The Gender Of The Scarlet Letter

     The Scarlet Letter can easily be seen as an early feminist piece of work. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a strong female character living with her choices, whether they were good or bad, and also as the protagonist. He also presents the daughter of Hester, Pearl, as an intelligent female, especially for her age. He goes on to prove man as imperfect through both the characters of Dimmesdale and of Chillingworth. With the situation that all the characters face, Hawthorne establishes the female as the triumphant one, accomplishing something that, during Nathaniel Hawthorne’s time, authors did not attempt.

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

The characters in the Scarlet Letter are judged greatly through how and who they are able and unable to forgive. Such as the main female lead, Hester Prynne, and her struggle for the town to forgive her, finding the will to forgive herself and having God forgive her. Although, this was hard because every day she had to live with the scarlet letter upon her chest as a reminder of her sin. Another character that had one of the roughest times in the novel was Arthur Dimmesdale. This man kept a sin hidden for most of the novel and let it eat him away. The person that Dimmesdale needed to forgivehim the most was Pearl. He spent most of the novel trying to earn her beloved trust. Pearl would ask him favors to go into town with her but it

In a novel that revolves almost solely around sin, the consequences of said sin, and redemption, there is no greater sin than that of revenge. No character in The Scarlet Letter is free of sin, but all gain some sort of redemption, save one Roger Chillingworth, who is arguably the greatest sinner of them all. Hester Prynne may have committed adultery, and Arthur Dimmesdale may have also committed adultery with Hester (as a priest, no less), but sins of passion are not the same as sins of vengeance and anger. These sins of revenge and madness are what Chillingworth is guilty of, ultimately making him the worst sinner in the entire book.

When they came over to America their wish was to have access to more freedom, especially freedom of religion. However, this was not the case, the end result wasn’t freedom for all Puritans, especially for women. Hawthorne characterizes Hester as someone who chooses to be silent and to effect change by her consistent goodness in the Puritan community instead of through her words. Originally, the scarlet letter was a badge of his dishonor for Hester, but, because she has the bravery to stay in Boston and live with that shame, the tables eventually turn. She breaks her isolation by campaigning with the love she has found in herself, giving back to the people even though they have hurt her. Today we are a country divided with many people using angry words that are supposed to result in peace, but it often ends up in violence; Hester chose silence and charity over argument and anger to persuade others to look at things differently. Currently, women are still victimized and are seen as weaker than men because of stereotypes that arose in these earlier times. However, women in the 21st century are building on the hard work of strong women throughout history and exercising their rights. Recently, there have been many accusations of sexual harassment by men against women in the media. It has taken many years for women to speak out, and still not all are able. We,

To begin, the scarlet letter had lost its meaning over the course of time. “Then, also, the blameless purity of her life during all these years in which she had been set apart to infamy was reckoned largely in her favor.” (Chapter XIII) The author’s purpose is to call attention to the Puritan’s weak shaming system. For example, if the person being subjected to the humiliation does not draw attention to them self, the villagers will lose interest in the crime; this allows the villagers a healing time. In Hester’s case the people were able to see her in a new light. “Such helpfulness was found in her-so much power to do and power to sympathize-that many people refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original signification. They said that it meant “Able”; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s

In 17th century Puritan societies, gender roles were very prevalent. Nathaniel Hawthorne shows how they affect the way Hester is perceived by society after committing adultery. Hester Prynne breaks through the gender norms of her community and achieves victory as an independent woman in a male-dominated world. Although she is frowned upon because of her sin, Hester carries herself with pride and turns her punishment into a small victory. She flaunts her “elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread”(50) on her “letter A”(50).

Hester Prynne: The “Worst” Puritan of Them All How different would our lives be if we had to wear a scarlet letter upon ourselves to set us apart from everyone else according to our particular sins? Hester Prynne, the static main protagonist in The Scarlet Letter and an outcast in the most literal sense, lives an extremely independent life, an unwanted pariah of society. The very man who helps put her in the position she has been placed in could not even be there for her; the only possession she has is her only babe. The town defines her as impure, which is a sad thing living in a Puritan community.

From the time before Christ, to the Swinging Sixties, scandal has taken hold of our society. Throughout the ages, the way in which the world handles cases of adultery and the role of women in different cultures have been altered. Women were thought to be goddesses, slaves of marriage, baby bearers, housewives, and sex symbols. Infidelity meant death, evil, embarrassment, branding, secrecy, and divorce. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, an intelligent woman gives birth to a child out of wedlock and is publicly shamed whilst the adulterator himself is kept a secret for a large span in the story. On the contrary, Edith Wharton explores the hushed scandals taking place in old New York society throughout

This shows inequality because the person she had an affair with didn’t have to face any consequences. Hester had to be shamed even though she had a baby in her hand at that moment. The Scarlet letter ‘A’ is a symbol or metaphor of how women are labelled and more often judged than men. The symbol was designed to be a symbol of shame; the fact that the label is bold and detailed, it suggest that society sees the mistakes of women and immediately condemns or point a finger at them without looking into every detail. furthermore, in this book we get to see how hester is stared at as she walks along the road, and how she seems to be a continuous gossip among the puritan women. In addition, she would be stopped on the road by preachers who would begin to give her lectures. She was known to have a skill in needlework but no one would ever call her to make a bridal gown, she was treated so poorly all because of one bad

In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the idea of women and femininity in Puritan society. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne alludes to his radical belief of women’s equality. He shows his beliefs through beautiful women such as Hester: women who are described as being beautiful and kind are progressive and forward thinking, whereas women with unflattering features and cruel are backwards thinking and demonstrate hypocrisy in their actions. Hawthorne demonstrates his beliefs by highlighting the dichotomy between Hester and the wives in the town square: The wives are first introduced with unattractive features and their actions exemplifies the hypocrisy of Puritan virtues; meanwhile Hester is portrayed as a beautiful woman with radical

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

In the stories of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, the antagonist characters display parallel story lines through their searches for the enemy. Roger Chillingworth, the former husband of Hester Prynne and the antagonist of The Scarlet Letter, works against his wife in order to find her untold second lover. Frankenstein is a contrasting story in which an unnamed monster is the antagonist towards his human creator, Dr. Frankenstein. Yet despite quite different story lines, the two characters possess traits that exibit parallels between them. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Roger Chillingworth displays the startling passionate characteristics of an unwavering drive to seek out his foe, madness as his focus on his search takes over his entire being, and terrible anguish when his task is unexpectedly over, all of which are reflected in the daemon created at the hand of Dr. Victor Frankenstein in Mary Shelley 's novel Frankenstein.

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a story that involves Hester Prynne, a young mother, and the many tribulations she faces while living as a walking symbol of adultery. The various struggles Hester encounters throughout the novel allow her to retaliate with a defiant and courageous spirit, emerging her as the new icon of the female image. Hester’s rebellious demeanor eluded the preceding status quo and represented everything a woman in this era shouldn’t be. She refused to have her essence be subjugated by the restraints of Puritanism. Although alienated and neglected by her community, Hester remained resilient. Her strong will and self-reliance are what emanate her as a proponent of feminism and individuality. Hester displays feminist

Nathaniel Hawthorne highlights the habitual societal conflict of surfacing gender equality ideology throughout The Scarlet Letter. The typical female role in society during the mid-seventeenth century was to be a caretaker. Hester Prynne’s sentence for breaking this stereotype through adultery is to wear a large, red letter A on her chest. Hawthorne uses Hester’s character to add characteristics of early feminism. For example, Hester not only takes on the so called male and female role put in place by society at some point throughout the story, but she also challenges societal views of women. To fully understand the situation women were going through, you must be familiar with the historical context. The story takes place in a Puritan