"The young woman was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. She was lady-like too, after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days; characterized by a certain state and dignity, rather than by the delicate, evanescent, and indescribable grace, which is now recognized as its indication. And never had Hester Prynne appeared more lady-like, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison. Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold he dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped. It may be true, that, to a sensitive observer, there was something exquisitely painful in it. Her attire, which indeed, she had wrought for the occasion, in prison, and had modelled much after her own fancy, seemed to express the attitude of her spirit, the desperate recklessness of her mood, by its wild and picturesque peculiarity. But the point which drew all eyes, and as it were, transfigured the wearer,--so the both men and women, who had been familiarly acquainted with Hester Prynne, were now impressed as if they beheld her for the fires times,--was that Scarlet Letter..." (Chapter 2/PAGE 50))
This lengthy excerpt describes (in great detail) the beauty of Hester Prynne. One wouldn't think that someone who appeared to be such a remarkable person, would have as bad of a reputation as she possessed. People wanted a hot iron driven into her face, others thought she should just be outright killed, and when given the chance to view her, all the people care to lay their eyes upon, is the letter. The shame, the wrong-doing, the sin has begun to follow her, it is a part of her and she can't get rid of it. This is only because of the society dwells on strong religious principles that appear to deem sinners unfit to walk among the Puritans. The idea of nature being forgiving and just is seen through Hester, as she is still a being of nature, and seems to be indifferent to her current situation. There is no denying that what she did was wrong, however the townspeople are fixated on what she has done and not the person she truly is and their memories of her before she sinned. Puritan religion has made itself a utopia that if viewed upon for its grace is quintessentially a heaven on Earth, so to speak, although the religion weighs too heavily in the society for it to be this way. Therefore, Hester can be viewed as nothing more than villainous scum with no purpose for life. I believe that religion is going to be a prime antagonist in this novel because of the actions emanating from Puritan followers causing a disruption in utopian society as well as nature.
Yes. Puritan religion is the antagonist. Of course, look at the depictions of the society vs. the depictions of Hester and Pearl. Remember outer beauty or physical features equals inward beauty and/or physical features.
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