Four Female Characters Who Share The Same Fate In ‘The Scarlet Letter’

The Scarlet Letter Analysis

When Nathaniel Hawthorne was writing his novel The Scarlet Letter, there were four female characters that shared the same fate, being punished by the community and ostracized from society because of their deeds. The first character is Hester Prynne, who was convicted of having an affair with Arthur Dimmesdale, the pastor of the town. She gave birth to Pearl during her time in prison and when she was released, she continued to wear her scarlet letter as if it was her trademark and identity.

While Hester is the central character of the novel, there are four other female characters who share similar fates as punishment for their secret sins. These women may not have committed adultery or been convicted of a crime, but they also had to wear public signs to reveal their secret sin or shame in front of their community.

Character analysis of Hester Prynne :

Hester Prynne is a woman in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter. She must wear a scarlet A, which will remind her of her affair and her sin. It may be difficult to imagine at first, but Hester committed adultery out of passion, yet she was loyal to her lover for the duration of her life. In a sense, Hester may seem passive, but is she really? Despite her poor choices, Hester is actually a strong person and controls how others see her. In fact, Hester appears put together on the outside, even though she pays a great cost for her illusions, so much so that by the end of Chapter 3 in The Scarlet Letter, she has nothing left but her misery. Her ultimate fate is tragic because she tried so hard, yet there was so little control she could have over how other people see her.

A woman in Puritan New England. Though married to a man she does not love, Hester falls for a young clergyman who rapes her in an abandoned hut. Feeling she has no other choice, Hester gives herself over to Roger Chillingworth, the father of her child. Through it all, Hester stands strong and proud; maintaining grace and poise when necessary; showing the strength of character by taking responsibility for her own actions; remaining forgiving, compassionate, and understanding to those around her despite their treatment of her throughout all three books in which she appears.

Character analysis of Pearl :

It’s clear from Pearl’s character that she has inherited her mother’s temperament. After all, it is her tongue lashings that lead Hester to realize that Pearl recognizes Dimmesdale as her father. We do not see much of Hester in Pearl, save for one key moment: when Dimmesdale dies and a mob assembles to burn him at the stake. It is at that moment that Pearl pulls off an act of bravery almost too great for a child her age. It speaks volumes about what kind of a woman Hester really is — what she was capable of being before coming to live with Chillingworth.

Character analysis of Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale :

Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale and Hester Prynne are considered to be of a similar social class and have similar experiences in New England during colonial times. As a minister, Dimmesdale is trusted by his parishioners as a moral authority; however, he is also respected for being educated. He is intelligent, compassionate, and fair-minded, which makes him good at his job. Although Dimmesdale has many admirable qualities, he believes that others are looking down on him because of his dark secret. He believes that those who know about his affair with Hester will assume that she is not the only woman with whom he has had an affair. People do not trust Dimmesdale as much after learning about his relationship with Hester (Lefkowitz 127).

Character analysis of Roger Chillingworth :

Roger Chillingworth, a man who was never named in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, is known throughout by his epithet the scarlet letter. As in all tragedies, Roger’s downfall is caused by his own decisions and actions. A short-tempered doctor before Hester Prynne arrived in Boston to give birth to her daughter Pearl, Roger became obsessed with discovering Hester’s partner. Following his instincts as a doctor and loyal husband of Hester’s former lover Dimmesdale (whose true identity remains unknown), Roger opted to heal and learn more about Dimmesdale. He then proceeded to drug him during their interactions so that he could not recall any details regarding Prynne or Pearl.

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