Scarlet Letter: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hester is the protagonist and the one who wears the scarlet letter, hence the title. The letter, a piece of fabric that’s the letter “A,” represents that Hester is an “adulterer.” As a young woman, Hester married an elderly intellect, Chillingworth, who sent her to America to live but never went with her. During the time she waited for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale. She then gave birth to Pearl, Chillingworth never showed up. Hester is passionate but also strong. She withholds her pride even through years of chastisement and shame. She respects both her husband and her lover in her intelligence and thoughtfulness. Her ostracism then allows her time to make inferences or observations about her community, mostly about how the women were being treated.
In all honesty, I didn’t know anything about this book before I started reading it, but it seemed like a popular “classic” so I wanted to read it.
I so far like everything about the book, the author writes it intelligently and cleverly, I just don’t like how the society treats the scarlet lettered people. The tone in the first two chapters is somber. The author is attempting to get the readers to feel sympathy for Hester and what she will have to endure in the next few years of her life because of this one decision she made.
I really enjoy the synopsis you mentioned for the book; I’ve always wanted to read The Scarlet Letter but have always been curious about what it is about exactly. I’m really interested to know your thoughts on the comparison between how the society in the novel treats Hester due to her infidelity, compared to how our society in present day treats those who cheat as well. I’m interested as well as learning what Hester will endure the years following her decision; I wonder if the aftermath she will experience is similar or opposite to what people nowadays experience following the same situation.