is characterized by a
"burning blush" as she stands upon the scaffold, bravely facing the judgment of her
peers by refusing to allow them to see her shame. She kept a "haughty smile" on her
face and looked with a "glance that would not be abashed" at the townsfolk.
Matching her embarrassed red face, the scarlet letter is made of "fine red
cloth" and is decorated with "an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold
thread." The narrator describes it as artistic and certainly "beyond what was allowed
by the sumptuary regulations of the colony." Hester, too, is beautiful: "tall, with a
figure of perfect elegance." She has "dark and abundant hair" that is
"glossy" and "gleam[s]" in the sunshine, a "rich" complexion, and
"deep black eyes."
Like the letter, which stands out boldly
against Hester's clothes, Hester herself stands out against the fabric, so to speak, of
societyespecially female society. The narrator says that the "man-like" Queen
Elizabeth was a "not [...]...
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