"But there was a more real life for Hester Prynne, here, in New England, than in that unknown region where Pearl had found a home. Here had been her sin; her sorrow; and here was yet to be her penitence. She had returned, therefore, and resumed,-of her own free will, for not the sternest magistrate of that iron period would have imposed it,-resumed the symbol of which we have related so dark a tale. Never afterwards did it quit her bosom. But, in the lapse of the toilsome, thoughtful, and self-devoted years that made up Hester's life, the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma which attracted the world's scorn and bitterness, and became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, and yet with reverence, too."
The quote above is by far my favorite part of the whole book. If you really look to the meaning it shows that Hester wasn't ashamed of her past. It was part of her life and she wasn't just going to forget about it because it wasn't exactly a "good" thing. The scarlet letter was the symbol that Hester fought her battle and it was important. Maybe some people thought having a scarlet letter was terrible or shameful, but to Hester it was self empowerment.
Hester Prynne was a strong woman. She used her scarlet letter to show her daughter, Pearl, that wrong doing is not good but also that you can be stronger than what other people try to cut you down to. How she used her needlework, even though nobody truley apreciated it, to help people out.
The book "The Scarlet Letter", shows the hardships that come with crime. It kept me interested because of the part where it went into a lot of detail, like in Chapter 6. "Certainly, there was no physical defect. By its perfect shape, its vigor, and its natural dexterity in the use of all its untried limbs, the infant was worthy to have been brought forth in Eden; worthy to have been left there, to be the plaything of the angels, after the world's first parents were driven out." Pearl is described so deeply throughout the chapter.
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I think one of the reasons Pearl was described so deeply and mentioned so often was because overall, she was the result of Hester's actions. And Pearl made Hester a better person. However another result of Hester's adultrous action was the scarlet letter, which didn't in itself make Hester better. So though the scarlet letter altered Hester's life in a reasonably large way, Pearl did too, so it wasn't all bad.
ReplyDeleteI disagree that Hester wasn't ashamed of her past. She was deeply ashamed that is why she stayed. She thought she did not deserve a clean slate where people did not know of her sin. In the quote it says that this would be the place of her penance showing she thought she needed to make up for her sin. Although the scarlet letter did make her stronger, I believe she thought of it as her shame and weakness to give into temptation. Although others began to see it in a good light, she never did. I like how you use quotes, that's really hard and timeconsuming to find one that fits.
ReplyDeleteI must say, I have to agree with Kathleen on this one. Hester was ashamed of what she did, but that shame did make her a stonger individual. And yes, you use quotes very well. That is one thing you must be able to do in order to support your arguments. Excellent job.
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