For all her misfortune and ignominy, she was beautiful and her beauty shone out like a halo? A halo is associated with the divine. Is there some irony here, that the people of her town scorned her and thought her a terrible sinner, but she shone like sunshine and with a halo, like an angel? As a reader, how are you to perceive Hester? A dark, evil sinner, or something like an angel, a thing of beauty?
What do you think?
The scarlet letter
"dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam"
"her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped."
Fine at least 2 phrases that describe the physical nature of Hester prynne. For each, explain why the speaker has described her this way. I found the two phrases but, don't know why Hawthorne described her this way.
1 answer
1 answer