Aim: How is symbolism used to reveal Hester's role in society?
Objective: Students should understand what Hester's role in society is and how it changed throughout the book.
Procedure:
- Students should read Chapter 2, "The Market Place".
- Split students into groups (you can make 6 groups which have 2 groups repeating the same activity). Groups should do one of the following activities: a) Describe Hester b) Describe all the different people in the crowd c) Describe the physical atmosphere.
(Ideas will vary, but students should understand that Hester is described in a saintly, strong way as when
the text reads "a figure of perfect elegance" "a black shadow emerging into the sunshine". The people in the crowd are clearly harsh as when they say, "This woman has brought shame upon us and ought to die" and prove their harshness when it says that these women "stood less than half a century of the period when manlike Elizabeth had been the not altogether unsuitable representative of the sex". The atmosphere is extremely harsh in the way Hawthorne presents Puritan society. Children run around on this "half-holiday" , and the town beadle is represented as one with "a sword by his side and staff of office in his hand".)
- Ask students why Hawthorne would want to represent Hester as a saint
(answers should include such ideas as she is a strong woman who is standing up to Puritan society and she will be a savior) .
- Students should go view the following pictures on the Internet and
then:
a) write the connotations of the picture and b) explain how
it is represented by Hester's life. (Note: they should save the connotations because they will do the same thing for Pearl in the next lesson.)
Picture 1
Picture 2
Picture 3
Picture 4
Picture 5
Picture 6
Picture 7
Picture 8
- After reviewing these ideas discussion should lead to how Hester has changed throughout the book and what she represents as a result of these changes. The following T-Chart is a guide:
What was Hester's life characterized by?
|
Why had things become this way?
|
People accepted her rather than hating who she was and what she represented. |
People tend to love rather than hate. |
She helped people who were in trouble. |
She had sympathy for them because she understood what they were going through. |
The "a" came to symbolize able because of all her good deeds. |
People forgot the original sin. They just knew of her good deeds. |
"A" became like a cross on a nun. |
It protected her; she was sacred. |
Discussion should revolve around Hawthorne's desire to present Hester as a person who was so innately good and flourished after being shunned from Puritan society.
The teacher can contrast this to the townspeople in "The Market Place".
Possible final activity could include making a picture by hand or using Google to find pictures that symbolize Hawthorne's feelings towards Hester's role in society. |
