Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Hester & The Scarlet Letter
So, we all know that Hester was forced to confess her sin due to her visual pregnant stomach and obvious birth of Pearl. What if Hester did not have those visual representations? Would she have confessed to her adultery? How would this change the book? Would this change the way we thought of Hester as a person & how she compares to Dimmesdale?
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I think this would have changed the book dramatically. I began thinking about this during the one point in the book when Dimmesdale is talking to Chillingworth about sin and whether or not it is good for the person to live with its consequences publicly or suffer with it inside of them. Hester never got that choice whereas Dimmesdale did. It's hard to say whether this helped or harmed her. On the one hand you could say that she didn't have to struggle with whether to admit to her sin or not. On the other hand however it exiled her from society and left her alone with her sin being present to everyone at all times. In Dimmesdale's case it seemed that he would have been better off telling everyone about his sin because the book suggests that keeping it inside of him led to him being physically sick and then dying. Also, I think they both would have been able to deal with their sin a little better if they had confessed and delt with their consequences together.
ReplyDeleteI think that she would have still confessed because after she is charged for her sin she becomes very open about it. She uses it as a way to be strong and take care of herself and Pearl. When the town says that she has been punished enough and she can take it off, she keeps the A on. The A has become part of her and identifies her. If Hester did not have the A her character and the book would change she would not be as strong of a person. I think people admire Hester for her bravery and are upset by Dimmsdale because he lets Hester take all of the blame. If Hester did not have the A we would think of her more like Dimmsdale and she would not be as well liked as a character.
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure that she would have confessed it because one reason for Dimmesdale to feel as bad as he did might have been that he let Hester pay for a sin in which he was a part of. So if neither of them was being bullied by the rest of the community, one of them didn't have to feel bad for the other one. I also think that it would have made it easier for Hester because when everybody knew about what she did, Dimmesdale couldn't see her because nobody was supposed to. So if nobody knew about it, they could both still meet in secret or not and talk about it and make decisions on how to deal with it together.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to say whether Hester would have confessed her sin if she had the choice, but it definately would have changed her character if she didn't. Like Lauren said, the letter becomes her identity and because she confessed, she changes completely and even loses her femininity. Hester probably regretted her actions at some points but she also believes that her sin had a "consecration of its own" which leads us to believe that she doesn't necesssarily always regret her actions. So I think that if Hester could have hidden her sin then she would have, becuase she could keep her old identity. And like Cedrik said, neither Hester of Dimmesdale would have felt as guilty if both of them had concealed their sins.
ReplyDeleteSo, if Hester would not have confessed her sin, because she had no visual signs, would she have ended up dying as well? I think SOMETHING tragic might have happened in her life to reflect on how terrible her sin was. I think this because the book is about change of character and Hester was forced to change. But if she wasn't going to confess her sin, would something tragic such as a life-threatening disease like Dimmesdale?
ReplyDeleteI think that if Hester hadn't been forced to admit her sin, it would have been much easier for her to live with it than Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale was constantly confronted with his sin as he was a preacher, and addressed sin constantly in his sermons. Hester could have lived with her sin much more easily, as she was not confronted with it constantly and she never loved her husband who she cheated on.
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