Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. She has an affair in Puritan society that results in a child and being labeled as an adulterer. As she faces punishment, elements of Puritanism are on display. The Scarlet Letter exemplifies Romanticism by showing an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances. Quotes from the novel show Hester's strength and ability to help others despite her punishment.
2. Character Elements Hester Prynne was lived in the Puritan culture of the seventeenth century in America Hester is a devout puritan who has an affair while waiting for her husband who sent her on ahead of him to America. This affair results in a child which leads her to be labeled by the puritan government as an adulterer. Elements of Puritanism are present throughout the novel as Hester faces her punishment, and her true love does not admit his guilt.
3. Literary Movement Hester Prynne is the protagonist in the “Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. The “Scarlet Letter” exemplifies Romanticism which typically shows an ordinary person in extraordinary circumstances.
6. Character Quotes “See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with a millionfold the power of retribution for my sin? Ye shall not take her! I will dies first!” (P. 112) “Such helpfulness was found in her- so much power to do and power to sympathize- that many people refused to interpret the scarlet 'A' by it's original signification. They said that it meant 'Able'; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a women’s strength.” (P. 156)
