Individualism in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter Essay

To further exemplify this point, the scarlet letter begins to mask Hester’s identity, turning her into a public display of mankind's sins. He is depicted as follows, “Hester looked, by way of humoring the child; and she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance. In truth, she seemed absolutely hidden behind it” (Hawthorne). With this in mind, as Hester gazes at the reflection of herself in the “mirror”, all she can see is the “exaggerated and gigantic” letter “A” printed across her chest. This moment signifies the puritans’ tendency to view Hester as a “letter” before viewing her as a woman. She is, therefore, “hidden behind it” as it suppresses her identity from society so much so that it has become “the most prominent feature of her appearance”. In light of this, the scarlet letter, symbolizing Hester’s lust, obscures and rewrites her identity, turning her into a sinner amongst the puritans.

In the Puritan Society, committing adultery happened rarely because of how the people viewed it and the punishments that followed it. Hester’s suffering that came from her punishments were immensely difficult for her. Her pain she felt internally from the embodied “A” to the Scaffold. Which led to public shaming and people judging her in a negative way.

In the book The Scarlet Letter, society played a major role in the problems that took place. The society at this specific time in history, the people in America were considered Puritans. These Puritanism traits and beliefs caused many things go awry in the character’s lives. Punishments were horrible, any accidental mistake made was to be hidden or else you could lose everything, and this regret ultimately led to death. Punishments were blown out of proportion in the days that Hester lived.

Society had control over Hester when they placed the scarlet letter upon her. By refusing to do what society thinks

Through out the course of history, those who were considered sinners were often out casted from the society. This is much the case with Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After a public trial, Hester is considered a sinner due to her birthing of a so called “devil child”. Hester is convicted to the life long bearing of a scarlet letter on her chest. The Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears symbolizes the change in perception of sin through out the novel. Due to the revelations of the governor Winthrop and the reverend Dimmesdale, the way sin is perceived changes from one of shame to the idea that every one is a sinner in their own right.

Nathaniel Hawthorne, the author of The Scarlet Letter, shows two sides to one of the main characters, Hester Prynne. Throughout the book he shows two sides of her the good and the bad. Some of the good things she has done are giving to others in need, making people clothing, and she also ended up being a council for the people of her town. Although Hester did commit adultery, and said some mean things to her daughter that shouldn’t make her the worst person ever. Hester did do some things that were frowned upon by the Puritan society, but she, eventually, turned herself around and did well in her life.

In the beginning, society is quick to make a judgement of Hester Prynne when she is new and becomes a victim of her own passion. This quick reaction is exemplified when the elder women of Boston discuss her crime; the group's ring leader states, "'It would be greatly for the public behoof, if we women, being of mature age and church-members in good repute, should have the handling of such malefactress as this Hester Prynne... If the hussy stood up for judgement before us five... would she come off with such a sentence as the worship magistrates have awarded? Marry, I trow not!'" (#). By saying this, the woman is complaining about how light Hester Prynne's punishment is in her opinion. She assumes Hester is an evil adulteress, even

Hester Prynne uses her intelligence to fight the Puritan’s standards of what is correct. From the beginning of the novel, Hester Prynne’s ability to fight everything she is given is demonstrated. Hester takes her punishment and creates the “A” with “fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread” and what she has stitched was “greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colonies,” (51). This deplays Hester Prynne’s ability to take the given punishment and turn it against the people that forced it upon her. She uses something that she is obligated to possess but makes it so beautiful and brightly colored that it may have angered the strict puritans for being too scandalous.

Hester Prynne is hated by the Puritan society after the word of her crime of adultery spread throughout the town. Many of the women who would see her standing on a pedestal wearing the letter “A”

The Puritan community is harsh and unforgiving towards Hester Prynne. After being presented with the scarlet letter ‘A’ on her bosom, Hester Prynne was ruthlessly ridiculed and harshly chastened. As Hester is lead from the prison to the scaffold to begin her ignominy, a congregation of middle-aged women converses about Hester’s punishment. An autumnal matron suggests that they should “Brand her forehead” so that she may never escape her humiliation. This is a very harsh opinion that does not end up being put into action but it expresses the cruel lifestyle the Puritans pursue. Even though Hester is accepted into the society, she had to help people in need for seven whole years before the Puritans stopped their public hurtfulness towards her.

The American Romantic era, lasting from early to mid-19th century, is characterized by its emphasis on emotion and individualism. Within this movement, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Herman Melville’s Bartleby, The Scrivener: A Story of Wall-Street, the characters set at the center of their respective narratives both challenge societal prejudices through actions different from the social norm. Hawthorne’s protagonist, Hester Prynne, is met with disgust and disdain from the Puritan community after committing only one sin; contrarily, Melville’s Bartleby is first met with awe and love from his boss on Wall Street, working as a copyist. While Hester goes above and beyond to change her public image, Bartleby burns out, leaving

In the novel we follow the life of Hester Prynne; an adulteress convicted and sentenced to wear a Scarlet A on her “bosom” for the rest of her life. She was exiled from society and looked down upon by everyone. Every man child and woman now Only saw the A the mark of a sinner. She was slandered and insulted and in some cases like on page 36 where a woman States At the very least they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester prynne's forehead and another Cries Out this woman has brought shame upon us all and ought to die They wished worse on her for her crimes.

Societal norms and standards influence the choices and behaviors and often weigh in on our self-worth and individuality. The demise and destruction of one's identity will lead to complete and utter isolation from society and how we endure as human beings. Our personalities will also affect the choices we make and how we cope with stress. Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale of Nathaniel Hawthorne's,” The Scarlet Letter” both are victims of society's standards of a puritan community. While Hester Prynne embraces her fate by remaining optimistic and thrives under hazardous isolation from the community due to her committing the sin of adultery.

Critics generally agree Hawthorne uses the effects of the scarlet letter to reveal the atrocities of the patriarchy and masculine hegemony. The patriarchal forces women to carry the burden of an action despite the entity of the original sinners. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne takes the responsibilities and consequences of adultery, even though Dimmesdale should have equal, if not more, punishment. When Hester stands in front of a jury and endures the tremendous hatred from the individuals within the audience who believe Hester “has brought shame” to society, she declares,“Ye cannot take it off, and would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (Hawthorne 39, 49). Hawthorne reveals how society isolates and condemns women for the actions and results of men. If the women do not hold the accountability of all sin, they experience ignominy from society; if they do hold accountability of all sin, they still experience ignominy. The patriarchy enforces the idea that women should hold all responsibilities for all of men’s actions. Advancing Hawthorne's argument, critic Jane Swisshelm reveals the treatment of women as they endure ignominy: “[Hester] was the moral leper whom none might dare to touch - the blazing emblem of the virtuous indignation of an entire community” (Swisshelm 273). So long women exist, the consequences of the world’s

The strict religious environment that Puritans live in put many members of their community through Hell on earth. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the Puritan community has a harsh and judgmental outlook on life and the people around them. Sin is considered a disease that must be avoided at all costs to the townspeople, anyone who was infected by this disease was ostracized and punished severely. One of the main characters in the novel, Hester Prynne is subjected to this cruel inhumane treatment after she commits what the community considers as adultery. In the novel The Scarlet letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the treatment of Hester Prynne is at the center of the Puritan community's perception of sin, enduring both the ups and the downs.