Hester Prynne: The Romantic Hero

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s usage of duality and descriptions displays

Romantic Era ideas and shows how his content is a product of this time and environment. The Romantic Era brought about the development of the archetype of the Romantic hero. Hawthorne uses Hester Prynne, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, as a near-perfect example of the Romantic hero to contrast her with Puritanical society as well as to show the duality of sin. The Romantic hero is characterized by a rebellious nature; they defy convention and are separated from society. Hawthorne uses the contrast of his Romantic hero and the society described to criticize the Puritans and imply that Hester’s character is favorable. He shows Hester refusing to
She is ostracized by society for her sin, represented by the scarlet letter, which is embroidered beautifully by her own hands as if to announce her defiance. Hawthorne purposely separates Hester via her beauty and her sin such as the Romantic hero is separated from society to emphasize the hypocrisy of the Puritans. Though Hester commits adultery and is punished by the Puritans, Hawthorne continually paints her as holy and saint like, comparing her to the Virgin Mary. This is ironic as later, Hester, who faced pain by being cast aside by the townspeople because of her sin, is called hardworking and “able” instead of adulterous. Hawthorne shows that Hester builds her character around the sin openly, whereas the people surrounding her hides them away. Dimmesdale is utilized by Hawthorne as another way to compare the puritans to Hester. Whereas Hester is rejected from normal town life as romantic heroes are also classified by their individualism, Dimmesdale is coveted as a holy pastor to the Lord the Puritans worship, though on the inside Dimmesdale is too a sinner as Hester and everyone else is. As Dimmesdale hides his sin, the guilt surrounding it intensifies. Hester wears her sin