Hester Prynne's Perseverance In The Scarlett Letter

Who would have guessed a sense of feminism would be located within a book published in 1850, over 100 years before the feminist movement? Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter gives a glimpse into an adulterous woman’s life in a strict Puritan town located in Boston. Her name is Hester Prynne and her triumphs and tribulations are held within the novel. The reader gains an emotional connection to Hester and wants her to be happy. Support for an independent and shamed woman was controversial but may have helped spark a need for equality within the readers then and even now.

From the start of the novel, Hester is portrayed in exile. She begins in the jail, and soon after is paraded through the streets to start her public exile with her child, Pearl. This first public shame caused Hester to feel “as if her hear had been flung in the street for them all to spurn and trample upon (Hawthorne 52).” The

In spite of that, what makes her the protagonist of the story is how she is able to overcome her punishment that was meant to give her shame. Throughout Chapter 13 of the book, Hawthorne shows how Hester’s confidence has developed in herself and in view of the town, most noticeably when considering the meaning of the scarlet letter, “Such helpfulness was found in her ... that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength,” (Hawthorne 107). Instead of subjecting to the shame that was forced upon her, she grew above it, conveying a different aspect of the theme of guilt, which is redemption. This is not to say that Hester did not care about the sin she committed, as she is very much reminded of it every day of her life while living with the child of that sin. In fact, the author addresses this by saying, “In giving her existence a great law had been broken; and the result was a being whose elements were perhaps beautiful and brilliant, but all in disorder,” (Hawthorne 60). Hawthorne is implying how Pearl represents the outcome of a sin and arranged it so that Hester is always living with that sin, therefore, always being reminded of the shame she is supposed to

After Hester’s release from prison, she had the freedom to leave with a chance for new beginnings. Hester feared “she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of a woman’s fraility and sinful passion” (Hawthorne 83). However, Hester decides not to run. Not to hide from the embarrassing laughs and shameful chuckles of the townspeople. By staying in Boston and disregarding others’ meager opinions, Hester shows that she overcame the harsh labels tacked on her by her community.

Throughout the duration of the novel, Hester displays copious amounts of bravery. In the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hester is forced to stand in front of the town as part of her punishment for her crimes. Instead of displaying emotion or cowering away, Hester stands tall and accepts the reality she is in. Gracefully, she exhorts an air of dignity that can be matched by few as she accepts the first portion of her sentence. After her initial punishment, Hester is flung into the world as a single mother of an infant with no source of income or support. Freedom to leave and live anywhere she chooses is given to her, yet she decides to stay in the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Using her skills as a seamstress to provide for herself and Pearl,

Hester is released from prison and finds a cottage in the woods, near the outskirts of the city, to set up her new life. Hawthorne comments on the fact that she does not avail herself of the opportunity to escape to a new life without shame in some other city. He remarks that often people are irresistibly drawn to live near the place where a great has occurred. He further comments that even if that is not the reason, Hester may have been inclined to remain in Boston because her secret lover still lived there.

Pearl allows Hester to realize she is “able” to get through this and the townspeople seem to agree a while on into the story. Pearl explains the overlooked truths of the scarlet letter. Back when Pearl was still an infant and Hester was dealing with the humiliation of being on the scaffold shamed upon by the whole town, it wasn’t until Pearl was old enough to question Hester’s letter, to realize that the “A” could in a sense be overcome. Hester was so worried about living up to this scarlet letter and how her daughter would react, so at first seeing Pearl’s questing to it, she becomes depressed and worrisome of how Pearl feels. As readers we can understand to the point of how eventually Hester overcomes this battle of her true identity and realizing she is more than what society has labeled her as.

In 17th century Puritan societies, gender roles were very prevalent. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how they affect the way Hester is perceived by society after committing adultery. Hester Prynne breaks through the gender norms of her community and achieves victory as an independent woman in a male-dominated world. Although she is frowned upon because of her sin, Hester carries herself with pride and turns her punishment into a small victory. She flaunts her “elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread”(50) on her “letter A”(50).

The Scarlet letter shows hester as a humble person. She had to suffer a lot in the beginning. I tried to convey this with her distaste of the town shaming her. I also made sure to highlight her persistence to protect herself and her child. That’s the one thing Hester always did, protect Pearl. I decided

She came, not as a guest, but as a rightful inmate, into the household that was darkened by trouble” (146). This proves that even though Hester was left alone, her actions change the views of the community around her: “They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (146). Hester’s abilities surprise community members helping her gain respect from the residents in the Puritan town.

Few months later Hester is released from prison. She is free to leave to leave Boston, but she chooses not too because that’s where she sinned at. She settled in an abandoned cabin at the edge of the town. Hester remains alienated from everyone, including the town fathers , respected women, beggars, children, and strangers. These people look at her as a fallen woman, although she is an outcast. Hester remains to support herself due to her talent in needlework she made burial shrouds, christening gowns, and officials’ robes. Hester feels lonely and is constantly aware of her

“But she named the infant ‘Pearl,’ as being of great price,—purchased with all she had,—her mother’s only treasure!” (74). Pearl is the quintessential symbol of Hester Prynne’s life after her punishment is determined. In the novel, the author takes the reader back to the Puritan days where a woman, Hester Prynne, commits adultery and is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ for life. Throughout the novel, Hester raises Pearl, her daughter, alone while her partner, Dimmesdale, carries on his life as a well respected minister. The scarlet letter isolates her from the rest of the townspeople with only Pearl to accompany her. Hester’s isolation is exemplified many different, powerful symbols. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the major symbols includes Pearl who represents the joy, sorrow, and punishment in Hester’s life.

After Hester is released from prison Hawthorne leaves us wondering if her choice to stay in Boston was even a choice she could make. Chapter five opens with Hester coming into the light and leaving the cell in which she had been punished in for so long. However, once she is out, she decides to stay in Massachusetts, in the same community which has shamed her for so long. Hawthorne describes the decision when he writes, “it may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home… But there is a fatality… which almost invariably compels human beings to linger … the spot where some great and marked event has given the color to their lifetime” (71). In this quote Hawthorne is not only speaking of Hester, he is speaking of

Feminists are independent individuals that stand against the given norms of society. Throughout history, there are many examples of these strong individuals that help innovate society forward. Because Puritan society greatly suppressed many women, feminism is quite impossible at that time. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne explores the life of Hester Prynne, a young puritan woman involved in an affair. Throughout the book, Hester Prynne expresses her potential to become an early feminist and at times is, however her love for Arthur Dimmesdale holds her back from attaining her full feminist potential.

While Hester is a feminist, not only does she share the ideals but shows superiority to the town while being fearless. " It may seem marvelous, that this woman should still call that place her home, where, and where only, she must needs be the type of shame.” (chapter 5, paragraph 2) Hester does not let the shame and remorse of the sin keep her away from the town like most would do. Hawthorne even states that Dimmesdale is weaker than Hester by punishing himself and holding his heart while Hester embraces the sin and is strong while carrying the letter on her chest. She leads a self-righteous life, although she could keep what she earns, she gives most away. Even the townsfolk say Hester is "so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted."(chapter 13, paragraph 5) Hester can be seen over the townspeople helping them although they shamed her. Hawthorne presents that Hester’s “tendency of her fate and fortunes had been to set her free.” (chapter 18, paragraph 2) With this Hester has a “radiant and tender smile, that seemed gushing from the very heart of womanhood. (chapter 18, paragraph 12) These quotes from Hawthorne show that Hester’s kindness helps her overcome her sin on her own. With Hester’s contribution to the town, “Her handiwork became what would now be termed the fashion.” (chapter 5, paragraph 6) In his research, Sacvan Bercovitch remarks that “Hester Prynne ‘builds upon the tradition of the biblical Esther -