Essay | Once a Sinner, Not Always a Sinner

A sin by an adult taints a pure name by endangering his or her integrity and reputation especially in a conservative society. A reputable woman can change the perception viewed upon her by sinning only one time. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter takes place in the Puritanical theocracy in Boston during the 17th century. The heroine Hester Prynne, a woman from Europe, is charged with adultery when her pregnancy and birth of her illegitimate daughter, Pearl, becomes known to the public. While Hester must publicly acknowledge her sin, Dimmesdale, a minister in Boston, did not make his sin publicly known; therefore, he has internal conflict with his crime. Furthermore, Roger Chillingworth, Hester's husband, sins by devoting his stay in Boston toward torturing Dimmesdale. Pearl, Hester's daughter out of wedlock, is the result of Hester's sin. The punishments for Hester's crime have caused her to change in many ways: she has...
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