Hester Prynne Ramification In Scarlet Letter

In the novel The Scarlet Letter Nathaniel Hawthorne does a great job on showing the life is like in the 1600’s and everything in there day to day lives. The novel might have been given the label of an adulterous affair novel but it is more of the strict punishment given by the British community and the mental ramification on the main characters. This might be shown through how all the characters are each there own and have there own symbols, how Hester Prynne is a strong character despite all of the trials, and how Pearl stands for who Hester really is and what she stands for through the novel. The novel opens with showing Hester Prynne in prison for the consequences she has committed in adultery and how she has been subject to an official sentence of public humiliation. In this time period when one was being shunned by the church they were given a …show more content…
It was suppose to represent the fact that she had committed a terrible sin and that no one to talk to her. This letter then becomes a strong symbol of who Hester Prynne really is and it keeps her pushing forward. On the letter itself there is a “A” which is used to stand for adulterer but Hester then realizes that the “A” also stands for “able” and how she was able to stand through all of the shame she was put through. Also how she was able to take the high road and not tell everyone right away who the father of her baby was. Hester also said “She had not known the weight until she felt the freedom.” (Hawthorne, 149), when she finally accepted that if people would not accept her then she would show them how good she could do it without them and with the power to do anything. This shows how powerful she is and how she is not just like all the other people who ridiculed her for her pregnancy and did not even worry about who the father of her child