Hester Prynne: Black Flower As The Human Spirit

3 Pages 759 Words

Hester Prynne: Black Flower as the Human Spirit
By: Lauren Hodges


Despite the fact that Hester Prynne has been condemned in 17th century puritanical society, I would consider her a role model for a generation who goes with their hearts and not the ethics of a corrupt society. She inspires a natural way of life, an open one free of lies and guilt. She is the natural woman in a society of women who envy her for her pride in “sin”, because they don’t have the guts to go against the grain and live as they would like to. She imbibes the spirit of humanity, in the very consecration of her sins.
Even on the day of her public shaming Hester held her head high. When the town beadle came to the jailhouse door to retrieve Hester, he “laid his hand upon the shoulder . . . whom he thus drew forward; until, on the threshold of the prison door, she repelled him, by an action marked with natural dignity and force of character, and stepped into the open air by her own free will.” Here it is shown that Hester is her own person and even in punishment she won’t allow her self to be directed by any other force than herself. It is also shown the narrator admires Hester, why else would he use such words, “natural dignity . . . own free will” , to describe Hester. The narrator also uses a comparison to the Virgin Mary to describe her standing on the scaffold with the child in her arms. If there were a Catholic among the crowd, he says, “he might have seen this beautiful woman, so picturesque . . . an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity . . . sinless motherhood. . . Here, there was the taint of deepest sin in the most sacred quality of human life.”
“This woman . . . ought to die,” the ugliest of the women said. “Let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart,” a young wife said. “. . . they should’ve put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne�...