The Tragic Beauty of Antigone and Hester PrynneWhen Antigone meets her demise, it symbolizes something beautiful because she finally gets what she desired, making her the embodiment of tragic beauty. Looking at Antigone's actions, a direct correlation appears with Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Ultimately, Antigone and Hester are both tragically beautiful characters because of their sins. Their beauty resonates from within because they stick to what they value, which makes them both exalted by society. What makes Sophocles and Nathaniel Hawthorne's protagonists tragically beautiful is that Antigone and The Scarlet Letter follow Aristotle's guide to tragedy. Both works tell of a tragedy within the family. Hester wrongs her husband Roger Chillingworth by cheating on him, and Antigone, no matter how hard she tries, cannot justify her brother's death or shake off her parents' incestuous shame. Even Hester's physical appearance is dark, but beautiful. She has black hair that is "so bright it makes the sun shine" and Hester's "beauty shines" while simultaneously giving her a "halo of woe" (Hawthorne 50). Hester's beauty is established the first time she leaves prison, but the "A" she is forced to wear on her chest has tarnished her beauty. Hester is publicly humiliated for cheating on her husband, and the scarlet A displayed on her chest reminds her of the shame she should feel. However, once Hester removes the A, she also removes the harsh and unyielding Puritan social structure, showing that it dispels her sin. Although Hester's beauty is manifested through her physical appearance, it also shines through in her ability to redefine the paper average......valuing their good, Hester and Antigone first saw it in themselves- themselves, thus creating strong female protagonists. While both characters were isolated from the public and put on the "scaffold...for public shame", their courage is what prevailed, ultimately making itself prevail as well (Hawthorne, 130). Their beauty also prevails, although it has been tested. Although neither character is considered beautiful by usual standards, their tragic beauty remains intact despite the trials, with Samuelson 4 ultimately making Hester and Antigone beautiful on the outside as well as the inside. Both Antigone and Hester show us that your sin is not the label that defines you, but rather how you behave once that label is placed. As The Scarlet Letter and Antigone progress, we see that Antigone and Hester are tragically beautiful, and the darkness of their beauty becomes a means of communicating the ineffable..