Hester Prynne's Response To The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is a novel featuring Hester Prynne, a woman in the 17th century who was sent to Boston by her husband. Waiting several months for her husband to sail from England to Boston, she believes that he had died at sea. This perceived loss leads her to have an affair with a man in Boston. She then gives birth to her lover 's child and, since no body of her husband was found, she is punished for adultery. She is made to wear a red “A” on her chest as punishment. The “A” is more than just a symbol of her crime, it’s a physical representation of her sin which isolates her from the rest of the town. The townspeople see her as less of a person.
The main characters of this book are Hester and Pearl Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth. Hester Prynne is a woman who is married to an old scholar who sent her to America to prepare a home for them. However, after several months he has yet to arrive and is presumed to be dead. Hester then has an affair and gives birth to a baby girl whom she names Pearl. Pearl is a very mischievous little girl who doesn’t get along with the other children. The children start rumors …show more content…
The book makes me realize that it was hard to live in a puritan society, what is socially acceptable now may be something that could ruin your life back then. As a woman, Hester was punished more for her sins than her lover, who kept it a secret. Hester was just a woman who thought her husband had passed and took comfort in the arms of another. Reverend Dimmesdale was thought as an amazing reverend who would know right from wrong. Even though they were in love, Reverend Dimmesdale should have known better since he is a godly man. This book displays just how different society is now from back then. Now people are a lot more forgiving when people make mistakes, when back then people would isolate someone for a small