Hester Pyrnne and the Puritans

and circumstances that changed her and separated her from the common

people. Great rifts eventually formed between her and the community in

which she lived. These differences could be put into two categories: the

outward distinction, and the inward change. The outward distinction is

easy to identify. It is Hester's adultery, and it is signified in the

scarlet letter A and her daughter Pearl. The inward change is much more

subtle and harder to express. It is the alteration in Hester's mind and

soul that could be said to have originated from the day of her public

shame. Outwardly she seemed to have repented and reformed, embracing the

Puritan theology wholeheartedly, but in her mind and heart she was a

different person and had turned away from the Puritans' way of life. Not

only had she turned away from the Puritans, but she had turned away

from God, too. This was shown in some of the things that she did.

To first understand how Hester was separate from the society around

her, one must understand the society itself. The Puritan way of life,

which was supposed to be unique, was not really all that dif

tonight? There will be a merry company in the forest; and I well nigh

shown in a litany: "They [the Puritans] are Blind-hearted, Proud,

had enough! Of penitence, there has been none!"5 Hester's sin still

person anymore, she was, probably more so than before, she had just lost

Some topics in this essay:
Hester Prynne's, Hester Puritan, Hester Prynne, Pearl Bible, Black Man's, John Cotton, Puritan God, Arthur Dimmesdale, Enuious Malitious, Scarlet Letter, hester prynne, puritan life, scarlet letter, society puritan life, outward distinction, inward change, society puritan,