Essay Archive - The Scarlet Letter: Hester's Isolation and Alienation
The Scarlet Letter: Hester's Isolation and Alienation
In Nathaniel Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne and
Reverend Dimmsdale have committed adultery, an unacceptable sin during the
Puritan times. As a result of their sin, a child is born, whom the mother
names Pearl. Out of her own free will Hester has to face major punishments.
She has to serve many months in prison, stand on the scaffold for three
hours under public scrutiny, and attach a scarlet letter, “A” on her chest
every day as long as she remained in the town....
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