The town first ostracizes Hester because of their strong religious beliefs. Hester is then faced with an immense struggle against the town and Roger Chillingworth. Through this struggle she is developed. One prevalent theme found in the story is that sin can happen to anyone and it is essential to life. Throughout the book the reader experiences the committing of a sin through a variety of characters: Hester Prynne, Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth.
From the beginning of the book to the end we notice how each of the characters wrongdoings takes an emotional and physical toll on them as. In the story, Hester is the main character of the story and was called Mistress Prynne Hawthorne Dimmesdale, in the story was referred to as Reverend Dimmesdale Hawthorne Chillingworth was originally named, Roger Prynne but later in the story he changed his name to Roger Chillingworth.
In the story, Hester committed adultery with Dimmesdale against Chillingworth and in the beginning she got punished and sent. In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the story revolves around the lives and the events of the following characters: Hester Prynne, who is the mother of an illegitimate child with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale and is now being outcasted by her Puritan community because of it; the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale who is the charming minister of 17th century Boston, the father of an illegitimate child and has not had his sin revealed; then there's Roger Chillingworth who is the estranged.
When he found out that it was the minister, he became his physician and kept tormenting him. He plays the villain of the story. The last main character is Pearl. She is the daughter of Hester and the constant reminder of the sins her parents had committed. Pearl is rebellious and happy most of the time. She is the example of romanticism in the story. She is wild, free, and loves nature since she is secluded from everyone but her mother. When Pearl says "the sunshine does not love you.
It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom Will it not come of its own accord, when I am a woman grown? Pearl is also a symbol in this story. Even though she represents "sin", she is also the reason for why her mother lives because she cheers her up. She is always aware of her mother's letter and the society that produced it.
The style of this novel helps develop the theme also. There is repetition of the word scarlet letter to show the importance of this to the story. It was meant to be a symbol of sin but becomes the identity of Hester. Pearl didn't even recognize her own mother when she toke the gown off. The tone of this story is straightforward. It's a little confusing because the narrator shifts from years ago when he's talking about events and then comes back to the present time when he is talking to the readers.
What we know about Hester from the days prior to her punishment is that she came from a "genteel but impoverished English family" of notable lineage. She married the much older Roger Chillingworth, who spent long hours over his books and experiments; yet she convinced herself that she was happy. When they left Amsterdam for the New World, he sent her ahead, but he was reportedly lost at sea, leaving Hester alone among the Puritans of Boston.
Officially, she is a widow. While not a Puritan herself, Hester looks to Arthur Dimmesdale for comfort and spiritual guidance. Somewhere during this period of time, their solace becomes passion and results in the birth of Pearl. The reader first meets the incredibly strong Hester on the scaffold with Pearl in her arms, beginning her punishment. On the scaffold, she displays a sense of irony and contempt. The irony is present in the elaborate needlework of the scarlet letter. There are "fantastic flourishes of gold-thread," and the letter is ornately decorative, significantly beyond the colony's laws that call for somber, unadorned attire.
The first description of Hester notes her "natural dignity and force of character" and mentions specifically the haughty smile and strong glance that reveal no self-consciousness of her plight. While she might be feeling agony as if "her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon," her face reveals no such thought, and her demeanor is described as "haughty.
In this first scene, Dimmesdale implores her to name the father of the baby and her penance may be lightened. Hester says "Never! Hester's self-reliance and inner strength are further revealed in her defiance of the law and in her iron will during her confrontation with the governor of the colony. Despite her lonely existence, Hester somehow finds an inner strength to defy both the townspeople and the local government.
This defiance becomes stronger and will carry her through later interviews with both Chillingworth and Governor Bellingham. This comment means that the real reason for her staying is that Reverend Dimmsdale, the father of her child, lives there and she hopes to someday marry him. Hester believes that her adultery was a sin, but the book makes it clear that she enjoyed it. Consequently, Hester to sees herself and everything she enjoys, such as sewing, as sinful. She continues sewing, though, which seems to symbolize that she would commit adultery again.
Hester also shows some anger about her punishment. She believes that there are others who have committed adultery but have not been caught because they were in different situations than Hester.
Instead of seeing her act as impulsive, as an act of passion, Hester now inwardly decides that the act was not such an evil sin, and she is not sorry for committing it.
Hester is an old woman who is now looked upon as an advisor. At this point in her life, she does not see her adultery as a sin, but for the sake of womanhood, she is regretful that she did it. This shows her recognition of her impurity and that she would have liked to have been pure so that she could have changed womanhood.
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