The Scarlet Letter :: Essays Papers

The Scarlet Letter In this novel Hester Prynee is represented in several different ways. Before this story starts she was sent to Boston by her husband (Roger Chillingworth) who was supposed to be meeting her there shortly. He never makes it, she assumes he died at sea. While in Boston she meets Rev. Dimmesdale she has an affair with him and gets pregnent. He then starts to ignore her. Months later when everyone finds out about her illegitimate daughter (Pearl) and that she is un married. She is looked upon with great sin. When she is first introduced into the novel she is in the prison. She emerges wearing an elaborately emroidered scarlet letter â€Å"A† (meaning adultery) on her breast, and carries her 3 month old infant in her arms. She is led onto the scaffold where she has to stand in fron of the whole town as part of her punishment. While on the scaffold she has flashbacks of her old life, this is where we first learn about the real Hester Prynne. The rest of her punishment is that she has to wear the scarlet â€Å"A† for the rest of her life. The Rev. Mr. Dimmesdale pleads with Hester to tell the name of the man she had a sexual affair with, but she will not. After the 3 hours she is lead back to the prison with Pearl. At this point in the novel we learn that back in England Hester was married to a man, Roger Chillingworth. This man is now in Boston and comes to visit Hesters prison cell. Hester and Dimmesdale discuss who is at fault for her affair. He admits that he will find the father though. When Hester is released from prison she has the choice to go anywhere in the world, but she chooses to stay in Boston where she commited her sin and where she will have her punishment. She starts sewing and sells her garments but puritan society never accepts her. Believes â€Å"A† allows her to see sinful and immoral feelings in other people. Hesters strength is most seen when she goes to the Governers mansion to plead for her daughter. In the following years Hester and Dimmesdale start speaking again. Now you will be able to see her weaker side.She falls in love with him all over, they plan to leave Boston and move to Bristol, England and live the rest of their lives there. But they never make it, When Hester dies she is burried next to Dimmesdale. Physically Hester at the begining of the novel is a tall young woman with a figure of