Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel *The Scarlet Letter*, forced to wear a red "A" for adultery as public punishment in Puritan Massachusetts.
Her name has become shorthand for someone subjected to public shaming, especially a woman punished for sexual transgression while her male partner escapes consequences: She felt like Hester Prynne when the photos leaked.
- PearlGemstone-inspired feminine name
- scarlet letterMark of public shame
- female agencyWomen's capacity for action
- PuritanismProtestant reform movement
- colonial AmericaBritish North Atlantic settlements, pre-1776
shame · motherhood · fallen woman · stigma · sin · resilience · scaffold · hypocrisy · religious intolerance · New England town · moral judgment · guilt · public confession · Nathaniel Hawthorne · identity · redemption arc · public shaming · embroidery