The Scarlet Letter: Hester's Attitudes

Want to read the rest of this paper? Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay and over 50,000 other term papers

not restrict her to the limits of the Puritan settlement, Hester could
return to Europe to start over. She decides to stay because she makes
herself believe that the town "has been the scene of her guilt, and here
should be the scene of her earthly punishment" (84). This belief gives the
impression that she views her action as a sin and feels a need to further
punish herself. But this belief only covers her actual feelings. To the
contrary, as Hawthorne describes, her real reason for staying is that
"There dwelt, there trod the feet of one with whom she deemed herself
connected in a union, that, unrecognized on earth, would bring them
together before the bar of final judgment, and make their that marriage
altar, for a joint futurity of endless retribution" (84). This comment
means that the real reason for her staying is that Reverend Dimmsdale, the
father of her child, lives there and she hopes to someday marry him.
Hester believes that her adultery was a sin, but the book ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays. Write better papers. Get better grades. Already a member? Login

CITE THIS PAGE: