Hester Prynne, the main character within Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, is a figure of heroism within her community. Not only does Hawthorne portray Hester as a defiant and heroic figure, Hawthorne describes Hester’s character as a representative of divinity. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester serves her community to the utmost kindness of her heart, even though citizens in her society despise her for her acts of sin, displaying her angelic heart. Despite the townspeople’s position toward Hester, she is causing people within her town to alter their outlook on life by defending her arguments through enduring punishment, similar to others in history who have suffered for their ideas. Those who defend their values often are associated with divinity, such as Christ. Within Hester’s character, Hawthorne attributes her immense beauty and a sense of eternity, conveying to the reader his approval of original ideas within a society. Hester becomes a divine character to illustrate her purity as an outspoken woman. Hester also signifies other martyrs before her time, who so valiantly fought and argued for their ideas and beliefs. The people these martyrs affect, glorify the martyrs as divine and heroic. Within a cruel and unjust society, Hester emerges as a symbol of the Divine Maternity, because she represents a culmination of purity and change, and becomes the ideal and divine matron of her beliefs, for others to respect and follow.

Within the Puritan society that she exists in , Hester characterizes others in history who defend their ideas and faith. Her role as an outcast exemplifies her devotion to her beliefs and martyrdom. Hester follows a long generation of those who presented new ideas about the supernatural, and those who questioned the enforcing of uniformed faith. Anne Hutchinson, a citizen of Salem, Massachusetts, experienced the same persecution that Hester faces within her society. The rose bush that grows near the prison is symbolic of martyrs in history who have challenged those who have persecuted them. The beautiful rose bush is kept alive in history because there are people who continuously nourish it by fighting for their beliefs (Hawthorne 46). Anne and Hester are symbolic of the beautiful rose bush which represents everything that the Puritans are not, "The rose bush… had sprung up under the footsteps of the sainted Anne Hutchinson, as she entered the prison-door…" (Hawthorne 46). Hawthorne reveals the sainted nature of Anne, because she is loyal to her preaching. Joan of Arc, the courageous heroine of France had similar issues within her country. Joan was considered a heretic by her countrymen because she did not agree with the idea of the Church hierarchy, and instead believed in her own direct inspiration and relationship with God. For her beliefs, she was sent to Great Britain for them to do away with her. (Encyclopedia.com). All of these martyrs were not afraid to expose their beliefs to the people, especially Hester in which she is not afraid to pass her ideas on to future generations: "I can teach my little Pearl what I have learned from this (answered Hester Prynne laying her finger on the red token)" (Hawthorne 101). Hawthorne exclaims that Hester becomes, "…more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom" (Hawthorne 74). As a result of these outcries for justice, these women emerge as deities.

The name Hester signifies a sense of divinity and grace. The name represents a character in the Scarlet Letter, who forever changes the beliefs of those in her community. There is a connection between the name Hester and the name Hestia. Hestia the Greek Goddess who controls the home and the hearth. Hestia’s care for the home is similar to Hester’s patronage in caring for her daughter, Pearl. Hawthorne chooses the name Hester, because it is in similarity with the name, Hestia, who is a divine figure of grace. The citizens of ancient Greece looked upon Hestia with respect and worship, as she cared for the home and the living environment of those who worshipped her. Hestia is known to be a virgin goddess, a creature of purity, which is in relation to Hester, who is also a woman of purity because of her outcries of justice and the grace she possesses: "She was… characterized by a certain state and dignity, rather than by the delicate, evanescent, and indescribable grace, which is now… its indication" (Hawthorne 50). Homer, a famous ancient Greek poet, praises Hestia in his works claiming that she is a figure of grace: "Hestia, you who tend the holy house of the lord Apollo, the Far-Shooter… come now into this house… and withal bestow grace upon my song" (Homeric Hymn to Hestia). Hester acts as a figure of immense kindness and devotion to a society cold to her: "None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty…" (Hawthorne 147). The Greek citizens’ feelings toward Hestia is similar to that of Hester; The community finally respects her for her efforts to give back to the community. Hawthorne’s descriptions of Hester portray her as a divine matron posing that, "None so self-devoted as Hester, when pestilence stalked through the town" (Hawthorne 147). The imagery within the Scarlet Letter empowers Hester’s stature, and makes her seem a being of holy divinity.

Hester shares the same characteristics as Mary, the proclaimed Divine Maternity, and also is similar in contrast with Mary’s son, Christ Jesus. There are numerous scenes within the novel that portray Hester as an equivalent to the Divine Maternity. Hawthorne depicts Hester as an extremely beautiful character, with features so lovely that it may seem impossible for her to commit unholy acts of sin: "The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale… And never had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like…" (Hawthorne 50). With the imaginative scenes he creates, Hawthorne exposes sorrow to the reader, trying to convince that punishing such a beautiful creature is wrong: "…it would not have been easy to select the same number of persons… of sitting in judgment of an erring woman’s heart…" (Hawthorne 60). Hawthorne also displays Hester’s true holiness, by stating that if a person had seen Hester on the scaffold with her child, "he might have seen in this beautiful woman, so picturesque in her attire and mien, and with the infant at her bosom, an object to remind him of the image of Divine Maternity, which so many illustrious painters have vied with one another to represent" (Hawthorne 53). Hester’s existence in her community serves as a blessing to those who live in her society. Her acts of kindness and service are also symbolic of Christ’s actions within the time he lived. Hester and Christ are both selfless beings, able to help those in need without expecting compensation or approval from those they were helping. Yet, Hester’s acts are so kind and selfless that people change their view of Hester to being less hostile, some exclaiming to others who were not aware of Hester, "Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?… It is our Hester who is so kind to the strangers. It is our Hester who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick. So comfortable to the afflicted!" (Hawthorne 149). Hester is comfort. Both Hester and Christ are punished and subject to humiliation. Christ was humiliated and was crucified, having known the knowledge of God. Hester is put on the scaffold to endure the mockery of her peers.

Hester is a symbol of the Divine Maternity. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne identifies Hester as a figurative being of divinity and heroism, undeserving of the punishment that people afflict to those who can think for themselves. Hawthorne constructed Hester’s character, evoking that change within a society is favorable and attractive. Hester, who represents this change, is associated with everything that is beautiful, invaluable and divine. Because Hester is an angelic figure trapped within a community full of persecution, she is looked upon as a heroic figure, "…to symbolize some sweet moral blossom… to relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and sorrow" (Hawthorne 46). The whole novel revolves around the central idea of change, in which Hester is the main character demonstrating the purity associated with change. Hawthorne writes The Scarlet Letter during a time where Puritan society is afraid of change. Hawthorne wants to open their eyes and introduce them to a divine character who makes change and free will seem more beautiful rather than frightening. At the same time, Hawthorne also convinces readers that uniformity may be something to avoid, because it detracts from other people’s viewpoints which is so crucial in understanding the ways of the world and that of human beings. Change is beautiful.


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