• Born:
  • Birthplace: Fiction
  • Best known as:

    Adulterous heroine of The Scarlet Letter

4 good links

  1. eText: The Scarlet Letter

    No-frills text of the entire novel, courtesy of the University of Virginia

  2. SparkNotes: The Scarlet Letter

    Extensive academic shorthand for the book, with good notes on Hester

  3. Cliff Notes: Hester Prynne

    Plenty of details on Hester, with student-friendly analysis of her character

  4. Subverting the Subversive

    Whew! Deep-thinking essay on Hawthorne's treatment of Hester and other women characters

Hester Prynne Biography

Hester Prynne is the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter. Set in Massachusetts colony in Puritan times, the story tells of Hester's scandalous affair with the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, which results in the birth of Hester's daughter Pearl. Hester protects Dimmesdale by concealing his identity from the community, but is forced to wear on her clothing the letter 'A' for adultery -- the 'scarlet letter' of the story's title. Always a sympathetic character, Hester is also now seen by some as an early example of feminine strength and moxie in American literature.

Extra credit:

Actresses who have played Hester in film versions of The Scarlet Letter include Lillian Gish (in 1926) and Demi Moore (in 1995).

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