Hester Prynne's Character In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne takes place in a small Puritan town in Boston, Massachusetts during the seventeenth century. Hester Prynne, the main character, commits adultery, which is frowned upon by Puritan religion, with the town’s minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. As public punishment she embroiders a red scarlet A with gold thread to wear on her bosom of all her dresses. Pearl, Hester’s daughter, is living proof of Hester’s sin; she continually mocks her mother’s scarlet letter. As The Scarlet Letter progresses over time, the author reveals how the significance of the scarlet letter “A” alters.
At the beginning of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne describes the scarlet letter “A” as a symbol of the sin Hester has committed. She is forced to wear the letter so that the people in Boston know she has committed adultery by having Pearl with someone other than her husband, Roger Chillingworth. When Hester comes out of the jail, she displays what is embroidered upon her bosom for the public to see, “…looked around at her townspeople and neighbors. On the breast of her gown,
Hawthorne decides to change the meaning of the scarlet letter so that it means able, not adultery. Seven years passes since Hester walked out of the jail with the scarlet letter “A” embroidered on her bosom. She starts helping those in need, “None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty…” (Hawthorne 147). By doing this, the townspeople begin to gain a new perspective of the scarlet letter, “…many people refused to interpret the scarlet A for its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Hawthorne 148). People begin to forgive Hester for her frailty, and they see the letter as a way for Hester to make amends for her sin. Hester undergoes a transfiguration and is gradually becoming herself