In The Red

In The Red Hester Prynne admonishes Pearl not to "always talk in the marketplace of what happens in the forest." (Hawthorne 206) Hester's words capture the essence of Puritan life- the vast stretches of the mind skirting the edges of common existence. Hawthorne's juxtaposition of the marketplace and the secret woods illustrates the incredible difference between the Hester presented to the world and Hester as she knows herself.The "mystery of the primeval forest" (Hawthorne, 192) represents the "moral wilderness" (Hawthorne, 192) Hester wanders. The forest's "shadowy uncertainty" (Howells, 278) paints the fears, doubts and passions present in Hester Prynne. Yet she masks these with indifference and her good works; they remain unseen by those who dwell in the marketplace. The community rejects her initially because of her sin; she retreats to the edge of the village into the forest. Her remoteness physically and spiritually widens the gulf between her and her peers.Leigh Hester