In the book The Scarlet Letter, we have gone through an emotional rollercoaster with Hester Prynne. Throughout the book, I believe that she has stayed a strong and fierce woman. In the first few chapters, we see her coming out of the prison and forced upon the scaffold. First off, she is shameful at first. She then realizes that the shame is now a part of her, whether she likes it or not. When she comes to this realization, her entire demeanor changes and she displays her "A" proudly and slings her child on her hip. Also, when Dimmesdale questions her in front of the public up on the scaffold about the identity of the man she had committed adultery with, she remained silent. This action may seem weak, but put yourself in her shoes. Remaining silent to keep the identity of the man you had committed adultery with is harder that it seems. People may reveal the identity of their partner just to keep the spotlight off of them. Secondly, she raised Pearl, the girl who is a symbol of her shame. Hester could have easily abandoned Pearl, especially when the governor and his officials wanted to take Pearl away from Hester. Instead, Hester fought for her. She convinced them to let her keep Pearl. She raised that crazy child no matter how hard she made her life. Thirdly, she confronted Chillingworth about his doings towards Dimmesdale. She knew that Chillingworth was torturing Dimmesdale and wanted to put an end to it. In turn, she confronted Chillingworth and asked him to stop it. This hit me as really brave. Not only because she was afraid of Chillingworth, but also because he is a respected member of the Puritan community. He is an educated man who is also a doctor. That makes his opinion already more creditable than Hester's. That means Chillingworth could make false accusations against Hester, which would mean that it would be more credible too because Hester is already charged with adultery. Fourthly, when she and Hester are released from prison, she decides to stay in Boston, Massachusetts when she could have easily left. She endured so much judgment from the people in her community and the loneliness. I'm surprised she didn't go mad, especially having a child like Pearl. No offense to Pearl or anything, but she's crazy. She dances on graves and throws burrs at the Reverend. A child like that has to be a handful. Last but not least, is that she remained open to Dimmesdale, the man who left her to rot in jail. Maybe is was naive of her to think that Dimmesdale might have still loved her when he was on the scaffold crying in pain and guilt, but she let him inside her heart. She cared for him even though he has done a lot of wrongdoings towards her. Most people wouldn't let a man or woman back into their lives after getting out of jail. Most people would have held a grudge. But not Hester- Hester let Dimmesdale into her life again, with her arms open. All of these reasons that I listed above is why I believe that Hester, even though she is viewed as weak, is a strong woman to me.
~Alyson Ricafrente
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~Alyson Ricafrente
Retrieved from: data.image.com