Prynne, Hester: Difference between revisions

From Salem Links and Lore
No edit summary
mNo edit summary
Line 1: Line 1:
One of [[Hawthorne, Nathaniel|Nathaniel Hawthorne]]'s memorable literary characters.
Hester Prynne was a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous book, "The Scarlet Letter." According to Phillip Bergen of the Bostonian Society, no one person was the model for the character. Hawthorne may have modeled Prynne after two Massachusetts women. One, Elizabeth Paine, was tried in 1683 for murder of her child. There is a capital A, which means adulteress in colonial times, on her grave in the burial ground at Boston's King's Chapel, which Hawthorne was know to visit. The other, Hester Craford, was convicted of adultery in Salem in 1668 by Judge William Hathorne, an ancestor of the author.
Hester Prynne was a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous book, "The Scarlet Letter." According to Phillip Bergen of the Bostonian Society, no one person was the model for the character. Hawthorne may have modeled Prynne after two Massachusetts women. One, Elizabeth Paine, was tried in 1683 for murder of her child. There is a capital A, which means adulteress in colonial times, on her grave in the burial ground at Boston's King's Chapel, which Hawthorne was know to visit. The other, Hester Craford, was convicted of adultery in Salem in 1668 by Judge William Hathorne, an ancestor of the author.


[[Category:Browse Index]]
[[Category:Browse Index]]

Revision as of 10:19, 23 December 2009

One of Nathaniel Hawthorne's memorable literary characters. Hester Prynne was a character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's famous book, "The Scarlet Letter." According to Phillip Bergen of the Bostonian Society, no one person was the model for the character. Hawthorne may have modeled Prynne after two Massachusetts women. One, Elizabeth Paine, was tried in 1683 for murder of her child. There is a capital A, which means adulteress in colonial times, on her grave in the burial ground at Boston's King's Chapel, which Hawthorne was know to visit. The other, Hester Craford, was convicted of adultery in Salem in 1668 by Judge William Hathorne, an ancestor of the author.