Preview

Prologue to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
493 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Prologue to Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
Prologue to Scarlet Letter

Hester was walking along streets in Britain and decided to go to the library. There she saw a man who was studying vigorously with several books stacked besides him. It looked to her that the man was very intelligent and most likely very wealthy. She decided to approach him.
“Hello, how are you doing this fine day?” She asked.
“Quite well indeed, thank you.” He replied.
“Would you care to join me tonight for a dinner?” She asked.
“That sounds splendid, I would love to join you this evening.” He answered. Later that evening they both met up and dined at a magnificent restaurant. It was a high-quality restaurant with expensive food and the man paid for it all. This satisfied Hester because she found a man who she could get money from to relieve her of her financial crisis. It was sort of an awkward dinner because there was not much talking going on.
“So, my name is Hester, what is your name?” She asked.
“I go by the name of Bill.” He answered. Hester realized that she would be safe with this man if she were able to marry him. He was a wealthy, and a very intelligent man. Although there was no real love connection she felt to him, she liked living in luxury better. Later that month, the two married because of Hester pursuing him so much. After they had gotten married, Bill asked Hester to come talk with her.
“Hester, I believe it will be better if we both move to Boston. I will send you off there at first and as soon as I am done studying and finalizing some matters here I will take my leave and meet you there as soon as I can.”
“Okay.” She responded. Hester had gone all the way to Boston alone and for several nights she was feeling very lonely. One day she came across a man who seemed very noble and attracting. They both smiled at each other and the man came towards her.
“Hello, my name is Arthur, pleasure to meet you.” Arthur said.
“Hello to you as well, my name is Hester.” She replied.
“Would you care to join me

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    She almost lost her only child, and was not able to openly love who she wanted. Throughout the book she was feeling guilty, also feeling sorry for making Dimmesdale go through the suffering as well. She wanted to love again furthermore not to die with no one on her side, loneliness and lack of love led her to commit a “crime,” according to the Puritan society. All what Hester wanted someone that loves her and helps her but the puritan society prevented that from happening, so she became a victim of their rules and…

    • 812 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The weird ethical hazard to Hester in her loneliness was that it gave her moreover small chance for demonstrative interaction with other people. Hawthorne forced the readers to ponder that how a woman committing adultery is a major offence in a hypocritical society. Hawthorne symbolized Hester as an agent and a rebel who violates laws as Tony Tanner offered a likely justification by saying that:…

    • 253 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This excerpt displays how Hester has taken her ignominy and over exaggerated it so that she is almost mocking the very thing that was meant to shame her, making it her own.…

    • 1624 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    This quote describes a major part of Hester’s character. She is realizing that she has to except her punishment and rise above it. She will have to go on with her live enduring the stares and laughs, but she is going to accept the struggle and live her life.…

    • 1122 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester’s view on the situation is she thinks because Roger Chilingworth had not stayed with her and traveled to America with her she was lonely and had an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale. This affair had lead to the birth of Pearl, a young and beautiful baby. Although Pearl was a living example of my wrong doings she is my most…

    • 535 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester also didn’t want to leave is because, Boston was her home. She didn't want to leave her comfort zone. Even though she committed a crime, it was still home to her. She put down her roots there. The place has…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    There is a lot of commotion around the town discussing whether or not Hester’s punishment was enough to be considered just. Some of the people wanted a harsher punishment and not some weak punishment like being in jail for a couple of days. But the punishment the magistrates gave was a good one and they didn’t need to go to the extreme. Hester did break a major crime committed adultery and she will pay for it later on, she is going to be outcast of the town, and she will keep pearl so she will always remember what she has done.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    In the beginning of the novel, Hester is described as being a tall, slim beautiful girl with "long, dark abundant hair" (51). She has a rich complexion, her eyes are dark and beautiful, and altogether is a gorgeous girl. Despite her outward appearance, she has a great personality as well. With her strong willed spirit and "wild and passionate heart" (Herzog 117), who can help but love her. Nevertheless, when Hester becomes imprisoned with a child, she is forced to become the mature mother that Pearl needs. When Hester is finally able to come home from prison, she emerges from the prison door, proud and beautiful wearing an embroidered scarlet letter "A" on her chest as she carries a three month old baby "'But Ah', Interposed more softly, a young wife holding the child 'let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will always be in her heart" (49). Her expression as she exited the prison did not seem to show any kind of regret. She seemed to be proud and unashamed of what she had done "with a burning blush and yet a haughty smile, and a glace that would not be abashed" (50).…

    • 1139 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester vs. adversities.

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Hester Prynne herself occasionally allows herself to stumble, permitting her faith to diminish is magnitude. Her dwindling hope has caused her to become "a bare and harsh outline" of her former self (149). Yet, in a revelation to her of the importance…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the beginning Hester is in jail, dealing with the fact she committed adultery, and as such is a sinner and as punishment…

    • 745 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester creates a persona when her punishment begins. The town superiors attempt to shame Hester in front of the whole community by forcing her to stand on the town scaffold with her baby. To the people’s confusion, as “Hester Prynne set forth towards the…

    • 769 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Hester’s humiliation was critical. Though she hated every minute, it was the best for her and…

    • 480 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Hester Prynne Change

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages

    She married the much older Roger Chillingworth, who spent long hours working on his books and experiments; yet she convinced herself that she was happy. When they left Amsterdam for the New World, he sent Hester ahead, but then he was reportedly lost at sea, leaving Hester alone among the Puritans of Boston. Officially, she is a widow. While not a Puritan herself, Hester looked to Arthur Dimmesdale for comfort and spiritual guidance. Somewhere during this period of time, their solace becomes passion and results in the birth of Pearl. Which brings up the question: Why didn't Hester tell who Pearl's father was on the scaffold? The reason she didn't do this is because she was still in love with Dimmesdale. She was still married to Chillingworth, but she was in love with Dimmesdale. The decision shows Hester's determination to stand alone despite the opinion of society. Despite her lonely existence, Hester somehow finds an inner strength to defy both the townspeople and the local government. This defiance becomes stronger and will carry her through later confrontations with both Chillingworth and Governor Bellingham. Her determination and lonely stand is repeated again when she confronts Governor Bellingham over the issue of Pearl's guardianship. When the governor determines to take Pearl away from her, Hester says, "God gave…

    • 1275 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Ring of Shame

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The fabric “A” that Hester must wear sets her apart from everyone in the colony. It is firmly and magnificently placed up her clothing but it also has been sewn into her heart. “Not a stitch in that embroidered letter, but she has felt it in her heart.” Hester’s “A” causes others to disassociate themselves with her, but her heart cause her to disassociate with others. Hester placed herself in isolation because of both the guilt in her heart and the heinous acts of others.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The id phase of Hester's actions is one of the most important to the progression of the book. Her actions in this id phase are committed before the book even begins. She is a married woman and she ends up sleeping with the young minister of her town after many years of waiting for her husband to come over to America from England. Hester wanted to wait for him, but she did not really ever love him and she felt she needed to find someone else. This is when she committed her act of adultery. She did not think about the consequences that would come with her actions. The act was done in a spur-of-the-moment situation. This was all because of Hester's id part of the brain.…

    • 700 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics