the Scarlet Letter

Questions:In the Scarlet Letter, the image of the letter A that Hester wears first symbolizes her role as an adulteress, a fallen woman who has tempted a man to sin and, in the process, challenged the laws of her society. But as the story progresses, the letter also signifies that she is mother to Pearl. That she is an “Angle” of mercy to the patients she nurses, and perhaps that she is a rebel who stands for women’s rights against the repressively chauvinist males who rule in her world. How do you see Hester? Is she a danger to or a victim of her society? Does she represent lawlessness or freedom? Do you agree with Louise DeSalvo that Hester is evidence of Hawthorne’s anti-female biases or with Nina Baym that she is rather a product of the author’s feminist sympathies? However you answer, illustrate and explain your ideas with detailed analyses of relevant scenes n the novel.