hallucinations, Proctor is aware that the girls aren’t under any kind of witchcraft, and
She was still a child at this point, but that didn't matter in her master's eyes. The curse back then was being a beautiful slave girl. This was wrong and shameful to hear for the others, but no one could ask the master to stop because punishment would be unleashed upon the being of truth. Linda had to coup with it for a long time, even if she was a girl, the master had no respect in those aspects. She was told to submit to him, and if not done so the treatment would get worse and worse.
Unlike the girls in Salem, Abigail is not submissive which is why her uncle is suspicious and even more because she’s rebellious. That alone was considered filthy and impure. In Act one, Abigail states these words, alluding about her past affair with Proctor. “I look for John Proctor that took me from my sleep and put knowledge in my heart! I never knew what pretense Salem was, I never knew the lying lessons I was taught by all these Christian women and their covenanted men!
She was forced to wear a public symbol of shame and was shunned to the outskirts of society. The Puritan society is the true antagonist of this story because they alienated her from their culture and branded her as an adulteress. Throughout the entire book, Hawthorne follows Hester and the other characters in the aftermath of Hester’s punishment. Except, couldn’t this of been avoided if she was never punished at all? The extent of Hester’s punishment ran into the very fabric of the town.