The Divine Power of Womanhood: Hawthorne’s Re-branding of Femininity Women in Puritan society, as in many other societies throughout time, were repressed. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter it is womanhood, not women themselves, that is being repressed within Puritan society. On the surface, this is because of its traditional religious association with sin. However, Hawthorne depicts femininity and womanhood as having divine power and influence, [as in, they] ? are a God-approved force leading people towards moral good. This is shown through his depiction of women deprived of womanhood as morally corrupt, the way in which Hester’s feminine qualities inspire forgiveness, and in Hester’s belief in the power of a woman to change Puritan society. Hawthorne does this in order to subvert those traditional religious ideas about femininity, instead suggesting that the reason womanhood is repressed lies in the fear the Puritans have of womanly power destroying their patriarchal society. Hawthorne depicts the unfeminine women in Puritan society as being morally corrupt, thus proving that feminine influence is necessary for morality. In Puritan society, femininity and womanhood are repressed, as they are considered sinful. Hawthorne emphasizes this by showing how Puritans blame womanhood for Hester’s sin: “she would become the general symbol at which the preacher or moralist might point, and in which they might vivify and embody their image’s of women’s frailty and sinful
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.
Hawthorne did not view women as unimportant or threatening to his works, but as men’s vital, emotional, intellectual, and sacred partners. As many famous biographers have established, women have often played crucial roles in Hawthorne’s novels and short stories. For example, female roles in his fiction were based on relationships who affected his professional life, including Elizabeth Peabody and Margaret Fuller. Throughout his short stories and romances, Hawthorne describes myriad characteristics of female roles. His impeccable design of having women depicted as principle roles instead of supporting or victim characters contributes to
Nathaniel Hawthorne, in his bold novel, The Scarlet Letter tackles a variety of themes that include: sin, guilt, redemption, postfeminism, and organized religion's abuse of power. Hawthorne spoke in a somber and grim tone, designed to arouse a sense of suspense for his readers. The audience in which he was addressing would have been conservative Christians and women suffragettes, all of whom reflected the ideologies during this time period. By instilling clever diction, Hawthorne exposes hypocrisy in Puritanism and objects against the religion's superfluous punishments; which force individuals to endure unnecessary and extreme suffering.
As America began its journey establishing a large nation-state, the colonies within it were harboring ideals that would be seen as unwielding and downright crazy in present day society. The Puritan society was one that practiced religion in extreme measures, where they viewed the smallest action against “God’s wishes” to be punishable by exile or death. The Puritan society was one of extreme rigidity and structure, as it stifled individualism and expression in order to keep their religious beliefs “pure” and “unchanging”. Nathaniel Hawthorne examined the Puritan beliefs in his novel The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, Hawthorne displays the innate nature of Hester Prynne and glorifies her beauty as a symbol of strong individual conscience and morality. He exhibits the misguided morality that lies within society and how it can forcefully alter the personalities of people living there, unless they hold true to their true morals.
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
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.
Because of the nature of the Puritan culture outside of the novel, Hawthorne chooses an aspect of Puritan extremism that does not necessarily typify itself with every Puritan; that aspect would be mindless following. Throughout the work, Hawthorne effectively paints the “picture” that is the Puritan mindlessness. There are two ways that Hawthorne depicts this – the first focusing on the Puritans’ response to sin and the second focusing on the view of their leaders. Illustrating the first example, if someone commits adultery, they are either to be branded or killed; the latter happening much more frequently than the former. In a much broader sense, the Puritans are not in the least bit forgiving, and this can be seen with how the community treats Hester throughout the entire story; even though she was not killed or branded, they still constantly abuse her emotionally and mentally whenever they see the Scarlet Letter on her clothes. Shifting focus from the Puritans’ response to sin to the way that they view their religious leaders, Hawthorne illustrates this aspect of the Puritan community by using ambiguity and constant implications whenever the community is mentioned. An example of this is seen in how the community treats Arthur Dimmesdale. The community is seen idolizing Dimmesdale at points, even when he is clearly in the wrong; the community even took
Written in 1850, The Scarlet Letter stood as a very progressive book. With new ideas about women, main characters’ stories intertwined, and many different themes, The Scarlet Letter remains today as a extremely popular novel about 17th century Boston, Massachusetts. Not only was the 19th century a time for the abolition of slavery movement but it was also the beginning of the first wave of feminism. Women such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Susan B. Anthony, and Lucretia Mott catalyzed the women’s rights movement. These prominent women believed that a woman’s role was no longer in the house and that women should be afforded the same opportunity as men. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s sympathy for women is evident in a feminist reading of his novel
Society has always treated women as second class citizens. Nathaniel Hawthorne, in the Scarlet Letter, shows vividly that women are looked down upon, even for the littlest things. The women are treated with a double standard. For instance, the Puritan Society is ready to call out a woman as soon as she steps out of line. Through the harassment that Hester faces, Hawthorne shows the negative personalities of the Puritans.
Hawthorne also sympathizes with bold women characters who instead of suffering silently, work toward their own emancipation. In this, he reaches beyond the inhibitions of his age in envisioning a better future for them and stands out as a champion for the rights of women. Nina Baym agrees with that idea and says, “the presence of women characters in Hawthorne’s fiction is too pervasive, their role too striking, to be overlooked […] and Hawthorne’s women such as Hester Prynne, Zenobia, Miriam, Hepzibah, Phoebe and others are all exotically beautiful, endowed with oriental characteristics, yet are strong enough to challenge the patriarchal society in which they live” (3). Besides that, Mellow further argues that Hawthorne also presents a number of women characters who are victims of men and destroyed by male power. Through these various characters and their experiences, he explores the gender relations in his day. He also raises questions about the role of domesticity in shaping women characters and the role of emotion as well as reason in human experience (13). As reflected in some of his works, Hawthorne presents women as central figures and through them explores the legacy of the past and the ways in which women are shaped by their individual and community history. Sympathetic to most of the women
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.
Throughout history there has been a strong hold on women to adhere to the culture of domesticity. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, this value system was engrained in the class system in the United States. According to Barbara Welter in her article The Cult of True Womanhood: 1820-1860 this system of values defined a woman’s role in regards to the virtues of her actions within the family system. A woman was to be submissive, pure, and pious. She also had to fulfill her domestic duties to the family and community. The women of a community were the connections to faith and family. They had to uphold the standards of their religion and be steadfast in their faith. Having a pious presence in her family and community also built up a woman’s self-worth as she was an active member with the church. Her Christianity offered her praise and respect from her fellow citizens and her family. This social order is presented in Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter written in 1850. Hester Prynne, the heroine of the novel could possibly be viewed as one of the very first feminist in literature. She defies the power of the Puritan society and from her rebellious actions; the reader can see an emerging feminist consciousness within Hester, which is then passed along to her daughter Pearl.
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne repeatedly portrays the Puritanical views of sin and evil. The Puritans are constantly displayed as believing that evil comes from an unyielding bond being formed between love and hate. For such reasons they looked towards Hester's commitment of adultery as an action of pure, condemned evil. However, through the use of light and dark imagery, Hawthorne displays who truly holds evil in their hearts. The one who is the embodiment of evil creates hypocrisy of Puritanical views towards sin and evil. Hawthorne displays that those who expose sin to the public and the daylight are the most pure and those who conceal their sin under a
Critics generally agree Hawthorne uses the effects of the scarlet letter to reveal the atrocities of the patriarchy and masculine hegemony. The patriarchal forces women to carry the burden of an action despite the entity of the original sinners. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne takes the responsibilities and consequences of adultery, even though Dimmesdale should have equal, if not more, punishment. When Hester stands in front of a jury and endures the tremendous hatred from the individuals within the audience who believe Hester “has brought shame” to society, she declares,“Ye cannot take it off, and would that I might endure his agony, as well as mine!” (Hawthorne 39, 49). Hawthorne reveals how society isolates and condemns women for the actions and results of men. If the women do not hold the accountability of all sin, they experience ignominy from society; if they do hold accountability of all sin, they still experience ignominy. The patriarchy enforces the idea that women should hold all responsibilities for all of men’s actions. Advancing Hawthorne's argument, critic Jane Swisshelm reveals the treatment of women as they endure ignominy: “[Hester] was the moral leper whom none might dare to touch - the blazing emblem of the virtuous indignation of an entire community” (Swisshelm 273). So long women exist, the consequences of the world’s
The antebellum reformation era was the time wherein women were actively seeking to improve their rights in a male dominated society, which is an unprecedented move towards greater gender equality. Moreover, the societal norms during that period states that women should only take care of their children, obey their husbands or in other words, be a good wife. At the same time, the very first step to greater gender equality was made during the Second Great Awakening wherein pastors had allowed the women to preach in the church. Consequently, this step stirred a lot of confusions and arguments between the men in power during that period, since women were not expected to speak for themselves, much more for other people. In addition, a prominent author, Nathaniel Hawthorne insinuated a further promotion of improving gender equality in a male dominated society with The Scarlet Letter. In the novel, Hawthorne not only made the protagonist a female, but he had also inscribed the various experiences of women during the 1800s' male dominated society under the façade of the 1600s' Puritan community, which is the time period of the novel, in its plot. Since the protagonist is an adulteress, the novel mainly goes through the humiliation and submission of women to society's conformity.