Scarlet Letter 14

A detailed Summary of Scarlet Letter 14

The first description that the reader gets of Hester Prynne is that she is a woman of strength and beauty that was uncommon of the time. However, this seemingly perfect woman has one terrible flaw, the scarlet letter. This brand of sin slowly takes its toll on the femininity of Hester Prynne, transforming her from a woman of elegance to a woman stained with sin.

As Hester Prynne steps out of the prison repelling the helping of hand of the beadle, the reader is instantly shocked by the "natural dignity" that this aberrant woman possesses. Prynne is described as having "perfect elegance, beautiful...richness of complexion...feminine gentility... and indescribable grace". It is clear that she is anything but the typical Bostonian woman. This description is in extreme contrast to that of the description of the other "pitiless" and "self-constituted judges". At this time in her life Prynne embodies feminism, from the smallest strand of her glossy hair to the elegance of her needlework. Unfortunately, Prynne would not be able to keep her feminine qualities in tact for long.

Halfway through the novel the toll of being the outcast of society for such a long time clearly starts to take effect on Prynne. "Some attribute had departed fro

Over the course of seven long years laced with ignominy and shame, the scarlet letter definitely served at least one purpose, the desolation of Hester Prynne's femininity. Even though the scarlet letter was not the only reason why Hester lost her feminism, (there were other contributing factors such as not revealing two agonizing secrets that were slowing deteriorating her soul and hurting the only people she cherished, childbearing and the work that is involved with raising a child, especially Pearl were present) it was the major contributing factor. Notwithstanding the eventual outcome of Hester's femininity, her strength of mind and body did prolong the inevitable, just not long enough to escape the constant torment of ignominy with her loved ones.

A timeless symbol of feminism is a woman's hair. This motif was first introduced when Prynne came out of the prison door. When Hawthorne introduces Prynne's femininity, it is no mistake that Hawthorne does not fail to mention her hair that "threw off sunshine with a gleam". However, after the "A" has become one with Hester, she hides her magnificent hair under a "gray" hat. Gray is a symbol of everything bad and Puritan in the novel. This is why it is important to see the change that occurs in the forest scene, where color and sunshine is abundant, when Prynne takes of her hat and lets her g

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 910
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English