"The Scarlet Letter"

Paper Summary:

"Hester Prynne, the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, is ostracized from her community and forced to wear a cloth "A" signifying she has committed the sin of adultery. However, the novel is a condemnation not of Hester but of the community which has so harshly and hypocritically judged her

From the Paper:

"Hester Prynne, the protagonist in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, is ostracized from her community and forced to wear a cloth "A" signifying she has committed the sin of adultery. However, the novel is a condemnation not of Hester but of the community which has so harshly and hypocritically judged her. Hawthorne's novel portrays both the inhumane effects of the cruel enforcement of the morality of Puritanism, and the courage and love of Hester as she lives to transcend that inhumane cruelty. Hester is shown to suffer not because she is evil, but because her human frailties have been judged evil by a community which refuses to accept such frailty in its members. Ironically, her lover is the man who represents more than any other those Puritan values. In Hawthorne's view, Hester is far more human and moral than the others in the community because she accepts ..."

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• Analytical Essay # 120733 : "Adultery in "The Scarlet Letter"

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