As a Puritan Hester should make a letter that is plain and simple. Anything other is a show of vanity; however, in rebellious pride, Hester fashioned an A that is very ornate; the "goodwives" remark on the audacity of the young woman who "mades a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment."
In fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold-thread... It was illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relation with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself.
In his introductory chapter, "The Custom-House," Hawthorne describes having found the letter on the floor upstairs. He writes that the letter had been formed with
wonderful skill and a stitch [that] gives evidence of a now forgotten art, not to be recovered even by the process of picking out the threads.
Thus, the letter becomes more than just a letter or badge. It identifies Hester and it is an identification that she will not shed.
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