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

In Nathanial Hawthornes The rubicund Letter, the reader meets the genius Hester Prynne who as the novel progresses, atomic number 53 notices the changes in her character are very dramatic. The changes are both physical and in her airss. There are many significant events which took place before the uprise of the novel and during the novel. Some of these events that lead to this dramatic change include the modify of wearing the red letter, the secrets which she keeps, and her daughter Pearls evil characteristics. By these events, Hester Prynnes image is transformed by means of reveal the time 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 accost her, she rigid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not graceful of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a causation of her change in personality. The secrets which Hester keeps are because she is silent and hardly talks to anyone. discordant critics have interpreted her silence as both empowering and disempowering Yet silence, in Hesters case, offers a type of passive resistance to male probe (Elbert, 258). One may refer back to the scene at the send-off when Reverend Wilson is trying 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 take a toll of Hester especially as Chillingworth comes to town and is dying to know who the father of Pearl is.As a living reminder of Hesters extreme sin, Pearl is her constant companion. From the commencement Pearl has always been considered as an evil child. For Hester to take c are of such(prenominal) a demanding 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 work upon her knees, and cried out with an agony which she would fain have hidden, but which made utterance for itself, between speech and a groan, O Father in heaven- if Thou craft still my Father- what is this being which I have brought into the world (Hawthorne, 77).