Overcomming Sin

“But dost thou know, my child, what this letter means which thy mother is doomed to wear?” (Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter 167). Hester Prynne, the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet letter, set in Puritan England in which Hawthorne shapes the protagonist, Hester Prynne, to embody the liberation of the Puritan woman. Her persona serves as an example of redemption and acceptance of fate to the audience as she overcomes her guilt and learns to forgive herself. Hawthorne thus, creates Hester’s presence through description of her actions as the novel developed and the way Hester responded to the judgment for her sin.
Nathaniel Hawthorne was ashamed of his Puritan ancestry. His bashful feeling led him to create Hester as an outcast of the typical Puritan society. Initially, the audience is demonstrated as a physically attractive blossoming woman that has been charged for adultery and is condemned to sport a scarlet A for adultery. Hester is condemned to speak the name of the father of her daughter; however, she remains silent and receives full guilt. “‘I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer! Be not silent from any mistaken pity and tenderness for him’” (Hawthorne The Scarlet Letter 62).Although she is faced with disgust, the actions that Hester commit by keeping the name of her daughter’s father reveal a hidden humbleness she had about not revealing his name and condemning him as well. The author reveals appreciation and respect for Hester as she overcomes society’s guilt and evolves into an example the town look to