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Hester Prynne is the most important character around whom all the events and incidents of the novel ‘The Scarlet Letter’ center. She committed the sin of adultery and fell a cruel victim to the stern Puritan law. The Puritan moralists find Hester guilty of an unpardonable sin. Hester, on the other hand, does not think herself guilty as she responded to a natural urge only. She seems to be a free-will agent and defies the Puritan strictures. But at the same time, she expiates her sin by involving herself in humanitarian activities which take her back to the mainstream of the Puritan society again.
Hester Prynne has all the attributes of a truly heroine. She is able to win our admiration and respect by dint of her candor, her moral courage, her power of endurance, and her deep maternal attachment to her daughter, Pearl. Her spirit of service also evokes our sense of admiration.
The haughty dignity which she shows while she is made to stand on the pillory is also worth our admiration. The gazing eyes of the multitude cause a burning sensation in her heart as it looks on the embroidered scarlet letter ‘A’ glued to her bosom. However, these gazing eyes do not bring in her any sense of shame because she never thinks that she has done anything that can be called ‘guilty’ by her standards, although the world considers it guilt and wants to punish her for it. About her attitude at that time Hawthorne remarks: “The unhappy culprit sustained herself as best as a woman might, under the heavy weight of a thousand unrelenting eyes, all fastened upon her, and concentrated at her bosom. It was almost intolerable to be borne”. Under such trying conditions psychologically people begin to divert their attention from the present to some past event. The same is the case with Hester Prynne. She also pries into, her past: “Reminiscences, the most trifling and immaterial, passages of infancy and school-days, sports, childish quarrels, and the little domestic traits of her maiden years came swarming back upon her, intermingled with recollections whatever was gravest in her subsequent life”.
She deserves our admiration on another count as well. Her determination not to disclose the name of her partner in sin is, to say the least, praiseworthy. Neither the terrible threats of Reverend John Wilson, nor the eloquent appeal of Arthur Dimmesdale have any effect on her determination. Her refusal to disclose the name of her partner in sin leads Arthur Dimmesdale to exclaim: “’Wondrous strength and generosity of a woman’s heart! She will not speak!”.
Her decision to stay back in Boston after she has been freed from the prison also evokes our admiration. She is free to go where she likes. But she refuses to run away from the place of her earthly shame. Her only reason can be that she wants to remain there so that she could be near the person with whom she is deeply in love. This man is none other than Arthur Dimmesdale. This constancy towards a person who does not have courage enough to own his shame, Is admirable indeed.
She wins our admiration on another count as well. The people of Boston ill-treat her. This ill-treatment does not turn her into a cynic. “In all her intercourse with society, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even silence of those with whom she came into contact, implied and often expressed that she was banished”. But she patiently and ungrudgingly bears it all with great equanimity. The eyes of the strangers looking intently at the scarlet letter at her bosom cause burning sensation in her heart. Still, she continues to have social intercourse with the people around her, although this intercourse is at their conditions alone. She helps the poor and needy and in this she goes out of her way.
Her deep maternal attachment to her daughter, Pearl, is also admirable. When Governor Bellingham informs her that the town council has decided that Pearl should be taken away from her guardianship, she vehemently opposes this move. She argues that she could be a better guardian for her daughter.
Her constancy in love for Arthur Dimmesdale is also admirable. When she is married to aging and crabbed Roger Chillingworth, she very honestly owns that she does not love him. She bestows all her love on Arthur Dimmesdale. When standing on the scaffold she promises to keep the identity of Roger Chillingworth a secret from the world, but when she finds that Roger Chillingworth is the real tormentor of her lover, she decides to tell the minister all about the reality of Roger Chillingworth.
Hester did not ignore her sin but she ignored the hypocrisy of the Puritan society. Hester defies the Puritan authority which fails to discover the guilt of a reputed person but becomes stern to a poor woman. The irony is that the very sinner is given the responsibility of finding out the co-sinner of Hester. Hester is not defying the universal law of God but she is simply trying to unmask the dual nature of Puritanism. Hester is mindful of her sin and is trying to expiate it by providing her selfless service for humanity. Her good work makes the society forget her past sin. The letter ‘A’ turns into ‘able’ from adultery. This positive turn redeems her of her sin of adultery.
Hester lived in a society which was hostile to the sinners like Hester. There was no scope of mercy or sympathy. That is why Hester had to endure severe punishment. But her sufferings as well as her noble, human deeds redeem her of her sin.
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