Hester Prynne as a Heroine Volner 1 What makes a hero? Some may say saving lives‚ or stopping evil‚ but in literature‚ these are not the only requirements for the title of “hero.” It is monstrously debated amongst literary scholars whether or not Hester Prynne of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a true heroine or not. She displays heroic qualities‚ but many
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of King Leer also relates to the Scarlet Letter. In the Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne is a prime example of a character in the story who is more sinned against than sinning. Although Hester has committed a very weighted sin‚ adultery‚ the sins committed against her severely overshadow her own follies. Hester Prynne has committed adultery. In Puritan society‚ this is a great sin and wrong doing. Transgressors such as Hester are usually punished heavily. But in Hester’s case‚ this punishment seems
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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
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the scarlet A were not enough punishment there "was a brat of that hellish breed" which would remind Hester of what happened in the past. The "brat" could have been given away to Governor Bellingham yet Hester proclaimed that Pearl "is my happiness!...Ye shall not take her! I will die first!" Not a person in Boston‚ nor Hester herself thought highly of the little child and Hester refused to let Pearl go. Hester carried the kid around only because it was a direct reflection of her sin and to cast away
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In the novel The Scarlet Letter‚ by Nathaniel Hawthorne‚ Hester Prynne‚ the female protagonist‚ must cope with being named a sinner within a strict and judgemental seventeenth century Puritan society. Hester chooses to accept her punishment of wearing a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her breast but feels no remorse for her allegedly shameful and sinful act. Hester Prynne proves herself to be a strong‚ independent‚ modern heroine by refusing to conform to societal gender norms‚ while still earning the respect
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Scarlet Letter‚ Hester Prynne is convicted of adultery and ordered to wear the scarlet letter "A" on her chest as a permanent sign of her sin. Hester is sentenced to never take off this badge of shame‚ and doesn’t until chapter thirteen. As the novel proceeds‚ Hawthorne presents several questions that are left unanswered. How does the nature of the letter "A" seem to change? What role of does Hester’s own response to her situation play in changing the meaning of the letter "A"? How does the letter
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Nathaniel Hawthorne’s‚ Scarlet letter Hester Prynne was an adulterer. Hester is the protagonist in the novel as well as a round character. She changed throughout the novel as well as the leading character. Hester got punished and had to wear the letter “A” on her chest to represent that she committed adultery. She also had to stand on the scaffold and live with pearl. Hester Prynne cheated on her husband‚ Roger Chillingworth with Arthur Dimmesdale. Prynne also ended up having her daughter pearl
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Hester Prynne’s Heroism Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter focuses on seven years in the lives of four people living in a puritan community in seventeenth century Boston. Hester Prynne‚ the wife of Roger Chillingworth‚ falls in love with the Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale and the two have a child‚ Pearl. The novel explores the effects of adultery on these four characters. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said‚ "It is the surmounting of difficulties that makes heroes." A hero has the qualities of loyalty and
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Hester Prynne is a Feminist The Scarlet Letter can easily be audited as early feministic piece of literature. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a strong female character living with her choices‚ whether they were ethical or unethical (Hawthorne‚ 52). Hester Prynne is a feminist who refuses to accept the subordinate role of women because she has financial‚ emotional‚ and intellectual independence. Hester Prynne is comparable to a modern feminist because of her
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able to say that they are happy with who they are‚ but how do we overcome our imperfections and become someone we are proud of? How can we come face to face with things we are ashamed of or guilty for‚ without feeling as if we have let down people in the process? In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter he follows Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale through their journey of discovering the truth and realizing what perfection truly is. Hester and Dimmesdale are sworn to secrecy by one another when
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