Movie: The Scarlet Letter (1995)

In this entrance we are going to write about one specific character of the movie, Hester Prynne which, casted by Demi Moore, is the principal character of the movie.

Hester Prynne

First we are going to describe her physical features:

She had an oval, thin and large face; big and beautiful blue eyes accompanied by a wavy and long brown hair. She was approximately 1.70 meters tall and her body was thin and fit, her skin was very pale, you could say she was white as snow. And something that was very important is that she always wore a big ‘A’ in her clothes.

Now we are going to mention some personal traits:

The most important and for she was very recognized is the big ‘A’ she had to wear in her clothes because of the “crime” she had committed. The second thing and the one that used people in town to recognize and to advice that she was in town was a drummer boy that how to follow her every day wherever she went. The third trait that helps us recognize her is her hairstyle that was unique, her hair was always tight up and she let two wicks fall off in the sides of her face.

Hester's relationships with other characters:

 Some symbols of dark romanticism that appear in the movie and are related to Hester are:

*Countryside, nature, women and soundtrack

*The red bird: when Hester saw Arthur for the first time the bird guided her to the place where he was swimming, also when Arthur and her slept together. The bird clearly represents lust.

*Hang rope: the elders wanted to hang Hester because they thought she was a witch, but she wasn’t; she was an independent woman who knew what she wanted and was able to think by herself.

*The tissue: she wore on her head when she was in prison. She was supposed to put it on the window if she wanted Arthur to tell the truth because she couldn’t bare being in prison anymore.

Surprising Revelations:

*The first one is when Hester’s pregnancy is revealed.

*For the people in town it was a surprise that her daughter’s father was Arthur, the town priest.

*For Hester and Arthur it was a very surprising revelation that her husband was alive.

Psychological Traits:

*Lustful: Because she made love with another man who wasn’t her husband even thought he was “dead”.

*Brave: She didn’t mind what people thought about her and she did everything for her daughter.

*Independent: She could survive by herself; she didn’t need a man to maintain her.

*Open-minded: because she wasn’t trapped in the fanaticism that moved the people in town.

How do you see the elements of “Dark Romanticism” reflected in the movie?

*Hester and Arthur believed God works through nature by uniting them and giving them the gift of a daughter.

*Symbolism of dark romanticism is shown in the movie. The red bird is an example of this.

The movie shows the dark side of human nature, not just the good things. For example in Roger Prynne he wanted revenge and wanted to kill Arthur for taking his wife from him.

*Other things the movie shows are the psychological effects of guilt and sin; like when Roger killed himself because he realized that he had done a bad thing: killing someone.