Who Is Hester Prynne's Suffering In The Scarlet Letter

The burden that the scarlet letter places on Hester shows her everlasting battle with sin in the Puritan society. Yet, the Puritans seemed to be more fascinated with on its striking qualities rather than the true representation of the letter. The scarlet letter is supposed to represent shame, but as Hester evolves the symbol of the letter becomes an emblem of strength. One writer criticizes Hester's transformation by saying, “Hester’s rise takes her from low on the line of moral value, a ‘scarlet woman’ guilty of a sin black in the eyes of the Puritans, as she becomes a sister of mercy and light” (Waggoner

The scarlet letter has a rough effect on Hester Prynne both physically and emotionally. By Puritan standards, the sin she committed was strictly unforgivable and she must be shamed for the rest of her life. She has been condemned to wear a symbol of sin forever to remind her daily of what she did. This affected her because, “..she hid the secret from herself, and grew pale whenever it struggled out of her heart, like a serpent from its hole” (Hawthorne, 33). The crime that she committed can be compared this way because it was something that she didn’t want to think about and when she did think about it, it physically made her feel ill. She was released from prison and allowed to leave Boston. Although she was given the chance to start a new

At the start of the book, the scarlet letter symbolized sin. The A was assigned to Hester to signify that she was an adulteress. Her husband Roger Chillingworth had sent her from England to the new world and planned to meet her shortly after on another ship. He showed up late after she had already had an affair with another man, who was announced later as Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.

Sin and suffering is a reoccurring theme throughout The Scarlet Letter and Hester endured the worst of it all. She was shunned and treated as an outcast by all those she lived with; her whole town turning their backs on her for committing the act of adultery. She was forced to wear an embroidered scarlet letter upon her chest to act as a sign for the rest of the people that this woman was a sinner and deserved to suffer. Although, to some she would not be seen as such as few others bore the same letter or wished to help her and prove her innocence. Compared to the other people in the town, Hester suffered far worse than others due to the hardships she faced with herself and the people around her.

That night, Hester arranges to see Dimmesdale in the forest. They decide to flee to Europe so they can live together as a family with

This illustrates Hester’s shame for what she had done, as she does not put up a fight against the community who lets her feel the grief, anguish, and embarrassment that accompanies the letter. She does not complain about her situation, nor does she allow the emotions she feels

Hester learned to provide for herself and her child without the help of anyone. She worked hard every day sewing clothes for the people who alienated her without complaint. She made Pearl the finest clothes while only giving herself the dullest of things. “Hester sought not to acquire any things beyond a subsistence, of the plainest and most ascetic description of herself and simple abundance for her child.” she made it clear that Pearl was most important in her life by just their attire.

She wasn’t about to let anyone get in her way. Even though the Puritans hated her whenever she started her business and was giving money away for charity the Puritans started forgetting about what the “A” meant and they just didn’t care anymore. “ The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her, so much power to do, and power to sympathize, 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 women’s

She slowly tries to become herself again. Hester wears the scarlet letter upon her chest long after she becomes able to take it off. Hester insists on wearing it, even when she returns to Boston later in life. Hester’s intentions are to accept the reality of her life and to recognize that

Hester has acknowledged her sin and learned to live with it even though it was hard at first. She hot used to to and moved on to live a normal life. “When the young woman— the mother of this child—stood fully revealed before the crowd, it seemed to be her first impulse to clasp the infant close to her bosom; not so much by an impulse of motherly affection, as that she might thereby conceal a certain token.” (Scarlet Letter page 50.) Hester shows that she is uncomfortable with the A of her chest, so she tires to hide it, and for a while she becomes very haughty towards society. “The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much power to do, and power to sympathize—that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that is meant Abel, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.” (Scarlet Letter page 110.) Hester is starting to become abel to do things by herself. “Hester Prynne went one day to the mansion of Governor Bellingham, with a pair of gloves which

First of all, the scarlet letter stands for Hester's sin. By forcing Hester to wear the letter A on her bosom, the Puritan community not only punishes this weak young woman for her adultery but labels her identity as an adulteress and immoral human being as well. "Thus the young and the pure would be taught to look at her, with the letter flaming on her chest", also "as the figure, the body and the reality of sin." And the day Hester began to wear the scarlet A on her bosom is the opening of her darkness. From that moment, people, who look at her, must notice the letter A manifest itself in the red color covering not only her bosom, but her own character. The Puritans now only see the letter A, the representation of sin, scorn and hate

Hester Prynne is guilty of committing adultery with an unknown individual. As a consequence, a scarlet letter was sewn on her bosom, as a form of punishment, and she’s forced to wear for the rest of her life. The scarlet

The letter is a constant outwardly reminder of her sin. It alienates Hester not only from the townspeople who view her as a godless sinner, but from herself as well. When looking into an armor piece, “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” (Hawthorne151). Hester grows to attribute the letter to be all that she is; an unholy, cheating woman.

At first Hester was ashamed of what she had done, but she learned to accept it and didn’t let it define who she was; she continued to care for the poor, even when they began to mock her. The scarlet letter embroidered on her chest became a part of who Hester

The scarlet letter could also be looked as a quality of Hester's character. This quality defined the views of the townspeople regarding Hester, and in time also changed in meaning. It was at the beginning of the book that the letter embroidered on her bosom only stood for adultery, and the common consensus of the people, in respects to Hester's actions, was "this woman has shamed us all and ought to die" (50). In time, and through the actions of Hester Prynne, the letter 'A' upon her chest was understood to be something different, and "many people refused to interpret the