Puritan Women Foil Hester Prynne Scarlet Letter

How the Puritan women create any Effective Foil for Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter What if you had a secret that could potentially kill you if you shared it? Hester Prynne was guilty of such a crime, and Nathaniel Hawthorne uses this theme of guilt to develop the plot of The Scarlet Letter. The main protagonist Hester Prynne is required to wear a scarlet letter “A” as in symbol of a shame for committing adultery. Prynne's wrongdoings are sins of the heart, while Hawthorne depicted other vindictive people of sins as evil as their souls. Hence in chapter two Hawthorne means to create a dramatic foil using the Puritan women's negative qualities in contrast to Hester’s Prynne’s glowing personality. The Puritan woman outside appearance is a reflection of their soul and harsh personalities. At first glance the Puritan women are characterized as having "broad shoulders and well-developed bust"(48). Accordingly these women have and refund petticoat "morally" but with the "coarser fiber" (48). Moreover the majority of the females are portrayed is being manish like their former Queen Elizabeth. Indeed "The solemnity of demeanor on the part of the spectators," (47) includes the Puritan women yelling horrible names and being very spiteful towards Hester Prynne as she stands on the scaffold. They want to see Prynne suffer, "wedging their not unsubstantial persons . . . nearest to the scaffold at an execution" (48). In short these women are cruel, dreary, unattractive, and spiteful. Thus these vindictive and ugly women with hard manlike features function as one character to highlight Hester Prynne's superior qualities. Hester Prynne, on the other hand, is a dignified an angel like creature. For instance as he gracefully makes her way from the officer by "an action marked with natural dignity and force of character" (50) she maintains "a burning blush and yet a haughty smile" (51),

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