The Real People Who Inspired Timeless Fictional Characters

Hester Prynne Isn’t Completely Made-Up

Photo Credits: Universal History Archive/Getty Images)

Hester Prynne, the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s classic novel The Scarlet Letter had her fair share of humiliation and torment. As much as we don’t want to believe it, there was a real woman who lived to inspire this famous literary character.

Her name was Elizabeth Pain, and like Hester, she also had a child out of wedlock. She was later accused of murdering the child, was acquitted, but was convicted of child negligence and forced to pay a fine and was flogged. It is believed that she inspired the character because if you read the ending of the novel, it’s describing Pain’s grave in Boston.