1) Chapter 13 is a re-evaluation of Hester not just for the narrator, who is giving us the most detailed examination of her we've seen since the confrontation in the Governor's house, but for the community and for us. What has changed about her and why is that important to her character and to the story? Hester is changing in many different ways. Hester is dull and sad looking compared to what she used to be like. She is very worried for everyone except herself. She is very active in Salem. She goes out into the community and helps sick people, brings food to poor, and gives people support when needed. The A is no longer adulterer, but now it symbolizes “able” for many people she has helped. She is afraid that she is causing Dimmesdale so much pain, so she sets on a quest to make him better. 2) The narrator in chapter 13 spends quite a bit of space on a discussion of the role of women in society. What do you think of his statements and his criticisms of his own culture and earlier ones? What might Hawthorne (or at least his narrator) think of our own society? How much change would he perceive? Discuss. …show more content…
They were supposed to follow the strict rules of the bible and be graceful and controlled. Hawthorne disagrees with this, and uses Hester to show that the society at that time was crazy. Hester makes a living for herself and her daughter through her skills as a seamstress, she is technically single, she gives back immensely to the community, and she is thriving the way she is. She is proving she doesn’t need a man in her life to live. Hawthorne would be pleased at how our society is. Women are mostly equal (not salary) to men these days and can live on their own without a man. Women are far more independent now then in Hawthorne’s time. Women were not allowed to have real jobs back then, and didn’t have the right to vote for 60 more years! Now there is a woman running for
He was to preach the Election Sermon and he could not have chanced upon a
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
Throughout each chapter Hester Prynne is set in a position that will test the perspective she has on what is right and wrong. The second chapter, “Market Place”, is the first trial of many that show how Hester balances her values to make the “right” decision. The chapter starts with Hester being taken onto a platform surrounded by townspeople, to them Hester is a “ naughty baggage” (45), none of them believe justice was done to hester they think she “will .. care [little
By making clothing for the townspeople, Hester feels a small connection to the citizens, but will never achieve her previous social status before committing adultery. Hester's mind is going crazy with thoughts of guilt and how she ended up in this predicament, and the burning sensation that the "A" has left on her body and
The plight of each female character begins in the historical settings of each novel, in regards to The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne depicts a society controlled by “magistrates [who] are God- fearing gentlemen,”(Hawthorne,44) and continues with 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.
When first introducing Hester, the narrator focuses on Hester’s England beauty. While describing how the newer generations in the New World had become more soft and fragile looking, the narrator contrast them to Hester who had Elizabeth beauty. The narrator seems to favor Hester more than the onlooking Puritans. The narrator then dives into how strong and courageous Hester is by taking her punishment and holding her head while doing so. Carried from chapter one, the theme of sin carries into chapter two.
Towards the end of the novel, Hester gets the break in life she’s been waiting for. She put up with seven years of shame and guilt, to finally be the person she used to be. Her rekindled love with Arthur makes her happy again, and everything just seems right for them. She’s filled with hope that her life will finally turn back to normal again. She feels redeemed, and the guilt is no longer on her shoulders. She’s now ready to take on the world, and start her life over to the way it was before the “A” entered her life. Having the courage to show her face in the colony again is just a sign of her bravery.
Hawthorne writes to his time of the reality of gender roles being prominent in a household. Many of his characters in various stories and novels show some form of these roles. In the House of the Seven Gables, Hawthorne represents the stereotypical roles of gender in a 19th century society. Hepzibah’s lonely and gloomy personality put her into the role of a woman who mostly follows the rules of a woman during this time, but is willing to challenge those societal ideals if she needs to find a way to comfortably live. Phoebe is a young woman who has a positive and vibrant attitude who’s positive energy can help negative situations, but she doesn’t push for any change within the house.
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
While the late seventeenth century America remained a land of vast wilderness, many well-established colonial communities provided their inhabitants with stable lives. Organized around distinctive core values, either religion or wealth, those frontier communities appeared to be very different from traditional European communities; but in fact, they continued many ideals of the other continent, including an unequal gender relationship. Believing in the righteousness and benefits of women’s obedience, men ignored women’s feelings and took control. In their novels, A Mercy and The Scarlet Letter, Morrison and Hawthorne depict gender inequality in the early colonial America, though Hawthorne holds a more optimistic attitude than Morrison on the outlook of gender roles.
Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is one of the great American short story writers and novelists of the 19th century. He has utilized many themes in his writings, one example of his themes is the portrait of female and this is considered as revolutionary for his era. Patricia says Hawthorne has created a wide range of female characters such as strong, independent-minded, self-confident and others types are docile, fragile, and submissive. In addition, Charles Swann posited that some characteristics of Hawthorne’s women are “strong and weak, charming and rueful, vivid and quiet” (2), but there is one thing that unities them all – they throw a calling to the society around them…and they are shown as rebels with
Hawthorne’s View On Women American women have struggled to reach equality since the first settlement in 1607. In other countries, women’s rights movements have been started, yet most still have not reached equality. American women began organizing women’s rights movements starting in the late 1840’s and continuing until the 1920’s. Throughout eternity, women have been viewed as objects rather than a human beings.
Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the greatest American authors of the nineteenth century. He published his first novel Fanshawe, in 1828. However, he is widely known for his novels The Scarlet Letter and The House of Seven Gables. His novel, The Scarlet Letter, can be analyzed from historical, psychological and feminist critical perspectives by examining his life from the past, as well as his reflections while writing The Scarlet Letter. In order to understand the book properly, it’s necessary to use these three perspectives.
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.