The Scarlet Letter blog #7

Quote 1:
"She was self-ordained a Sister of Mercy; or, we nay rather say, the world's heavy hand had so ordained her, when neither the world nor she looked forward to this result" (Hawthorne 146).

Analysis 1:
Prynne emphasises just how perfectly a punish can do. A scandalous adulteress is dead and a pious nun is born. When Prynne was first branded with the scarlet "A" one is left to wonder, what shred of happiness could still exist that provided Pyrnne with the drive to craft such a decadent embroidery? Prynne's adherence to the rules and her conscience has purged her character of sin. Perhaps Prynne knew that she had to be strong for her, Pearl, and Dimmesdale who depended on her. The embroidery was a small ember of hope which Prynne cultivated into a blaze of reformation and penance.

Quote 2:
"Individuals in private life, meanwhile, had quite forgiven Hester Pyrnne for her frailty; nay, more, they had begun to look upon the scarlet letter as the token, not of that one sin, for which she had borne so long and dreary a penance," (Hawthorne 147).

Analysis 2:
Prynne has made the Scarlet letter an emblem of success. Objects by themselves are not automatically accepted or rejected by society. Influential members of a social group are what is required to integrate certain emblems into society. By accepting the scarlet "A", Prynne carries a negative denotation,depicting her as an adulteress. By seeking penance and becoming an ideal woman in society, Hester Pyrnne has attributed a sense of honor to the scarlet "A". Michael Jackson was able to socially integrate the style of wearing a single glove. Without Jackson, this style would not be a style, but a social abnormality. In the same way, Pyrnne takes a mark of shame and transmutes it into an emblem of fame.