Hester Prynne was a protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne‘s novel The Scarlet Letter. She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors who were all sinners but cast the first stones in judgement of her independence and desire as a woman. The character has been called “among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature”.
“A resident of Colonial America, Hester is sent ahead to the “New World” by her husband, who later assumes the name of Roger Chillingworth, as he has some business to finish before he can join her. After he is shipwrecked and captured by Native Americans and presumed dead, Hester continues to live her life as a seamstress in the town. She looks to the local pastor Arthur Dimmesdale for comfort; somewhere along the way passion emerges, culminating in the conception and subsequent birth of their child, Pearl. Because Hester has no husband with her, she is imprisoned, convicted of the crime of adultery, and sentenced to be forced to wear a prominent scarlet letter ‘A’ for Adultress for the rest of her life.”
“Though scorned by her fellow sinners, Hester continues to lead a relatively uneventful life. Shortly after the birth of the child and her punishment, Hester’s husband reappears and demands that she tell him the name of the child’s father. Hester refuses but swears not to reveal the fact that Chillingworth is her husband to the town folk. Hester continues living her life as a seamstress, providing for herself and her child.”
Please play the Soundtrack by John Barry for the movie The Scarlet Letter. An illustration of the love Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale shared.
A song
That travels deep inside you
The intense feelings
Are when we listen
To a piece of music
So mellifluous
The Cadence of
Rhythmic flow,
Enters our souls.
~ Natalie