Puritan Gender Roles

Colonial women in the mid-1600s were very limited in religious activities. They were expected to remain compliant and not allowed to speak out in church. (pg. 96). As time progressed, women were afford more rights in this regard. They eventually outnumbered men in the church. They used this platform to promote their beliefs and “influence morals (pg. 96).”

In society today, men are often in a position of power over women. Sometimes it even gets to the point where women no longer have the power to decide their own future. However, in the Scarlet Letter and The Crucible, the female characters place themselves in positions of power. Puritan society was very strict in their time, and was very controlling. In a way, the Puritan Society’s strict rules prompted the women to rebel and gain power for themselves, breaking away from their social standards.

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.

Gender defined roles are continuously adapting to the new societal norms of the era. There is a surplus of historical events that have reimagined the traditional expectations of a man or women.

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

The Puritans were a religious group who left the Church of England because they wanted to have more freedom with their religion. They thought the Church of England was “too Catholic”. They believed the Bible and its rules were the number one thing to go by and that all humans were evil and had to overcome their sin. Women had to cover their whole bodies in clothing. They couldn’t show their ankles or wrists. They also had to wear their hair up and out of their face at all times, except if they were in a room alone with only their husband. They always were on one side of the church away from the men or in the back on the church. These women in the society that will be talked about have broken laws and have been misjudged.

In 1637, gender roles in the Puritan colony were very limited for women. In the case of Anne Hutchinson, all odds seemed to be against her when she was put on trial. Trying to argue she had done nothing wrong, Hutchinson was found guilty. Despite the ministers claiming her religious beliefs were the main reason for her punishment, there seemed to be an underlying message directed towards Hutchinson. Living in a time and place where women were not in a position of power, had no political leadership, and no religious authority, Anne Hutchinson was banished from the Puritan colony due to challenging and threatening widely accepted gender norms.

The Reputation of the Puritans is one of a solemn, austere people. They woke at dawn and often worked till dusk, believing that idle hands led to sin. When members of the community strayed from the puritan lifestyle, the punishments were often severe. The case of Anne Hutchinson in many ways exemplifies this. She was a Puritan woman who lived in the Massachusetts’s Bay Colony and held weekly bible studies where she and the other women would discuss the minister’s

Anne Hutchinson, on trial for apparently nothing more than leading religious discussions at her house, is subjected to belittlement and unclear, if not unfounded, accusations in “The Examination of Mrs. Anne Hutchinson at the Court at Newton.” The trial, which took place in 1637, set a standard for the future treatment of women, and subsequently their speech and writing. Because of the way the prosecution pigeonholes Hutchinson into admitting her guilt, the reverends (and thus men) gain (or keep) power over women—the power to control their women and to interpret contrived meanings from their words.

With the exception of a few Catholic migrants to early Maryland, all English settlers in America were Protestants. But the contrast between Southern and Northern religious practices was marked. Since transferring a vigorous Anglican parish structure to the seventeenth-century Chesapeake proved impossible, religion in Maryland and Virginia remained more a matter of personal piety than a constant institutional presence. In New England, however, Puritan church and state were closely entwined: each supported the other, and determining which was the superior authority (especially in the early years) was often difficult. Thus, New England women had to reckon with two strong institutions—the Puritan church and the stable patriarchal family—that Chesapeake women did not. The effects of these religious differences have not been explored as fully as those resulting from demography, but the case of Anne Hutchinson suggests that Puritanism in its formative stages offered women opportunities for religious leadership obviously denied Chesapeake residents with no comparable institutions. Although Puritan theology reinforced secular patriarchal tendencies, it also emphasized the spiritual equality of all souls before God and the ability of all believers (male or female) to interpret the scriptures. Hutchinson took advantage of the ambiguities in Puritan teachings and, for a time,

Anne Hutchinson has long been seen as a strong religious dissenter who paved the way for religious freedom in the strictly Puritan environment of New England. Another interpretation of the controversy surrounding Anne Hutchinson asserts that she was simply a loving wife and mother whose charisma and personal ideas were misconstrued to be a radical religious movement. Since this alleged religious movement was led by a woman, it was quickly dealt with by the Puritan fathers as a real threat. Whatever her motives, she was clearly a great leader in the cause of religious toleration in America and the advancement of women in society. Although Anne Hutchinson is historically documented to have been banished as a religious dissenter, the real

All throughout history, women have been thought of to be “weaker” and “not as capable” as men have always been thought to be. Due to this, gender roles were

I defend the statement “Puritanism is a repressive and intolerant moral and religious code,” because the entirety of Puritan belief was based on the devolution of women and women’s rights, being more biased towards male power. Puritans believe in a dominant sex, and majorly favor male supremacy over women, and focus their entire economy on religion. This quote by Milton shows how intolerant and repressive they were to females back in the 1800’s… “God's universal law gave to man despotic power, Over his female in due awe (Milton).” They repressed women and their individualness so much that women had come to believe that this role was meant for them, to be born into a life much like slavery and forced to follow the rules made by the ignorant

Women have been battling for their rights since before the colonization of America. Whether they be the right to vote or simply the right to sit down, the issues the female gender has dealt with have rarely afflicted white men. Sexism is caused by social pressure and insecurities, harbored by both men and women; it can originate within the mind of any group of people and creates unnecessary tensions between sexes. The sexism integral to The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, manifests itself in the whole community and contributes to the completion of Hester’s harsh fate.

Woman and family roles are considerably different today than they were back in Puritan times. Puritans thought that the public’s foundation rested on the “little commonwealth”, and not merely on the individual. The “little commonwealth” meant that a father’s rule over his family mirrored God’s rule over creation or a king over his subjects. John Winthrop believed that a “true wife” thought of herself “in [weakness] to her husband’s authority.” As ludicrous as this idea may appeal to women and others in today’s society, this idea was truly necessary for colonies to be able to thrive and maintain social order.