AS SEEN ON TV: HESTER PRYNNE

HESTER PRYNNE

AS SEEN IN:

"The Scarlet Letter"

CREATED BY:

Nathaniel Hawthorne

AS PLAYED BY:

Meg Foster

TV STATUS:

Recastaway

TV DIMENSION:

Alternate TV World

From Wikipedia:

Hester Prynne is the protagonist of Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter. She is portrayed as a woman condemned by her Puritan neighbors. The character has been called "among the first and most important female protagonists in American literature."

A resident of colonial America, Hester is sent ahead to the "New World" by her husband, who later assumes the name of Roger Chillingworth, as he has some business to finish before he can join her. After he is shipwrecked and captured by Native Americans and presumed dead, 

Hester continues to live her life as a seamstress in the town. She looks to the local pastor Arthur Dimmesdale for comfort; somewhere along the way passion emerges, culminating in the conception and subsequent birth of their child, Pearl. Because Hester has no husband with her, she is imprisoned, convicted of the crime of adultery, and sentenced to be forced to wear a prominent scarlet letter 'A' for the rest of her life.

Though scorned by her fellow citizens, Hester continues to lead a relatively uneventful life. Shortly after the birth of the child and her punishment, Hester's husband reappears and compels her to tell him the name of the child's father. Hester refuses, but swears not to reveal the fact that Chillingworth is her husband to the town folk. Hester continues living her life as a seamstress, providing for herself and her child.

Mary Sinclair would be the Hester Prynne of Earth Prime-Time, having played the role in an episode of the anthology series 'Studio One In Hollywood' back in 1950.........

BCnU!