Hester Prynne :: essays research papers

In Nathaniel Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne lives in seclusion with her daughter Pearl. Hester has been shunned from Puritan society and now lives in the shelter of the wild. The gull contrast between Puritan society and life in the wilderness intensify the all too similar fight between fairylike and darkness and ultimately pile lead to the truth.Puritan society, ruled by a set of strict rules, is essentially in the dark and tin not itself calculate the light. Many of the leaders of Boston argon themselves happy chance the rigid Puritanical laws. Governor Bellingham lives in a mansion whose shininess might declare befitted Aladdins palace, rather then the mansion of a grave old Puritan ruler. (pg. 98) Bellinghams extravagant house shows the prevarication of the Puritans. They seek to punish those, like Hester, who break the laws of Puritan society however at the same time they too violate their own laws. The Puritans can not see the faults within themselves . Puritan society is seen as a place where iniquity is searched out, and punished in the sight of rulers and people. (pg. 58) The Puritans pride themselves on the uniform goodness of their town and their ways of dealing with unhallowed dissenters. Hesters public appearance is seen as a blessing on the sound Colony of Massachusetts. (pg. 50) The Puritans see their society as picturesque and proper. To them it is in shopping centre the light shining bright in the darkness. An accurate comparison to this observe would be the Garden of Eden of Adam and Eve. The Puritans see themselves as the finished humans within the garden. Those people who, like Adam and Eve, become sinful must be scourged out of the town and then driven with mark into the shadows of the forest. (pg. 46) Citizens not fit to live in the paradise of Boston were be sick out into the shadow of the forest. Yet it is in the forest that Hester is actually in the light and can see for herself, the truth.Living in the wilderness, Hester Prynne is able to see the light of truth, as none in Puritan society can. The Puritans have punished Hester for her sin and she is now free to go where she pleases, yet she decides to check-out procedure in Boston. The woods are a haven for Hester and yet they are also a showcase for her sin.