A Study into the Relationships of Hester Prynne
In the Scarlet Letter although Hester is the main character, we don’t get to know what she is thinking. For this story, Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author and the narrator. He tells the story in a third person point of view. He never tells us what Hester thinks. He describes what is going on around her. This makes it difficult to actually see what Hester is thinking and how Hester feels. We may not know exactly what Hester is feeling toward these other characters, but Nathaniel Hawthorne is very descriptive, this gives us the insight we need. Because of this, the author has to show us readers through the actions of the characters. In this paper we will analyze through Hester’s actions and feelings …show more content…
This caused tensions to rise when Roger came from Europe to the new world after baby Pearl was born. Chillingworth was out for revenge, he wanted to know who the baby daddy was and Hester would not tell him no matter what. “‘Be it sin or no’, said Hester Prynne bitterly as she still gazed after him.‘I hate that man’ ” (164). This text shows how she feels about him, they may be married but they do not love each other. Hester would do anything for Pearl including living a life of shame, she does not really care what happens to Chillingworth. Through the book we see some haunting things as we follow Roger and how he treats the man he suspects is the baby daddy. Chillingworth starts to become dark and sunken and Hester even goes as far as to describe him as the devil (71). This seems to make us believe there is really no hope for the two them, even though they hate each other, they still pity each other “‘Thou hadst great elements. Peradventure, hadst thou met earlier with a better love than mine, this evil had not been. I pity thee, for the good that has been wasted in thy nature!’ ‘And I thee,’ answered Hester Prynne, ‘for the hatred that has transformed a wise and just man to a fiend!’ ”(162). Now there is hatred in these words but the pity is still there. We could come to believe that Chillingworth still loved Hester, but I don’t believe that. Chillingworth does show some sympathy to Prynne by telling her, “We have wronged each other… Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay” (70). This sympathy for her is short lived when Chillingworth questions Hester on the father of the child. Prynne, in her usual manner, denies to reveal any name, and Chillingworth in response makes Prynne swear to “Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband!” (71). I see this as the final act of breaking away
In the Scarlet Letter although Hester is the main character, we don’t get to know what she is thinking. For this story, Nathaniel Hawthorne is the author and the narrator. He tells the story in a third person point of view. He never tells us what Hester thinks. He describes what is going on around her. This makes it difficult to actually see what Hester is thinking and how Hester feels. We may not know exactly what Hester is feeling toward these other characters, but Nathaniel Hawthorne is very descriptive, this gives us the insight we need. Because of this, the author has to show us readers through the actions of the characters. In this paper we will analyze through Hester’s actions and feelings …show more content…
This caused tensions to rise when Roger came from Europe to the new world after baby Pearl was born. Chillingworth was out for revenge, he wanted to know who the baby daddy was and Hester would not tell him no matter what. “‘Be it sin or no’, said Hester Prynne bitterly as she still gazed after him.‘I hate that man’ ” (164). This text shows how she feels about him, they may be married but they do not love each other. Hester would do anything for Pearl including living a life of shame, she does not really care what happens to Chillingworth. Through the book we see some haunting things as we follow Roger and how he treats the man he suspects is the baby daddy. Chillingworth starts to become dark and sunken and Hester even goes as far as to describe him as the devil (71). This seems to make us believe there is really no hope for the two them, even though they hate each other, they still pity each other “‘Thou hadst great elements. Peradventure, hadst thou met earlier with a better love than mine, this evil had not been. I pity thee, for the good that has been wasted in thy nature!’ ‘And I thee,’ answered Hester Prynne, ‘for the hatred that has transformed a wise and just man to a fiend!’ ”(162). Now there is hatred in these words but the pity is still there. We could come to believe that Chillingworth still loved Hester, but I don’t believe that. Chillingworth does show some sympathy to Prynne by telling her, “We have wronged each other… Mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay” (70). This sympathy for her is short lived when Chillingworth questions Hester on the father of the child. Prynne, in her usual manner, denies to reveal any name, and Chillingworth in response makes Prynne swear to “Breathe not, to any human soul, that thou didst ever call me husband!” (71). I see this as the final act of breaking away