Changes of Hester Prynne in Hawthornes Scarlet Letter :: essays research papers

In Nathanial Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, the reader meets the character Hester Prynne who as the novel progresses, one nonices the changes in her character be very prominent. The changes are both physical and in her mannerisms. There are many significant events which took place before the st prowess of the novel and during the novel. Some of these events that lead to this dramatic change include the affect of wearing the scarlet letter, the secrets which she keeps, and her daughter Pearls evil characteristics. By these events, Hester Prynnes image is transformed throughout the beat of the story. As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to addict her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The gui lt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a grounds of her change in personality. The secrets which Hester keeps are because she is silent and hardly talks to anyone. Various critics have interpreted her silence as both empowering and disempowering Yet silence, in Hesters case, offers a type of passive resistance to male probing (Elbert, 258). One may refer back to the scene at the beginning when Reverend Wilson is severe to get the name of the other sinner. As Hester refuses, one may see this as a foreshadowing for other events. Hester is a strong woman who would not tell a soul the secrets that interconnect Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. The secrets however begin to imply a toll of Hester especially as Chillingworth comes to town and is dying to know who the stimulate of Pearl is.As a living reminder of Hesters extreme sin, Pearl is her constant companion. From the beginning Pearl has always been considered as an evil child. For Hester to take care of such a dem anding child, put lots of stress onto her life. Hester at times was in a state of uncontrollable pressure. Gazing at Pearl, Hester Prynne often dropped her regulate upon her knees, and cried out with an agony which she would fain have hidden, but which made utterance for itself, betwixt speech and a groan, O Father in heaven- if Thou art still my Father- what is this being which I have brought into the world (Hawthorne, 77).