Hester Prynne and Christ Symbology

Nathaniel Hawthorne's character of Hester Prynne in the novel The Scarlet Letter remains one of the most powerful literary figures of all time and much has been made about her critically throughout the decades. Literary critics have compared her as an early feminist leader and others have compared her to a magical superhero. This paper intends to discuss how Hawthorne actually works very hard to consistently develop Hester Prynne into Christ-like figure through description and deed. Hawthorne's development of Hester in this manner manifests as a scathing criticism towards the puritan religion as a whole.

Nathaniel Hawthorne began to make a strong case in asserting that Hester Prynne was indeed a Christ-like figure and elevated above the baseness of the New England Puritanical religion from his very first description of Hester Prynne. Hawthorne begins slowly, establishing that Hester is a commanding, regal figure: "The young...
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