HESTER IN SCARLET LETTER

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne is an enduring classic that still provides readers with boundless s to contemplate . Considered the classic American novel , this book provides readers with a story of love and betrayal that they can still identify as a common theme . The characters are intriguing as is the author himself . All in all , The Scarlet Letter forever deserves its spot as a must-read American classic

Born in Salem , Massachusetts in 1804 , Nathaniel Hawthorne descended from a Puritan judge , Judge Hathorne . Readers might remember that Judge Hathorne was a

character in The Crucible , by American playwright Arthur Miller , who condemned several individuals to die as witches in Puritan Salem , Massachusetts . Hawthorne was obsessed with his ancestor , and thus , the Massachusetts Bay Colony of Boston , the setting for The Scarlet Letter , becomes a parallel city to Salem . Many critics feel that Hawthorne , who added the `W ' to his name to distinguish himself from his lineage , was , in effect , purging himself with this novel . He wrote the longish prologue , Custom House ' as a means of lending validity to the story that ensued as he based the story on his own appointment to the Boston Custom House . Indeed , the novel , written in the Romantic era of American literature , is truly an expose on the Puritan dogma . Yet because of its placement in 19th century thought , it also offers psychological areas to examine as well . This unique perspective has allowed it to earn its place in literary history

The characters in the novel seem to be caricatures of Puritanical Salem complete with all the requisite hypocrisy . Governor Bellingham , whose hidden sister openly practiced the dark arts , first demands that Hester speak her secret . Reverend Wilson , a hopeless composite of all dogmatic , unrelenting Puritan ministers hands off this hopeless case to another , younger minister . Arthur Dimmesdale , the father of Hester 's child , refuses to make their new status as a family known to the public Roger Chillingworth , perhaps with a valid reason to be angry - his wife 's infidelity , also hides his true identity in to torture Arthur and Hester . The older women in the town hate her because she represents their greatest fear , and the younger women blush because they know , perhaps first hand , her sin as well . Yet , each of these individuals later seeks Hester out for their own good , whether it be for companionship , answers or her seamstress abilities

Only Hester seems to remain steadfast in her resolve to live a solitary punitive life . As a result , her steadfast resolve makes her one of the most interesting characters in The Scarlet Letter . Albert Keith Whittaker (2004 ) remarks in his article in the National Review that some presenters at the Hawthorne Society 's 200 Year Celebration felt as if by wearing her brand of shame proudly .she took a stand for all women ' Later , Whitaker points out that Hester did nothing of the kind " that she was an adulteress , that she never repented of her sin that the supposedly oppressive...