The letter "A" was to be worn as a punishment, to be worn in shame, to be worn as "adulteress." This may not have been clearly and directly stated to the reader, but throughout reading the book, you gather possible hidden meanings of Hester's scarlet letter. Although the sense of the meaning "adulteress" is constant, the metaphoric, emotional, and moralistic meanings of the scarlet letter vary from positive to negative interpretations throughout the novel The Scarlet Letter.

The Puritan community was a dark, strict society, feeling indifferent to the humanity of the woman standing before them on the scaffold, with her infant daughter against her chest. The beautifully embroidered letter does not glow in the eyes of the people. The letter shapes the way they look at Hester and the way they treat her. They isolate Hester not only socially but also through her location, which ultimately causes her own emotional isolation. "It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and inclosing her in a sphere by herself." (40)

However, the people's attitude does change. It goes through various roller-coasters of positive

Hester and her scarlet letter never achieve simplicity. Perhaps rigor is not obtainable through the Hester's character because of her inflexibility. When dealing with human nature, the intricacy of life is accented and the variety of interpretation is strengthened. Beautifully illustrating that statement, Hawthorne challenges his readers to gain this truth through his work and development of Hester and the intricacy of the A. The details and different versions of the A all represent different versions of Hester; the A is a reflection of herself. Hester and her scarlet letter are a perfect example, a result of passion looked upon from different perspectives.

By apparently giving the letter the meaning "adulteress," the reader observes that Hawthorne views Hester as a victim, emphasizing that she is a victim of her society and her passion, which ultimately stands as her biggest downfall as well as her largest asset. When referring to Hester in the opening scaffold scene, Hawthorne remarks that "never had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison" (39). The way Hawthorne chose to illustrate his character enables the reader to discern the author's attitude toward his subject.

Throughout the beginning chapters Hester is isolated and looked down upon by the Puritans. During "Another View of Hester," Hawthorne explains to the reader that the scarlet A has yet another layer of meaning, which is in fact another view of Hester. The very townspeople who once condemned her now believed her scarlet A to stand for her ability to create her beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick. They now saw it as a "symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her--so much power to do and power to sympathize--that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification," (110) and now believed it to represent the concept of "able." Many the townspeople realized what a high quality

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Approximate Word count = 1353
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)