Hester Thicke Is The 'Blurred Lines' Controversy?

When Hester fixed the onerous scarlet letter back onto her bosom, “the warmth and richness of her womanhood departed, like fading sunshine,” leaving behind only a “gray shadow” in its place (145). As a result, the beauty Hester once held with such alacrity was snatched away by the venomous stigma society had placed on her. Moreover, society, by humiliating Hester with the scarlet letter, destroyed her very sense of self, thus causing her to grow into a character filled with woe; the infectious remorse placed by society consumed Hester - eating away at her beauty and humanity. Over time, Hester’s face began to incorporate the “frozen calmness of a dead woman’s features,” and Hester seemed “actually dead” (155). Hester, similar to a dead body, was unable to return to the living; she lost everything that once made her a beautiful lady. The woman whom society once viewed with esteem no longer existed, and in her place was a ghoulish, empty shell of a human who could never return to its original form. Hester is comparable to the rose bush with its “delicate gems,” and “fragile beauty,” caged behind the prison door “studded with iron spikes” (33). Hester’s allure is restrained by the pernicious barbs of society’s harsh punishments, so that she herself is an object not of admiration, but of scorn. Shackled by the chains of an immoral

In the 1850’s, America was undergoing a massive internal changes via the industrial revolution. With this new era, American culture was drastically changed as women started to take a more prominent role in American society. In his novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to stimulate this change by illustrating the positive influence of a strong female character in a Puritanical society through his heroine, Hester Prynne, by putting her in a scandalous situation capable of drawing out the worst in people.

Hester Prynne is seen as an objectification women because she does things on her own without a male being with her. That makes the Puritans think that she is better than everyone else. “ In a moment, however, wisely judging that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another, she took the baby on her arm, and, with a burning blush, and yet a haughty smile, and a glance that would not be abashed, looked around at her townspeople and neighbours. On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter “A”.”

The song “Molly Cyrus” by Stitches is a popular rap song among college students. I am a big fan of rap music and Stitches is one of my favorite rappers along with Kanye West and Gucci Mane. Normally I would not listen to a song that is so explicit, but I literally cannot escape this song. “Molly Cyrus” is played at every frat party and always comes on when I am riding with my friends in the car. After reading the prompt for this assignment I thought I would take a closer look at the lyrics in this vulgar song.

This page describing her crime shows how Hester defies the Puritan belief system through rebellion because the crime of adultery is a serious sin in their religion, showing that she purposely disobeys the laws of their religion by having an affair. Hester Prynne also defies the Puritan belief system through the scene where she immerges from the jail cell and is seen in public with her wedlock child for the first time. Hawthorne describes the manner in which she immerges from the jail and how the town reacts, in the quote “Those who had before known her, and had expected to behold her dimmed and obscured by a disastrous cloud, were astonished, and even startled, to perceive how her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she had enveloped” (46). This quote shows Hester’s rebellion against the Puritan beliefs because, due to how serious her crime is seen in the Puritan community, the town members had expected her to show sorrow, shame, and weakness as she walked from the jail cell. But, instead she walks out with her head held high, ignoring their judgment, showing no shame and in the crime she committed, and disregarding the mannerisms the Puritan’s expected of her. Along with her rebellion, Hester Prynne defies the Puritan belief system

Hawthorne's Hester Prynne is the underdog protagonist that the reader cannot help but want to succeed. She is flawed but her flaws are outshone by her good heart and spirit. This shamed and humiliated woman is the one the reader, with the help of Hawthorne’s descriptions, wants to support. This sinful woman, with a child from wedlock, a diabolical “husband”, and a secretive lover is the motivating force that drives the reader to continue on with The Scarlet Letter. The language, descriptions, and plot of The Scarlet Letter show that Hawthorne believes the reader should look past gender stereotypes because not everything is what is

This ridicule has a trickle down effect on Hester as she too is banished from her own community for committing adultery. The comparison between Hester and Hawthorne defines the external struggle for the reader to fully understand the effect of opinions from society on them Although reluctant to allow Hester to leave prison, the members of the town suggest that her punishment be to wear a scarlet red letter A on her bosom, thereby allowing all to know of her crime. The scarlet letter “ was red-hot with infernal fire, ” (Hawthorne 81) and defined the state she was currently in, that being eternal hell. Though she was forced to marry an older man at a young age, her rebellion to have an affair is not seen as an internal struggle that she overcame; rather, it is merely seen as a woman who sinned, a woman who shall therefore endure the punishment for the sin, rather than a woman who was never given a say in what she wanted with her life. Time and again, Hester Prynne is seen defying society by allowing herself to stand out from societal norm just as the roses “with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner“ (Hawthorne) did. Instead, she returns to the community and is observed aiding those in need, all with seven year old Pearl by her side.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, is a compassionate yet riveting piece of English literature that supports the movement for equality of suppressed women during a most tumultuous time during the 1800’s. Hawthorne’s use of emotional diction and imagery throughout his novel employs a deplorable tone upon the story. It serves as a stark representation of an imaginative yet realistic example of the indifference of men and women during these changing times. Deeply held Puritanical beliefs led countless of people to believe that individuals, especially women, who committed sins of any type would never reach heaven upon their passing. Men, on the other hand, were judged less severely if accused of a crime. Hester Prynne, the

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,

The new Puritan society wanted to punish Hester Prynne horribly so that she would set an example of the consequences the others would receive if they committed a

Miley Cyrus can easily be explained through the eyes of Sigmund Freud, the father of Psychoanalysis. Freud was the first to develop the “talking cure”, in which one makes their unconscious thoughts, beliefs, and motives, conscious by means of catharsis, or a free discharge of emotions. In this approach, it is thought that our behavior is a result of our unconscious motives. Therefore, psychodynamic therapy bases its treatment of mental disorders on the relationship between the unconscious and conscious mind. After working with many different people, Freud came to the conclusion that repressed memories, fears, and emotions stored in the unconscious mind must be brought to light to the conscious mind, in order for them not to manifest themselves through symptoms. The key internal mechanism for change here is insight of how the unconscious thoughts influence their behavior.

Expectations about appropriate gender role characteristics and sexual behavior have evolved throughout history, especially for women. In the 1700’s and 1800’s, the men’s role included earning an

While Puritan women are weak and dependent upon their husbands, Hester Prynne is empowered and self-reliant. A character designed by Hawthorne to show 19th century women that women’s work could be valuable, Hester supports herself and her daughter by needlework. “For, as the novel unfolds, the letter, intended by the Authorities to signify harsh but just condemnation, is made by Hester to signify something entirely different—able, admirable.” (Bell 109) All aspects considered, the ability of Hester, a woman who committed sin and was publicly punished for this crime, to manipulate this punishment into a virtue

Even though Hester was publicly shamed for her sin and forced to wear a scarlet letter, a badge of shame, she did not submit to the public’s insults. Even while delivering the materials she sewed, “Dames of elevated rank... were accustomed to distil drops of bitterness into her heart... alchemy of quiet malice, by which women can concoct a subtle poison from ordinary trifles… fell upon the sufferer’s defenseless breast like a rough blow upon an ulcerated wound… and she never responded to these attacks” (127). The negative connotation and personification of the insults emphasizes the amount of acerbity she received because of her notorious sin. Despite this, the public humiliation caused by the scarlet letter essentially separated her from the Puritan ideals like “a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relation with humanity”(61). This personification of the scarlet letter allows Hawthorne to present how Hester reacted to the ignominy caused by her sin. This isolation also permits Hester to formulate her own reasoning on what is right and wrong based on her own standards. All this freedom, in turn as Hawthorne presents, comes from revealing the sin. Hawthorne also presents this act as favorable since at the very end, the women in the society, some of whom once scorned her, sought advice from her. This suggests that the civilization which one banished all sinners had accepted one of them back. The reader can safely conclude that revealing the truth, although it may be harsh at first, can result in positive aspects towards the

The article informs their audience with what was done as punishment for those who committed a sinful crime that offended their religion. The actual story starts out with Hester Prynne, along with other women standing in the town square for everyone to see and be told the sinful crimes one has committed, "The age had not so much refinement, that any sense of impropriety restrained the wearers of petticoat and farthingale from stepping forth into public ways, and wedging their not unsubstantial persons, if occasion were, into the throng nearest to the scaffold at an execution... The woman who were now standing about the prison-door stood within less than half a century of the period when the manlike Elizabeth had been not together unsuitable representative of the sex." (Hawthorne 48). In the scene Hawthorne describes how these women standing there today did something morally wrong for the sex they are and since woman in those days had a certain role in the household whereas today in 2017 woman have more freedom to do whatever they please, still woman are shamed for the same reason they did back in the 1600s. In an article about public shaming, it tells how now with social media shaming woman and well anyone is much easier to do as many people have it and not only can one small community see it but everyone all over the world can, "Women are often shamed for