My Favorite Character: Hester Prynne

Hester Prynne is going to be my favorite character in The Scarlet Letter.  Although she can not believe her situation in the beginning, she accepts it quickly and moves on.

Hester is described as tall, dark haired, and beautiful.  She is different from the rest of the women in the village.  While the other women beguile her when she emerges from the prison door, they do not think of their own sins.  They only blame Hester for her one sin of adultery.  Adultery is committed by two people, not just one.  The people of the village do not even know all the details of Hester Prynne’s situation.  She could have been raped for all they know.  Then, her sin would truly not be her fault.  I feel bad for Hester, because all the people in the village expect her to wait for her husband, Roger Chillingworth, in America.  She has to live daily for many years without love or a family to keep her happy as she waits for him.  I do not see what is so wrong with Hester falling in love with another man other than her husband.  She is not in love with her husband, Roger, in the first place.  But in a Puritan community in this time period, adultery was unacceptable and condemned with death.  Hester is saved from death only because her lover, Dimmesdale, is the preacher and a respected man in a theocracy.

If Hester Prynne was placed in the 21^st century, the following is how her life would be.  Hester would marry Roger Chillingworth in England, but her husband would want her to move to America for a better life.  He would not follow for many years.  Hester would fall in love with the handsome and loving Dimmesdale, so she would divorce Chillingworth and marry Dimmesdale.  She will have many children with Dimmesdale and live a very happy life.  If only Hester lived in the 21^st century, she would be happy.  But without Hester living in the century she does, there would not be a story to tell.  She would be another person pushing the divorce rates up in today’s society.