Former president, Bill Clinton once said, “If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you.” In literature, characters can evolve from their mistakes, they can handle their conflicts in different ways, and they can have positive or negative change. Both Hester Prynne from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Abigail Williams from The Crucible by Arthur Miller commit adultery in a time the shamed and punished those who were guilty of doing so to a much higher degree than in today’s society. Adultery was a hideous sin, punishable, sometimes even by death. The woman took much, if not all, of the blame for the act during this time
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In reading both works, it is very clear that Hester and Abigail handle their adversity differently. The two of them were found guilty of adultery. Dealing with the situation in the most mature and dignified way, Hester took full responsibility, and thrived throughout the story to show the people of her town that she was more than just an adulteress. When Hester gave birth to Pearl, her daughter, the entire town knew that Hester “was the wife of a certain learned man... who had long dwelt in Amsterdam”(59), and that she must have betrayed him. She did not try to hide it, or deny it; she took her punishments head on. With her head held high, she moved on, determined to show that she could not be defined by the letter A that was “embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (52). Hester was free to leave Boston, free to move where nobody would know her mistakes, and free to start over with a clean slate, but she did not. She stayed and supported herself and Pearl with her talent in needlework. Hester worked hard to change the way the town perceived her; she donated a lot of time to charity, and helped …show more content…
Hester reduced the amount of prejudice that her town formerly had for adulterers. In the beginning of the novel, the goodwives of the town, specifically the older ones, were disgusted by Hester and what she had done. Some of them believed that her punishment was not nearly enough, “this woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (49). Years later, respectable people of the town were wearing clothes “wrought by her sinful hands” (80). When Dimmesdale revealed his own version of the scarlet letter on his chest, the town realized that the blame can not be put on the woman alone, “we are all sinners alike” (254). By the time Hester died, she was no longer marked with disgrace, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma” (257). Contrarily, Abigail increased the hysteria surrounding the idea of witchcraft in her town. At the start of the play, Abigail opposed the idea of witchcraft, because she thought that she could get into serious trouble. Later on, she realized that as she named other people whom she saw while she “danced for the devil” (48). She and the other girls realized that if they confessed to witchcraft, even though it was not true, they would receive no repercussions; all they had to do was name others that they saw “dancing with the devil” (48). However, those who denied it, were hanged. So as the story continued, Abigail let the power of
In reading both works, it is very clear that Hester and Abigail handle their adversity differently. The two of them were found guilty of adultery. Dealing with the situation in the most mature and dignified way, Hester took full responsibility, and thrived throughout the story to show the people of her town that she was more than just an adulteress. When Hester gave birth to Pearl, her daughter, the entire town knew that Hester “was the wife of a certain learned man... who had long dwelt in Amsterdam”(59), and that she must have betrayed him. She did not try to hide it, or deny it; she took her punishments head on. With her head held high, she moved on, determined to show that she could not be defined by the letter A that was “embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom” (52). Hester was free to leave Boston, free to move where nobody would know her mistakes, and free to start over with a clean slate, but she did not. She stayed and supported herself and Pearl with her talent in needlework. Hester worked hard to change the way the town perceived her; she donated a lot of time to charity, and helped …show more content…
Hester reduced the amount of prejudice that her town formerly had for adulterers. In the beginning of the novel, the goodwives of the town, specifically the older ones, were disgusted by Hester and what she had done. Some of them believed that her punishment was not nearly enough, “this woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die” (49). Years later, respectable people of the town were wearing clothes “wrought by her sinful hands” (80). When Dimmesdale revealed his own version of the scarlet letter on his chest, the town realized that the blame can not be put on the woman alone, “we are all sinners alike” (254). By the time Hester died, she was no longer marked with disgrace, “the scarlet letter ceased to be a stigma” (257). Contrarily, Abigail increased the hysteria surrounding the idea of witchcraft in her town. At the start of the play, Abigail opposed the idea of witchcraft, because she thought that she could get into serious trouble. Later on, she realized that as she named other people whom she saw while she “danced for the devil” (48). She and the other girls realized that if they confessed to witchcraft, even though it was not true, they would receive no repercussions; all they had to do was name others that they saw “dancing with the devil” (48). However, those who denied it, were hanged. So as the story continued, Abigail let the power of