Paper-10 Hester Prynne as fighter in puritan society

Name:- Dave Mayuri P.

M.A. Sem:- 3.

Paper no:-10 The American Literature.

Topic name :- Hester Prynne as fighter in puritan society.

Submitted By  :- Department of English M.K.B.U.

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Hester Prynne as a fighter in puritan society:- 

 Introduction of Nathanial Hawthorne:- 

                       Nathanial Hawthorne was one of the prominent writers of the English literature.

           He was born on 4^th July, 1804 in Salem Massachusetts, U.S. he was an American novelist and short story writer. Hawthorne become one of the leading writers of his time moving away from Formalist and exploring the idea of individual responsibility, the importance of creative expression and man’s relationship to the world. 

 

               Hawthorne was very much connected with Salem, Massachusetts. After he lost his job at the Salem custom house, due to change in political administration, Hawthorne denounced his called the “abominable city” saying that he no reason to main Hawthorne has written very famous novel “The Scarlet Letter”. In this novel reflects the idea of the harsh puritan society and present the situation of the women of the puritan times and reveals reality of society. Hawthorne writes,  

Be true! Be true! Be true!

Show freely to the world,

If not your worst,

Yet some trait whereby

The worst may be inferred!”

                     

Introduction of the Scarlet letter:- 

                            

                The Scarlet Letter is one of the romantic fictions written by Nathanial Hawthorne. The novel published in 1850. This novel “The Scarlet Letter” considered being his one of the magnum opus and setting in 17^th century puritan bosom Massachusetts during the year 1642 to 1649. 

               In this novel Hawthorne presented the central idea of the mentality of the puritan (society) people. In this novel there are many characters are but main characters are Hester Prynne, Pearl, Arthur Dimmesdale,  Roger chilling worth. Hester is the key figure of the novel and she has played vital role in this novel. 

                This is the novel about sin, punished by the puritan society for her adultery. Hester is stand alone with her daughter pearl in front of the puritan society. Hawthorne has presented the dark side of the puritan mentality of the people. 

 

Hester Prynne:- 

             

  In this novel the character of Hester Prynne is the central figure of the novel. She is the protagonist of the novel this character has been called “among the first and most important female protagonist in American literature”. Hester is a truly tragic heroine. She wins our hearts by virtue of her strength, her Candor, her dedication to the reality of suffering. Hester is married to Roger chilling worth and has affairs with Arthur Dimmsdale and from that affairs she has a daughter namely Pearl. 

                  In this novel “The Scarlet letter” Hester plays many roles like, abandon lover, devoted mother, wife, and religious dissenter, feminist and out cast. Hawthorne has created very powerful character of Hester who stands against the puritan society/ he portrays Hester fondly, “As a woman of strength, independence and kindness, who stands up to the judgment and constraints” of her society.  

                     Throughout the entire novel the character of Hester fight against the Puritan society and passes through a very tragic condition of sin and punishment. Throughout this character Hawthorne challenges the puritan society and their rules.      

Fighter of Puritan society

  Hester Prynne as a Fighter in puritan society:-   

			Letter “A” became stands for “Angel” and “Ability”

 

Proved herself as a single mother

   

Understand Human nature

        

In “The Scarlet Letter” Hester struggles a lot conceal her feeling and pain Hester who stands in periphery. 

           Hester who struggled for her love and pearl In the novel the novel from the beginning to end she fights against the puritan society. She has the same vision towards to see a situation till end but there is change of the society and the outer perspective. 

           After remaining The Scarlet Letter “A” that she had not since been without for seven years. Hester now struggles with the question of she will be able to keep this glorious falling. In this struggle, puritan law has forced Hester to became a dull conformist, but her natural passion inevitably overtakes her and allows her to drop what she had thought to be represents of sin.

        This novel tell about Hester’s positively and puritan society’s negativity to see a situation Hester fights individually fight against the puritan society. 

    

The Politics of “A” in The Scarlet Letter”:-                         The title of the novel it has very symbolic means “A bright red color” in this novel the symbol “A” is presented which shows the puritan society through the journey of the novel “The Scarlet Letter”. 

                       In the scarlet letter Hawthorne includes many profound and important symbols. The device of symbolism is portrayed well in the novel, especially through the scarlet letter “A” because of the changes in the meaning through the novel Hawthorne has presented ambiguity of letter “A”.   

               

1In the beginning of the novel, The Scarlet letter “A” is viewed as a symbol of sin. The middle of the novel is transition period, where the scarlet letter “A” is viewed differently. In this novel Hawthorne has mostly put stress on the puritan society. In the beginning of the novel, the letter is taken as a “label” of punishment and sin. In the commencement Hawthorne introduces a character of Hester. Hester loves Dimmesdale and she has little daughter also namely Pearl. And she bears the label of the litter upon her chest. Hester is presented as in center and society is on periphery. She stands as label of outcast in front of society. She is wearing this symbol to burden her with punishment throughout her life. She stands on a plank where her punishment is given,  

“Thus she will be a

Living sermon

Against sin, until the

Ignominious

Letter be engraved upon

Her tombstone”

                    Into the society places its blames upon this woman. It is because of this one letter that Hester’s life is changed. The society banishes her from her normal life. The puritan society into the view this letter as a symbol of the devil.The letter also put Hester trough torture: 

“Of an impulses and

Passionate nature she

Had fortified herself to

Encounter the stings

And venomous stabs of

Public contumely

Wreaking itself in every

Variety of insult but

There was a quality so

Much more terrible in

The solemn mood of

Popular mind, that she

Longed rather to behold

All those rigid

Countenances contorted

With scornful merriment

And herself the object.”

   

                              

 

                                        Hester as a object

           The Implies that Hester sin of bearing a child without the presence of a husband will always be remembered. Hester in this novel give the feminist idea that how a woman are treated and faced the inferiority by the society. Hester voluntarily resumes the letter as a 

“Woman stained with

Sin, bowed down with

Shame”

Although, Hawthorne adds that,

“Not the sternest

Magistrate of that

Iron period would have

Imposed it.

               These two questions tell about the situation of women in the society and also present the narrow mentality of the puritan society. It show that how Hester suffers from the isolation and go through the pain of her own stain character. 

                   Hawthorne in this text the poor law of the puritan age and takes very powerful examples as a feminist reading of the novel. He also represents the cruel reality of the puritan laws through the character of Hester.

                   In the commencement of the novel the character Hester has wear “A” as a adulteress and she stands alone even no one with her daughter pearl. Who also suffers the pain and punishment?“A” letter is very symbolic which symbolize the puritan society. During the first few years of Hester’s punishment the letter was daily remainder of shame. Hawthorne writes,    

“Hester Prynne had always

This dreadful agony,

In feeling a human eye

Upon the token.

The spot never grew

Callous; it seemed

On the country, to grow

More sensitive with

Daily torture”

        Hawthorne says that Hester who was always torture to wear “A” and it daily remain to shame. As the story unfolds, through this letter comes to mean other things to Hester and the people rather than bringing torture to Hester it eventually becomes a symbol to some people meaning “Able” Hawthorne writes, 

“They said that it meant

Able: so strong was

Hester Prynne, with a,

Woman’s strength

“The scarlet letter had

Not done its office”.

                  The scarlet letter was meant as a punishment for Hester. It shows the strangers’ of the women to fight against the society and feminine power Hawthorne writes, 

“Thus we seem to see

That, as regarded

Hester Prynne, the

Whole seven years of

Outlaw and ignoring

Had been little other

Than a presentation

For this very hour”

                 Hester was “Able” to deal with the society that hated her, and then a town that works. The society was able to look past their hatred for her and saw that in fact they needed her and finding Hester was able to stay, where she wanted to be. 

                    Over the time the fact that Hester didn’t crumble and infect stood taller despite her exclusion from the puritan society. Opened their eyes to see that good can survive even in the heart of a sinner Thus her adulteress turn into her ability to survive and faced the society.  

               Throughout the novel “The scarlet letter” there are various meanings to the scarlet letter. It means different things to different people.       

“A sign wealth to the

Bolter curiosity for

Pearl, guilt for

Dimmesdale,

Rebelliousness, revenge

Or motivation for

Chilling worth and

Balneal of one’s

Spouse, to name a few”

             In this novel “The scarlet letter” is only one of the symbols representing Hester’s shame and punishment. And one we see early the novel about the same we see Hester wearing scarlet letter for the first time in public, is the scaffold on which she stands after walk out of the prison. Hawthorne writes;

“it was, in short, the

Platform of the pillory;

And above it raised the

Framework of that

Instrument of discipline

So fashioned as to

Confine the human head

In its tight grasp,

And thus hold it up to

The very ideal of

Ignominy was embodied

And

Made manifest in this

Contrivance of wood

And iron”.

         In scaffold seems where Dimmesdale stands with Hester and pearl, a meteor traces out on “A” in the night sky. To Dimmesdale the meteor implies that he should wear “A” mark of shame just as Hester does. 

                      The meaning of meteor is small body incandescent atmosphere is short bright star falling down to the earth but Hawthorne has interpreted here differently by the rest of the community which thinks that it stands for “angel” is an awkward reading of the symbol of “A”. 

                      The puritan society commonly looked to symbols to conform divine sentiments. In this novel narrative however, symbols are taken to mean what the beholder wants to mean. The incident with the meteor obviously highlights and exemplifies two different uses of the symbols:   

                     

   

 

  

                     

                                            

                    Throughout this novel Hawthorne has gave various symbols of “A” and also tells about the sign and the scarlet letter “A” in this entire journey of the letter “A” characterized Hester’s immoral position and her strength to fight against the law system of puritan society. 

                  

 Introduction of Pearl:-

                                     Pearl is illegimet daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. Pearl saves as symbol of her mother’s shame and triumph Hawthorne describes pearls as “The scarlet letter” endowed with life. Pearl is the public consequence of Hester’s very private sin. The character of pearl becomes Hester’s source pearl defines Hester’s identity and purpose and gives Hester a companion to love. 

                               Pearl is also a symbol of the novel. Pearl who is illegimate daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale Pearl is considered symbol of sin for the puritan society. Pearl is also victim of the society even though she has doing nothing wrong pearl also punishes from the society because she lost her identity. 

                              Pearl makes constantly aware of her mother’s scarlet letter and of the society that produce it. When Hester removes the letter after seven years, pearl didn’t accepts her without It and forced her to wear it again after wearing “A” Hester said’ 

“Now though art my

Mother indeed!

And I am thy little pearl!”

                The strict puritan society punishes Hester and banishes from community, thus simultaneously punishing pearl and leading her into a confused childhood. Because of pearl and leading her into a confused childhood, Because of a pearl’s odd attribute and the fact that she had no father, the puritan community begun to wonder if pearl was a, “Witch-baby” fathered by the devil. Throughout the whole novel pearl is referred to whole novel pearl is referred as’

“The scarlet letter

Endowed with life

Because she Hester’s

Constant remains

Of her sin

Because of this,

Hester’s view of pearl is

Obstructed by

Her own guilty

Conscience, and thus

Hester’s own sin leads

Her to believe,

Along with the puritan

Community, that pearl

Might be a “Witch-baby”

When

Reverend Wilson asks

Pearl canst though

Me, my child, who made

Thee”

            Pearl giving the answer and responds, out of defiance, that she was,

“Plucked by her mother

Off the

Bush of wild roses that

Grew by

The Prison doors”

                                   

                       While pearl giving this answer Mr. Wilson thinks that pearl does not believe in God and pearl is the different child from the other children. Pearl has also is the vital character of the novel. who becomes the power of Hester and also give strength to fight against puritan society. 

                              In the puritan age it was believed that women were pregnant with a male child had a rosy complexion and that woman carrying a female child were pale This Metter is very much related with this novel where pearl who is daughter of Hester also suffers and punishes from the puritan society. 

                      

Conclusion:-  

                      In this novel we find that Hawthorne mostly talks about sin, punishment, pain and strict mentality of puritan society. Hawthorne also portrays the image of women in the society and how treated and questioning the women’s identity. 

                       Hester has a strong personality. She is a source of strength to others. She is at the beck and call of all concerned with her she is a woman of imagination and artistic taste. She has some ‘exotic richness’ around her she is a tragic heroine of great stature her physical and mental traits are remarkable individualistic. Her passion gives place to thought and thought to service of mankind she is, in the loneliness of her cottage, a free thinker and speculator. Her morality is different from the conventional one. She is a real, living character in the novel, and indeed, a superb creation of Hawthorne.