People endure many choices to make everyday, and the decisions they choose results in a lasting impact on the rest of their lives. In The Scarlet Letter, one decision that Hester Prynne executes influences humiliation for the rest of her life. A Puritan crowd gathers to shame Hester Prynne and find her guilty of adultery. As a result, she wears a scarlet “A” on her dress. As she stands on the scaffold, Hester sees her long-lost husband in the crowd, and he vows to find the father of the child, Pearl, and disguises himself with the name Roger Chillingworth. Arthur Dimmesdale questions Hester about the child’s father, but she refuses to confess the name; furthermore, Hester returns to her prison cell. Her husband, a doctor, treats Pearl and
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One day, the physician pulls aside the ministers shirt and finds a scarlet “A,” which proves his suspicions. A few days later, Dimmesdale takes a vigil to the square to consider his guilty conscious. He climbs the scaffold and finds Hester and Pearl; Arthur admits his guilt but never confesses to the public. “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom!” (Hawthorne 164). The readers of The Scarlet Letter know that Hester never stands as a happy person after she sins; she continually chastises herself for her crime. However, both Hester and Arthur wear scarlet letters that act as the consequences of their sins. The scarlet letter continues to torment Hester for the entire novel. Her torment continues until the Puritans come to understand that Hester helps their community even though no one appreciates her. The Puritans never acknowledge Hester’s help for a majority of the novel. Moreover, the first half of the novel takes place over seven years, and the second half only takes two weeks to complete. Ross states the irony that the novel covers seven years, and Hester breaks the seventh commandment (58). The seventh commandment states that adultery endures as a sin, and it insinuates irony that the novel …show more content…
In a small Puritan town in Boston, Massachusetts, Hester Prynne stands on display on a scaffold after the commoners find her guilty of a sexual affair. The punishment of the sin requires her to stand on the scaffold for three hours as the community derides and scoffs at her. “[Hester] sustained herself [ . . . ] under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes” (Hawthorne 49). Hester stands on the scaffold in front of a large group of Puritans that shame her for the sin she commits. The fact that she stands on the shameful scaffold demonstrates one consequences of her adultery. Furthermore, the amount of people that continue to stare make Hester feel the guilt and sorrow from the offense she perpetrates. After the crowd shames her at the scaffold, Hester returns to her prison cell where Roger Chillingworth, her husband she sees in the crowd, treats her and Pearl. Hester promises not to reveal to anyone their past relationship; in return, Roger promises not to demolish the father of Pearl. Providentially, the governor and ministers release Hester from prison, and she finds a small cottage on the outskirts of town to raise Pearl. Hester raises her daughter in a life of solitude; she chooses the life of solitude as a way to cope with her guilt from her sin. “[Hawthorne fuses the A] with culminating action and a sense of human error and human guilt” (Orians 425). Hawthorne applies the scarlet letter to show
One day, the physician pulls aside the ministers shirt and finds a scarlet “A,” which proves his suspicions. A few days later, Dimmesdale takes a vigil to the square to consider his guilty conscious. He climbs the scaffold and finds Hester and Pearl; Arthur admits his guilt but never confesses to the public. “Happy are you, Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly upon your bosom!” (Hawthorne 164). The readers of The Scarlet Letter know that Hester never stands as a happy person after she sins; she continually chastises herself for her crime. However, both Hester and Arthur wear scarlet letters that act as the consequences of their sins. The scarlet letter continues to torment Hester for the entire novel. Her torment continues until the Puritans come to understand that Hester helps their community even though no one appreciates her. The Puritans never acknowledge Hester’s help for a majority of the novel. Moreover, the first half of the novel takes place over seven years, and the second half only takes two weeks to complete. Ross states the irony that the novel covers seven years, and Hester breaks the seventh commandment (58). The seventh commandment states that adultery endures as a sin, and it insinuates irony that the novel …show more content…
In a small Puritan town in Boston, Massachusetts, Hester Prynne stands on display on a scaffold after the commoners find her guilty of a sexual affair. The punishment of the sin requires her to stand on the scaffold for three hours as the community derides and scoffs at her. “[Hester] sustained herself [ . . . ] under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes” (Hawthorne 49). Hester stands on the scaffold in front of a large group of Puritans that shame her for the sin she commits. The fact that she stands on the shameful scaffold demonstrates one consequences of her adultery. Furthermore, the amount of people that continue to stare make Hester feel the guilt and sorrow from the offense she perpetrates. After the crowd shames her at the scaffold, Hester returns to her prison cell where Roger Chillingworth, her husband she sees in the crowd, treats her and Pearl. Hester promises not to reveal to anyone their past relationship; in return, Roger promises not to demolish the father of Pearl. Providentially, the governor and ministers release Hester from prison, and she finds a small cottage on the outskirts of town to raise Pearl. Hester raises her daughter in a life of solitude; she chooses the life of solitude as a way to cope with her guilt from her sin. “[Hawthorne fuses the A] with culminating action and a sense of human error and human guilt” (Orians 425). Hawthorne applies the scarlet letter to show