Hester Prynne A Transcendentalist

The characters in “Self-Reliance” and “Nature” by Emerson are transcendentalists because they are non-conformists, connect with nature, are individual thinkers, and believe nature can free the soul. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the main character, Hester Prynne, commits adultery. She is punished by having to wear a red A and forced to live on the outskirts of town with her daughter Pearl. Hester Prynne is a transcendentalist because throughout the book she portrays the defining characteristics. Hester Prynne is does not conform to the society she lives in. At the beginning of the book, Hester Prynne is put in jail because she committed adultery. They punish her by being requiring her to wear a red A that stands for “adulterer”. When she comes out of the jail the townspeople are angry at how beautiful the A looks.. “It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and
After she begins to question the society and think about Dimmesdale she meets him in the forest. As she talks to Dimmesdale she removes the A from her chest and throws it across the forest. “The stigma gone, Hester heaved a long, deep sigh, in which the burden of shame and anguish departed from her spirit. O exquisite relief! She had not known the weight, until she felt the freedom!” (Hawthorne 139). Hester has not realized the ignominy the A had brought to her until she had removed it. She felt cleansed and free. She sighed once the burden of the A had been temporarily lifted off her shoulders. Nature feeding one’s soul is displayed in Emerson’s “Nature”. “Philosophically considered, the universe is composed of Nature and the Soul.” (Emerson 1107). Emerson is saying that nature helps release the tensions from society and helps nourish the soul. Although Hester eventually puts the A back on and goes back to society, she is worry-free and happy while surrounded by nature. Nature helps Hester feel free and release her