Who Is The Protagonist In The Scarlet Letter

Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a novel about guilt and confession and is located in a small, strict Puritan town in Boston, Massachusetts. There are two main characters in the story, one being Arthur Dimmesdale and the other being Hester Prynne. Hester was the center of attention throughout the whole story, and everything started with her unwanted marriage with a man by the name of Roger Chillingsworth, who was from Europe. The other man in her life; Arthur Dimmesdale lurked around behind the scenes after Hester did not rat him out. Not confessing definitely caught up with reverend Dimmesdale as guilt was sending his life twirling out of control. In the classic novel, Dimmesdale can be considered as a main character, but Hester is more so because of how much she is targeted throughout the story, her progression from shame to optimism, her inner strength and compassion, and how much criteria of a protagonist that she exemplifies . In the novel, Hester Prynne best exemplifies the protagonist, as we always follow her throughout the story and she is always in the spotlight after doing …show more content…
She is also very attractive and lovable and experiences a great change throughout the book which can classify her as a dynamic character, as she trends from shame and humiliation to being outgoing and optimistic. She is also subject to many embarrassments like coming out of the prison door which makes her the center of attention and therefore the main character. She also controls most of what happens in the story regarding guilt and confession. The outcomes of the story also relate to Hester the most instead of Dimmesdale because he is hiding and not confessing. In conclusion, Hester is the protagonist of Hawthorne’s novel, with Dimmesdale coming in as a close second main