The Scarlet Letter: Moral Wilderness

1. The Scarlet Letter: Moral Wilderness Joanna Zilk, Julia Sison, Yvette Sanders, Olivia Massey, Larissa Domnikov

2. Character Description: Hester Prynne Evidence 1: “The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face that which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. She was lady-like, too, after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days…” (50). Evidence 2: “...there seemed to be no longer anything in Hester’s face for Love to dwell upon; nothing in Hester’s form, though majestic and statue-like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace…” (148). Hester is beautiful, until she lets society change her. However, she is not fully changed and breaks through the barrier of confinement when she realizes she CAN move on which maker her beautiful again. There is more to her than her sin.

3. Hester Prynne’s Job/Role in Society Evidence 1: “Her needle-work was seen on the ruff of the Governor...But it is not recorded that, in a single instance, her skill was called in aid to embroider the white veil which was to cover the pure blushes of a bride” (Ch. 5) Evidence 2: “...She would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful. Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast…” (73). Hester is made an example of for children to know what not to do. She is also very skilled. but since she is morally “dirty” & she is not allowed to touch the “pure”. However, later on she is seen as a saint almost, because instead of letting her mistake take away her humanity, she still gave all she had to others and eventually her neighbors looked at her with reverence.

4. Hester Positive/Negative Connotations Evidence 1:“but did ever a woman, before this brazen hussy, contrive such a way of showing it! Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates, and make pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?” (51). Evidence 2: “Hester’s nature showed itself warm and rich; a well-spring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest...so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (146). -page 234

5. The Scarlet A Interpretation Evidence 1: “The symbol was not mere scarlet cloth, tinged in an earthly dye-pot, but was red-hot with infernal fire and could be seen glowing all alight, whenever Hester Prynne walked abroad in the night-time” (Ch. 5) Evidence 2: “All the light and graceful foliage of her character had been withered up by this red-hot brand, and had long ago fallen away, leaving a bare and harsh outline, which might have been repulsive, had she possessed friends or companions to be repelled by it. Even the attractiveness of the her person had undergone a similar change” (Ch. 13)

6. Interpretation (cont.) Evidence 3: ”The letter was the 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 significance. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength” (Ch. 13).

7. When it appears The Scarlet Letter shows whenever Hester has to face public opinion. “Clergymen paused in the streets to address words of exhortation, that brought a crowd, with its mingled grin and frown, around the poor, sinful woman” (Chapter 5). “But this point which drew all eyes… was that Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (Chapter 2).

8. Symbol: Literal and Figurative The letter was a symbol of her calling ch. 13 the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma.. ch. 24 Evidence 2: “Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Prynne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance, but of her many good deeds since” ch. 13

9. Symbol Associated with Others Evidence 1: “But it was a remarkable attribute of this garb, and, indeed, of the child’s whole appearance, that it irresistibly and inevitably reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. It was the scarlet letter in another form” (Ch. 7) Evidence 2: Dimmesdale has an “A” burnt over his heart and always grabs at it.

10. Thesis Hawthorne’s portrayal of Hester’s growth during the course of the novel, and the characters’ change of interpretation of the scarlet letter suggests that human nature is able to move past and progress over the static and cynical views societal constructs present, eventually morphing the face of society as a whole.