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Hester Prynne

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Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne signifies a women of grace and wild spirit. Strong-willed and beautiful, Hester Prynne has also defied the Puritans ways. Though she is ladylike and prideful, she is faced with the trouble of being a sinner. The innocence of any human can be taken away in a flash, and in the case of Hester Prynne, her innocence escapes her after she commits a horrific sin. Hester is immediately isolated in her town because she commits an act of adultery, resulting in a Scarlet Letter forever engraved on her bosom, serving as a constant reminder of the mistakes in her past. In many ways throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hester overcomes her sin and redeems herself to her town, revealing her inner power and strength. Even though Hester’s situation leaves forces her to be an outcast in the town, she still confines strength and discards the label of being an "Adulteress" by showing stability.
Hester Prynne is the main symbol of isolation and alienation throughout The Scarlet Letter. Nathaniel Hawthorne emphasizes her isolation by writing that she is “ Alone in the world, cast off by it, and with this sole treasure to keep her heart alive, she felt that she possessed the indefeasible rights against the world” (Hawthorne 100) because of her sin. As a symbol of evil and darkness, Hester is viewed by her strict Puritan town as an outsider. After Hester’s crime of adultery was known to all, Hester's reputation and appearance of what people viewed her as is completely changed and her goodness started going unnoticed. The town's harsh thoughts of her sin are revealed through a local woman as she testifies that “...At the very least, they should have put the brand of hot iron on Hester Prynne's forehead" (Hawthorne 36). Hester never escapes the feelings of being alienated in the progression of her life. Her "ornament,--the scarlet letter,--which was her doom to wear" (Hawthorne 79) was shown throughout town, sequestering her from everyone else. Hester knows that even if she was
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