Even in only a few chapters of reading, Hester shows some strong personality traits that really make her stand out not only as a women in that time period, but as a character in general.
In the first scene in the book, the whole town is waiting around just to stare at Hester as she walks out of the jail, wearing the A on her chest. A lot of people would have dissolved into tears in this kind of humiliating situation. But Hester, keeps her cool. When she first emerges from the jail, Hester "...with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbors." This shows that she is proud and fierce, not hiding and guilty but strong and defiant. She's showing that thee town may be able to force her to wear this badge of shame and stand in front of the town, but they can't force her to feel bad about what she did. Something else about Hester is that she is not very trusting of other people, probably with good reason. When Chillingworth offers her medicine, she "repelled the medicine, at the same time gazing with strongly marked apprehension into his face." This says a lot about her outlook on the world. She probably feels really alone, like it's her against everyone else, which it kind of is. Hester has also proved to be very loyal and strong-willed. When asked again and again about the identity of her child's father, she says, "Ask me not... that thou shalt never know." Even though her punishment would be lessened if she shared this information, she remains loyal to him. She even agrees to keep quiet about Chillingworth when he asks her to. Hester is completely different from the other women in the village, and I think she is mostly just misunderstood by everyone else.
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