"Whether from pride or resignation, or feeling that her penance might best be wrought out by this unutterable pain, she resisted" (73)
Nathaniel Hawthorn characterizes Hester Prynne through indirect Characterization. Throughout the chapters, Hester character changes. At first she seems strong willed and tough in the face of adversity. This is because she is on trail by everyone she knows and despite all this pressure, she is relatively calm. When she sees her husband in the crown, she does not react. She merely stares at him for a while, and they push there conversation to a later time in the prison. When asked to give up the name of the man that has also sinned, she refuses. These moments characterize Prynne as someone who is calculated. She know what she is doing and knows the consequence to every choice, willing to take it.
I think that Hester's characterization is pretty consistent thus far. I'm only half-way through the book, but Hester seems to be just as strong-willed and persistent as she was from the very beginning of the book. I think that Hester is really courageous seeing as she has gone through a lot and still appears to be set in her disposition. Hester does have weaknesses and suffers, it is evident in the way she talks to her fellow neighbors and especially Pearl. But, consistenly, Hawthorne has made Hester appear to be unbreakable to everyone else in the community.
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