Essay, Research Paper: Important Characters In The Scarlet Lett

How many important characters appear in the novel? Identify and briefly describe them.
In the novel the "Scarlet Letter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne the main or important characters are: Hester Prynne the young woman who bears the Scarlet Letter, Arthur Dimmesdale an ordained minister, Roger Chillingsworth who is married to Hester, and Hester's daughter Pearl. There are other characters that support the story like Richard Bellingham the elected governor who witnesses Hester's punishment, and Mistress Hibbins sister to Governor Bellingham, considered a witch and a servant of evil. Then there is the evil itself that lurks in the minds of Puritans and Hester refers to the evil as the Black Man in the forest. The other supporting characters like the townspeople further contribute to crucify Hester in her crime of passion. The Commander the captain of the ship, Master Brackett the old jailer, John Wilson an English-born minister and the Sexton a minor employee of the church all play important roles in the final end to Hester's punishment.
Hester Prynne the main character in this dark love story is a beautiful young English woman whose family was once wealthy and then lost it all. Hester was raised poor in an old decaying house in England. Although born out of poverty Hester maintains a ladylike quality indicating high birth. Hester's parents arrange for her to marry a scholar, an older man who is slightly deformed. Hester marries Roger Chilingsworth (whose real name is Roger Prynne) out of duty and obligation to her family. Hester did not love Roger, nor did he make a proper husband. Roger was known to spend many hours in his study alone, cut off from society, cut off from the rest of the world. He studied alchemy and medicine, although he was not a physician. Roger chooses to stay in Amsterdam to tend to business, he sends Hester ahead to Puritan town in Boston where she feels abandoned by her husband. For two years Hester lives without her husband Roger and then she bears a child to the surprise of the townsfolk. Hester is scorned and branded an adulterous and is confined to wearing a "scarlet A" upon her bosom. Eventually she is doomed and is confronted by the Boston townspeople upon a platform(BAYM 123). The scarlet letter represents the sin of adultery that Hester commits and is indeed harshly punishable by the Puritans, which represents the disloyalty to the seven commandment as well as dishonesty. Hester bares a child and calls her Pearl. Pearl quickly becomes fascinated by the letter imprinted on Hester's bosom. Pearl grows up a defiant child who questions her mother about her sin and letter she wears on her bosom. Hester is unwilling to tell her daughter the truth about the letter and what it symbolizes. Later, the letter is known to people as ambiguous in having a different meaning to each townspeople as Hester commits random acts of community service and seems to be accepted by the town public. Hester eventually is unwillingly banished from the city she lives for her sin. Hester returns later after her secret lover has perished and her daughter Pearl has married. Hester returns to become a beloved figure in the community where once she was persecuted and condemned(BAYM 129). After many years Hester dies and is buried close to Dimmesdale her true love with only a plot between them and as Dimmesdale once quoted, "It may be…vain to hope that we could meet hereafter, in an everlasting and pure reunion"(HAWTHORNE 55).
The Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is the ordain, unwed minister of the congregation where Hester belongs. Arthur commits the disloyalty of the seven commandment and fathers Hester's child(McNAMARA 220). Hester is reminded by Dimmesdale that her denial to name him as a sinner like herself, would condemn the two to hell. Dimmesdale keeps his conscious guilty as he keeps the truth within. Throughout his life Dimmesdale faces ambiguity and torment as he chooses to remain silent. Dimmesdale under this pressure is confined to release the truth within, that he committed adultery and dies in his own period of honesty with his fellow townspeople. This truth unleashes the letter upon Dimmesdale only to relieve the tension and guilt between the people, but to make Dimmesdale a true person within his guilty past. Pearl is the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale who both committed adultery. Pearl is the jewel in Hester's eyes. Pearl is a symbolic character as her name is chosen to due to the price of her mother's sin(McNAMARA 225). Hester soon finds that poor young Pearl cannot be made submissive to rules and that Pearl's personality was created by a period in which she absorbed her soul through the spiritual world and her whole frame from the material of the earth. Pearl is later subjected to being the revelation of the sin Hester committed. Pearl insisted that her mother put the scarlet A upon her bosom once again and she removed it within the forest with Dimmesdale (McNAMARA 239). After Chillingsworth dies Pearl receives a bountiful sum of inheritance. Pearl gets married and her mother returns to find Dimmesdale and Chillingsworth have perished. Pearl leaves Boston and settles somewhere in Europe with a rank of nobility.
Roger Chillingsworth is the aged-scholar husband of Hester who sends her to America, while he takes care of business in Amsterdam, only to see her two years later. Chillingsworth had grieved mishaps at sea and on land after he had sent Hester to Boston. Upon his mishaps he becomes tangled in ties with Indians, where he spends most of his life away from young Hester. Chillingsworth is recognized by his deceiving wife upon the scaffold and she undergoes her judgment of mortification. Chillingsworth later goes forth to Hester's cell to persuade her to promise not to reveal the truth between the two, that he is her husband. He does not want to face the punishment of dishonor that would censure him as the husband of an unfaithful woman. Chillingsworth tells Hester he will find the charmer of his wife and see heaven's own method of compensation for that man(KAUL 109). Due to Chillingsworth zeal for revenge and his fascination to fathom the depths of Dimmesdale heart, changes Chillingsworth from a kind, humane, concerned man to an immoral brute, who perishes shortly after Dimmesdale in a short jealous rage of fury(BAYM 154).
Governor Bellingham the true historical figure in the novel, arrives in Boston in 1634. He is appointed governor in 1641, 1654, and 1665. Governor Bellingham sits in the committee to punish Hester, where she is tried upon the public scaffold. Hester goes to Governor Bellingham to plea for mercy that Pearl will not taken away from her.
Mistress Hibbins is the harsh sister of Governor Bellingham, whose real name is Ann Hibbins and who was executed for witchcraft in 1656. Mistress Hibbins was executed for her devotion and following of the Black Man, known as the devil. Mistress Hibbins before her death and condemnation tries to lure Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale to evil and to giving up their soul to the devil(KAUL 123).
The English born Minister John Wilson moved to Boston in 1630. It is he who persuades the Reverend Dimmesdale to interrogate Hester to reveal who fathered Pearl, because he is the eldest and most respected clergyman of Boston. Dimmesdale and Hester refuse to reveal the identity of Pearl's father. Minister Wilson uses this refusal to the truth to project a long sermon on the sin of adultery to the towns people, who gather to witness Hester's discipline in the town square.
Master Brackett is the old jailer who brings forth Chillingsworth to Hester, while she is confined to a cell. He congratulates Hester for her beliefs and praises Pearl for she is the daughter of Hester and Arthur Dimmesdale.
The Sexton is a minor employee of the church, who finds Reverend Dimmesdale's glove upon the scaffold, which he returns to Dimmesdale. Hester and Pearl, were on a lookout if anyone was to see the secretive arrangement. Dimmesdale tells a fib to the sexton when he is confronted about the lost glove.
The Commander is the captain of the crew, upon the ship that Hester and Dimmesdale desire to take secret passage. The sea captain then informs Hester that a secret passenger will be sailing with Pearl and herself. The sea captain is referring to Hester's husband Roger Chillingsworth and not Dimmesdale as Hester hopes.
In conclusion this tragic love story, would not have been possible without its leading and supporting characters. Hester was born in a period that was not kind to woman, it was a society of double standards. Men could have adulterous relationships without being punished, but women on the other hand, if accused of adultery were persecuted without fail. In my opinion, I believe many innocent young woman were punished or put to death out of jealousy and fear. Many women who committed adultery or for anything out of the ordinary were condemned as witches to burned at the stake. Furthermore, many men committed adultery during this period and were never condemned. It was a difficult time for young women, especially pretty women especially who portrayed an air of independence or chose to lived alone. Hester was a victim of abandonment by her husband and of the hunger for love by a man. Adultery is still not acceptable for women, but at least it is not punishable by death. Today men who commit adultery, and who occupy the spotlight face the possibility of being embarrassed, condemned and for one impeachment.