Hester Prynne In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

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The Scarlet Letter is a 19th century novel about 17th century Puritans written by Nathaniel Hawthorne. In this novel, Hawthorne follows the life of Hester Prynne, an adulteress forced to live the rest of her life with a scarlet A engraved on her clothes. For almost seven years after being publicly shamed, she resides in a cottage outside the skirts of the town as a single mother with her illegitimate child, Pearl. She does not breathe a word of the father’s name to anyone, even when her husband, who goes by the name of Roger Chillingworth, pressures her to. Although this is an old novel, the themes and situations presented make it a very modern tale. The characters as well as the situations can be related to society today. Novelist Tom Perrotta …show more content…
Hawthorne focuses on hypocrisy through Hester in a number of ways. For one, Hester refuses to share to the town, and her own child, the name of the identity of her lover. For seven years she openly displays and shares her sin to the world through her scarlet A but refuses to have her lover, who is equally as guilty and responsible, share the shame of the sin with her. She believes that she must be punished for her sin, evident in the fact that she willingly chose to remain in the town even after being able to leave since the town was where her sin was committed and she felt that it is where she should live out her punishment, but she does not reveal her lover’s identity, making it so that he does not have to publicly be punished for the same sin. This is hypocritical, for she believes that one must be punished for their wrong doings but does not want her lover to be condemned for his part in the sin. Another evidence of Hester’s hypocrisy lies in the treatment of her daughter, Pearl. She claims to love Pearl, she provides her with a home, food, fancy clothes, and does what she can to keep her close, such as when the town wanted to separate her and her daughter, but she does not love Pearl enough to let her know the identity of her father. No matter how many times Pearl asks who her father is, Hester will not tell her, only
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