ity, without a second thought. They would buy every piece of clothing from Hester, except wedding veils because it was said to have brought misfortune upon marriage. Hester also becomes more humble as she makes clothes for the poor, and doesn’t use any of the money from her clothing to buy luxurious possessions for herself. Hawthorne at this point makes Hester look like the only holy and righteous person in town, even minister Dimmesdale becomes somewhat suspect, as he lets Hester take all the punishment for their sin. Also the goodwives from the town become Hester’s enemy and gossip about her, but Hester takes the high road and doesn’t say anything back but instead prays for them when she goes to church.The real strength of Hester Prynne comes out when Governor Bellingham tries to take Pearl away from her. The whole town, with exception to Reverend Dimmesdale who argues that the bond between a child and mother should not be broken, urges the Governor to take Pearl away, claiming that Hester is an unfit mother. Hester is truly a woman ahead of her time; she fights back against the townspeople and stands up for herself in a time that women rarely spoke out in public. Hawthorne also makes Hester a fearless woman. She takes the full punishment for a sin that she is only half responsible for. Hester is much stronger than her partner in adultery, Dimmesdale, who bottles up his guilt inside, and eventually dies due to the suffering he endures, at keeping the event a secret (Screw Essays). Another hardship that Hester overcame during the course of the novel was her relationship with Roger Prynne/Chillingworth. She was forced into a marriage with a man that she could not truly love, because she was too young. Chillingworth confesses to Hester in the jail cell that he had wronged her, by tricking her into marriage. Even though Hester was still married to Chillingworth at the time, she did not even know if he was ali...
