In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is a more honorable person than Arthur Dimmesdale. Unlike Dimmesdale who is unable to accept the repercussions of his own actions; Hester overcomes adversity, deals with her problems, accepts responsibility for her sins, and over time regains the respect of the community. Despite his redeeming qualities such as his conscience, repentance and his being a religious leader, Dimmesdale is not an honorable man; he lives a lie. To the townspeople he is pious, humble, preacher; but in reality he is selfish, a hypocrite, a masochist, and a coward.
             When it was found out that Hester had committed adultery she was sentenced to three hours on the scaffold of shame, in front of the entire town and to wear a scarlet "A" to remind her and anyone who she encountered of her sinful deed (pages 38-41). When she is told she can end her punishment and be rid of the scarlet letter by revealing her fellow sinner she replies "It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine" (page 48). Even after Arthur Dimmesdale implores her to reveal her partner in sin and "give your child a father" (page 48), she refuses saying "I will not speak! And my child must seek a heavenly father; she shall never know and earthly one!" (page 49).
             Hester accepts her shame and eventually becomes a valued member of the community. She easily have discarded the scarlet letter and moved to a faraway city where her past would never be found out, but instead she remains in Boston. She feels that she must suffer in atonement for her sins. She single-handedly raises her child, Pearl. She lives humbly and affords herself no luxury. She works as a seamstress and with her extra time and money makes clothes for the less fortunate, even thought they regard her as inferior and a sinner. Over a period of years Hester beg...