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In the opening chapters of The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne provides a detailed description of Hester Prynne, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale. The reader is able to look into the souls of these characters and learn of their deepest feelings. Along with this Hawthorne uses the townspeople's reactions to show how the characters are portrayed amongst them. Every person has their good qualities and their poor qualities. The representation of these characters is neither all upright nor all immoral, for everyone has their faults. Hester Prynne was a woman who committed adultery.
In Puritan times adultery was not tolerated. It was often a crime punishable by death. Hester was a different story. Instead of a death sentence, she was forced to wear upon her breast the letter A, made of red cloth.
Hester had come over from England, alone. Her husband planned to join her after tending to business matters. Almost three years passed and he never arrived, it was thought that he could possibly be dead; therefore her punishment was not as severe as it could have been. The townspeople were appalled by her behavior, especially the older matrons of the town. They felt as if her punishment was way too lenient for the crime that she had committed.
This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die. Hester did commit a sin and she owned up to it. She didnt complain about the fact that she had been caught. Instead she was A figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale... She was lady-like, too... characterized by a certain state of dignity.
Hester was free to leave Boston, but she decided to live her life there with her daughter Pearl... kept by no restrictive clause of her condemnation within the limits of the Puritan settlement... free to return to her birthplace... and hide her character and identity under a new exterior. Not only did she stay there, but she helped out in the town in whatever way she could. The townspeople looked upon her with awe.
Many of them came to her for guidance and advice. While Hawthorne portrays Hester as a sinner she is also seen as a survivor, and a person full of knowledge and strength. Roger Chillingworth comes across as a frightful man in the first couple of chapters. A man well stricken in age...
with dim eyes... with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right. Hester appears petrified to see this man. She clutches her baby to her breast as she recognizes his identity. Roger Chillingworth was Hester's husband, who had arrived in Boston almost three years after Hester. When he finally sees her, she is standing on a scaffold in front of him, accused of committing adultery.
If Chillingworth had chosen to identify himself, Hester would have been sentenced to death. The reader may at first feel sympathy for him, as any person would feel for someone whose spouse had committed adultery. After learning this information about his wife, Chillingworth still treats Pearl when she is anguished, even though it is his wifes child by another man. When Hester fears that Chillingworth may have tried to poison Pearl, he responds What should ail me to harm this misbegotten and miserable babe? Chillingworth admits that he was partly at fault for her sin.
She was a young woman and he was an old man, he could never expect her to love him. I drew thee into my heart, into its innermost chamber, and sought to warm thee by the warmth which thy presence made there! However Chillingworth is not the innocent man that he claims to be. He wishes to seek revenge on Arthur Dimmesdale. I shall see him tremble. I shall feel myself shudder, suddenly and unawares.
Sooner or later, he must needs be mine. Chillingworth wants his revenge on this man. He wants to torture him in every possible way. The man that the reader had felt sympathy for is now filled with hate and anger. Arthur Dimmesdale is a man who is well respected and looked up to in the community. He is a modest devoted servant of God.
His sermons were eloquent and of a quiet kind, unlike most of the reverends during Puritan time, who preached Fire and Brimstone sermons. There was an air about this young minister, -an apprehensive, a startled half-frightened look. Dimmesdale was frightened because he knew he was guilty of a terrible sin. He had committed adultery with Hester, and let her face the punishment alone.
She hath raised a great scandal, I promise you, in godly Master Dimmesdale's church. Dimmesdale was involved in the scandal too. He was the one person least likely to be the father of Pearl. Even though Dimmesdale had committed a sin he was devoted to serving God. He increasingly inspired his congregation in the years to follow. He could now relate with all of the sinners.
He had made a mistake, by committing adultery, but he was by no means a terrible person. Through Hawthorne's detailed descriptions of the characters and the reactions of others towards them, the reader can see into their souls and learn their true identity. Hawthorne displays the characters weaknesses but he does not let them overshadow the positive qualities that they possess. Everyone has reasons for their actions, whether it is selfish or out of compassion towards others.
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Research essay sample on Hester Prynne Committing Adultery
