The shot heard around the world came from the smoking gun of every individual who has challenged the authority in place in their environment. Claudette Colvin sent off her shot when she decided to sit down on a bus in Alabama during the civil rights movement, and Alice Paul pulled the trigger when she continued to protest for suffrage with no regard for the widely held negative opinion of the suffrage movement at the time. Protagonists in texts take on their own form of rebellion that authors want to be heard, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne with his novel, The Scarlet Letter, which challenges strict theocracies and Arthur Miller with his play, The Crucible, which disputes the communist hysteria of the 1950’s and 1960’s. However, all these crusaders …show more content…
posers public image, shaming individuals, and in extreme conditions, persecution. From a young age, it is ingrained into the minds of children that image is everything, and when that is taken away or ruined, it easily shatters a person. Believing the idea that how the world perceives you is a permanent thing once fully formed creates a weight on the shoulders of young people who are trying to discover their identities in their society. Pressure stemming from this burden leads to monumental downfalls of a person’s emotional health. With a specific message of this in mind, Nathaniel Hawthorne sculpted his lead character, Hester Prynne, to become an image of sin in her community. This image was derived solely from her sinful actions that branded her for the remainder of her days: “giving up her individuality, she would become the general symbol at which the preacher and moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their images of woman’s frailty and sinful passion” (Hawthorne 66). A young woman born to respected parents, Hester made the grave mistake of committing adultery, and because of this deviation from her Puritan community’s way of life by the bible, she is condemned to eternally embody sin. One action dictates the rest of her life; when the
Prompt 1: What part does TV play in limiting children's concept of gender roles? Give specific examples. What can be done about any limitations that you perceive?
People have been stereotyping outcasts since the beginning of time. This behavior is a crucial component of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter. The main character of the story, Hester Prynne, resides in a community of Puritans; who are notorious hypocrites. Their harsh rules are basically impossible to follow, therefore setting their citizens up for failure and punishment. Hawthorne tells the story of Hester Prynne with the elements of sin, judgement, and revenge.
There are various ways you can portray women throughout, The Crucible. Women are raised with high expectations, morals, and majority are raised in a Christian household. Although there’s the other types of women that are the complete opposite. In The Crucible, women are viewed in many different ways based on their actions and behavior. In Margaret Atwood’s poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” she views women the same way. The author in The Crucible, Arthur Miller, uses very important women to characterize the certain roles of women. The author of the poem, “Half-Hanged Mary,” also uses a woman to portray the roles of how women were treated in the poem, as well as the story, The Crucible. Both of these authors, Margaret and Arthur, compare the similar roles of women based on their well being and moral upbringings.
In the life of Hester Prynne, she is viewed as an adulterer. During her sentencing on the scaffold, people enjoyed seeing her be humiliated and punished for her reckless actions. The self-righteous society views her as an outcast: “Thus the young and pure would be taught to look at her, with the scarlet letter flaming on her breast,—at her, the child of honorable parents,—at her, the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman, —at her, who had once been innocent, —as the figure, the body, the reality of sin” (Hawthorne 76). Because she broke the strict Puritan laws,
:”Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”, said by Martin Luther King, Jr. The Crucible written by Arthur Miller in 1953 introduces us a story of this kind that injustice brought by a character named Danforth brings the social malfunction of Salem accompanied by a breakdown of humanity and faith. In our modern society, the public requires the power and presence of laws and justice system to protect their rights. However, when the structures become shackles and the judges mute off their voice of the truth, it leads the tragedy and misery to the people.
Imagine yourself on display in front of your whole town, being punished for cheating on your husband or wife. Today adultery is looked down on, but in reality nobody makes a huge deal out of it. Sin can affect a person in many ways, but whether it’s good or bad only time can tell. In the old days, religion and law were looked at as one, and Hester Prynne just so happened to sin, which in turn caused her to break the law. In the novel, Hester displays that how a person deals with sin has a lasting impact on the people around her, and most importantly those that are the closest to her.
While reading the Crucible there are several recurring themes, a few of which include sexual repression and patriarchy. Specifically, these themes which are seen so often throughout this play seem to be connected to the downfall of this small Puritanical town. Today I will bring to light the biased views and sexual repression that led this small town to its untimely demise. This paper will delve into the puritans daily way of life and beliefs and expose that sexual repression and patriarchy were the real killers in this play based on real events.
Through out the course of history, those who were considered sinners were often out casted from the society. This is much the case with Hester Prynne in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. After a public trial, Hester is considered a sinner due to her birthing of a so called “devil child”. Hester is convicted to the life long bearing of a scarlet letter on her chest. The Scarlet Letter that Hester Prynne wears symbolizes the change in perception of sin through out the novel. Due to the revelations of the governor Winthrop and the reverend Dimmesdale, the way sin is perceived changes from one of shame to the idea that every one is a sinner in their own right.
Ever since the beginning of the technology era, all unethical things have been glorified. Shootings, rape, kidnappings, and cheating seem to be all over the media today. However, they do not focus on what actually happened, but instead on who is the victim and who is the villain. Has sexism changed since 1692 and what beliefs about it stayed the same? Adultery, slut-shaming are examples of how sexism still prevail as an issue that women must face, however, the social effect today is still worse for women than men.
In “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller uses the characters Abigail and the three girls as feminists to gain power. “American laws wanted to move women closer to equality through an Equal Rights Amendment that would ban governments discrimination based on sexes”. “Feminism is the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of equality of the sexes.” He portrayed this by women having the power in a positive and negative way. In the town of Salem, women were given less amount of power, with their ability to have judgments upon other women and men as being witches and wizards. There was no need of evidence to prove if a person was a witch or not. This power was given to Abigail and the girls implying larger comments on the negative effect of women holding power. Although there were good things and bad things about women having power, Elizabeth Proctor lost power over her husband because John Proctor is the head of the house, but “she is submissive to him.” Elizabeth is not secured within her relationship with John Proctor because he had an affair with Abigail Williams. Elizabeth is upset and deeply hurt, and constantly reminding John Proctor that she is still hurt because he cheated on her. Society’s view a husband having more power than the woman. Elizabeth began to have the position of a stereotypical wife. She doesn’t lose power, but suppresses her power and holds her power privately. Society view women to be weak, not intelligent, so they deserve to have less power, and
Feminist theory is the advocacy of gender equality in terms of respect, opportunities and social rights. The Crucible by Arthur Miller represents the conventional feminist gender struggle, through the medium of an androcentric patriarchal society built on the ideals of religion. In Salem, woman are portrayed as the lower class of society, patronised by men such as Proctor “I am looking for you more often than my cows!" comparing Mary to a farm animal is indicative of their perceived place. Furthermore, the violent way the men within Salem converse with woman “You will confess yourself or I will whip you to death, Tituba! demonstrates the lack of impartiality and feelings that theyhave on a woman’s fundamental rights. Miller’s use of
The roles of the women in the drama are significant because of the way they shape the story and help the reader understand the nature of one of the strangest events in human history. Throughout the novel, women are portrayed in many different ways. Some are shown as being good and moral people while others the complete opposite. Arthur Miller's treatment of women in this play show women as weak beings who give into their husbands. Each women in the drama plays a significant role in showing the different archetypes there were among women especially Mary Warren, Elizabeth Proctor, and Abigail Williams. In addition, Kohlberg’s Moral Stages are six developmental stages of human moral reasoning which can tie into the view in which we have of the women in the play.
The outlook on gender roles in today’s advanced society is in drastic contrast to the views portrayed in The Crucible, set in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. The Crucible, written by Arthur Miller, depicts women as weak creatures, who are expected to submit to men, and whose only access to power is through dishonest means.
Introducing American students to STEM-related academic programs during K-12 and higher education can lay the foundation for a career in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. According to Hill, Corbett and Rose (2010), there are so few American people in the STEM workforce because there has been a drastic decline in the number of students who matriculate into STEM undergraduate degrees and who complete post-secondary education. Colleges and universities that provide a broader overview of the STEM fields in introductory courses, implement mentoring programs and effective policies for all faculty members, and hire more science and engineering faculty can increase female and male student recruitment and retention in STEM-related academic
Through it all, Nathaniel Hawthorne possesses a determined nature in Mrs. Prynne that will not allow her to accept the hatred she faces for an act that was deemed right in her own eyes. As time progresses it seems that Hester may just give up and abide by the strict Puritan law, but she soon comes to terms with herself and is able to help herself and find the power to do and sympathize. Hester’s experiences were filled with ‘helpfulness’, but she is now refined with a ‘power to do and power to