2006-09-24 10:58:22 · 7 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Books & Authors
Hester's husband Chillingworth has been missing for years and presumed dead, yet because she dares try and start a life with someone else, her Puritan society condemns her. What a crock.
Dimmesdale often gets a bad rap because he should have spoke up, but one wonders how that would have worked out.
Would their town have let them live as an honest couple? Could they have run? I doubt it. These people don't admit to what they've done out of guilt, but because they are protecting each other. If Dimmesdale is exposed, he can no longer use his position to protect Hester. If he admits his passion, Hester most likely will come off as some sort of witch seducing the godly.
Chillingworth is the final villain. Not because he happened to get sidetracked for a few years, but because even HE, the wife of Hester, won't admit who he is to the public. He'd rather get revenge. If Hester's own husband won't own up to her, then in my mind that makes her and Dimmesdale's faults very pale by comparison.
2006-09-24 19:49:40 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Poor Hester gets the bad reputation in The Scarlet Letter. It was all about her protecting Dimmsdale because he was a minister, so she took all the blame for being a whore when he participated as much as she did.
It all goes back to the Old Testament where Eve is the evil one and she was the one who made Adam eat the apple. So, I don't think Hester was guilty or innocent. I think she was a lonely woman who made a mistake but was blamed for it all because she was a woman.
2006-09-24 11:08:27 · answer #2 · answered by Melissa L 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Innocent
2006-09-24 11:03:51 · answer #3 · answered by I believe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Roger Dimmesdale is more guilty than Hester.
2006-09-24 11:00:51 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
She's guilty of being in love and innocent in protecting the one she loves. Women who protect the men they love often get a raw deal.
2006-09-24 14:26:07 · answer #5 · answered by Totoru 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She was NOT married to the Pastor therefore she was guilty of adultery.
2006-09-24 16:58:31 · answer #6 · answered by Jackie M 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
She is very, very naughty, and I love that about her.
2006-09-24 12:20:53 · answer #7 · answered by christophert1000 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋