Essay #2: in The Scarlet Letter. the image of the letter A that Hester wears first symbolizes her role as an
adulteress. a fallen woman who has tempted a man to sin and, in the process, challenged the laws of her
society. But as the story progresses, the letter also signifies that she is mother to Pearl, that she is an
“Angel“ of mercy to the patients she nurses, and perhaps that she is a rebel who stands for women’s rights

against the repressively chauvinist males who rule in her world. How do you see Hester? Is she a danger
to or a victim of her society? Does she represent lawlessness or fieedom? Do you agree with Louise
Desalvo that Hester is evidence of Hawthorne’s anti-female biases or with Nina Baym that she is rather a
product of the author’s feminist sympathies? However you answer, illustrate and explain your ideas with
detailed analyses of relevant scenes in the novel.