Hawthornes Portrayals

A detailed Summary of Hawthornes Portrayals

In the opening chapters of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne provides a detailed description of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale. The reader is able to look into the souls of these characters and learn of their deepest feelings. Along with this Hawthorne uses the townspeople's reactions to show how the characters are portrayed amongst them. Every person has their good qualities and their poor qualities. The representation of these characters is neither all upright nor all immoral, for everyone has their faults.

Hester Prynne was a woman who committed adultery. In Puritan times adultery was not tolerated. It was often a crime punishable by death. Hester was a different story. Instead of a death sentence, she was forced to wear upon her breast the letter "A," made of red cloth. Hester had come over from England, alone. Her husband planned to join her after tending to business matters. Almost three years passed and he never arrived, it was thought that he could possibly be dead; therefore her punishment was not as severe as it could have been.

The townspeople were appalled by her behavior, especially the older matrons of the town. They felt as if her punishment was way too

Arthur Dimmesdale is a man who is well respected and looked up to in the community. He is a modest devoted servant of God. His sermons were eloquent and of a quiet kind, unlike most of the reverends during Puritan time, who preached Fire and Brimstone sermons. "There was an air about this young minister,-an apprehensive, a startled half-frightened look." Dimmesdale was frightened because he knew he was guilty of a terrible sin. He had committed adultery with Hester, and let her face the punishment alone. "She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale's church." Dimmesdale was involved in the scandal too. He was the one person least likely to be the father of Pearl . Even though Dimmesdale had committed a sin he was devoted to serving God. He increasingly inspired his congregation in the years to follow. He could now relate with all of the sinners. He had made a mistake, by committing adultery, but he was by no means a terrible person.

Roger Chillingworth comes across as a frightful man in the first couple of chapters. "A man well stricken in age . . . with dim eyes . . . with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right." Hester appears petrified to see this man. She clutches her baby to her breast as she recognizes his identity. Roger Chillingworth was Hester's husband, who had arrived in Boston almost three years after Hester. When he finally sees her, she is standing on a

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 964
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English