Antagonist in The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter is a story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, about a young woman named Hester Prynne. She is marked with an irrevocable sin that shuns her from society. Throughout the story we see Hester Prynne’s isolation from society, how she’s being treated by the Ppuritan town, how she is dealing with the treatment and how her sin is affecting the rest of the characters in the story. The Puritan society was judgemental and affected the lives of the characters and fueled their inner struggles. It is sometimes said that tThe antagonist in The Scarlet Letter is said to be Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, who arrived at the Puritan town under a new name,; two years after he should have. As the story
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In the marketplace, women gossip about Hester and how her punishment was not dealt with enough, even though she’s going to be publicly shamed. “”Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” The magistrates let her punishment be this public shaming, that the Puritans seem to do beautifully. The older puritan woman sought to judge her saying things like, “”This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die…” The puritans even judged the magistrate's decision, those of which they think very highly of. According to a puritan woman the magistrates were,”...merciful overmuch..” and they should have, “”...aAt the very least...put a brand on of hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead.” It is in our nature as humans to judge, perceive what is going on around us...but to judge that harshly? Is that necessary? This form of public judgement put an even greater shame on Hester Prynne. From the start of the story, the Puritan society wrecked the emotional and mental state of Hester Prynne. This starting mark would influence not only her, but other important characters in the story as
In the marketplace, women gossip about Hester and how her punishment was not dealt with enough, even though she’s going to be publicly shamed. “”Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost; more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.” The magistrates let her punishment be this public shaming, that the Puritans seem to do beautifully. The older puritan woman sought to judge her saying things like, “”This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die…” The puritans even judged the magistrate's decision, those of which they think very highly of. According to a puritan woman the magistrates were,”...merciful overmuch..” and they should have, “”...aAt the very least...put a brand on of hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead.” It is in our nature as humans to judge, perceive what is going on around us...but to judge that harshly? Is that necessary? This form of public judgement put an even greater shame on Hester Prynne. From the start of the story, the Puritan society wrecked the emotional and mental state of Hester Prynne. This starting mark would influence not only her, but other important characters in the story as