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  • Essay / Hester Prynne as the heroine in The Scarlet Letter

    In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne Prynne redefines herself despite being rejected by the Puritan community. Even though she has sinned, she does not dwell on the past. She becomes stronger as a person through the cruelty of the townspeople and the shame they place on Hester. Even though everything seems to be going wrong for Hester, the story ends in her favor. Hester becomes stronger than Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. She becomes the voice of those who have sinned and shows her caring and resilient nature even under the spell of the letter. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Although Hester is rejected by her community, she fights back with strength and acceptance. At the beginning of the story, the reader meets Hester for the first time as she is released from the prison in front of the townspeople. Hester holds her child, a symbol of her sin of adultery, and is marked with an embroidered letter "A" on her dress. The women of the town gossip about Hester and notice that Hester's magnificent embroidery skills on the letter that was supposed to be her punishment made it seem like she is proud of her sins. However, Hester only makes the best of her situation. Although the townspeople expect Hester to be ashamed and embarrassed, she turns the other cheek: "Those who had known her before and expected to see her darkened and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even surprised, to perceive how her beauty shone and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped” (37). Hester shows her strength by refusing to crumble under public humiliation and being branded as punishment for her sin. She accepts her misdeeds with grace and stands firm: “But immediately, wisely judging that one sign of her shame would only serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm and, with a burning blush, and yet, a haughty smile and a look that would not be ashamed looked at the townspeople and his neighbors” (37). This event is an example of Hester's strength shining through her dark circumstances, and it is the beginning of her journey toward accepting her sin and becoming a better person because of it. Although Hester is vulnerable at the beginning of the novel, she develops self-confidence and a new perspective as an outsider, then shows dominance over Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth. As Dimmesdale's mental health deteriorates, Hester finds peace with her sin and the letter. "'Hester,' he said, 'have you found peace?' She smiled sadly, looking at his chest. " Really ? She asked. - Nothing ! Nothing but despair! He replied” (131). During Hester and Dimmesdale's conversation, Dimmesdale is depressed and distraught, while Hester is calm and comforting. This is ironic because it was Hester who was publicly punished for her sins, but Dimmesdale lets her secret sin ruin his life. The shame Hester should feel affects Dimmesdale instead. Hester also becomes impatient with Chillingworth's evil and decides to meet him. She explains that he no longer intimidates her thanks to his newfound strength, and that she has risen above him: "Strengthened by years of harsh and solemn trials, she no longer felt so inadequate to facing Roger Chillingworth… She had climbed it. path, since then, towards a higher point. The old man, on the contrary, had come closer to her, or perhaps lower, through the vengeance to which he had stooped. (115). Hester's new confidence allows her to find peace and prosper above Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Hester..