“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it” (Maya Angelo). This is part of the theme in the audio novel, The Scarlet Letter, which is based on a fiction in a historical setting. The author Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about feminism dealing with a strong women name Hester Prynne during the puritan’s time that overcomes and defeats her shame of sin.
To start off, the word feminist referred to as a woman who is fighting for their rights. It is the undertaking supporting the rights of women. Feminist is when a woman put in determination to improve herself. At times, men can bring women’s
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Hester had no choice but to wear the letter A on her chest and she was the most target of tattle among townspeople, however she kept on pushing ahead and was strong-minded and strong-willed. In addition to her discipline and punishment of submitting adultery, Hester first needed to remain on a framework, and afterward wear the letter for whatever is left of her life. Unlike Hester, other women would have been scared and cry their teary eyes out, or they may would have asked for compassion when they were given such cruel discipline; in any case, Hester challenged her destiny boldly. She remained on the platform and persevered through the shame for a long time and did not ask or argue. She kept her pride while defending her significant other, yet her courageousness did not stop her. Hester did not ponder to help other people anyhow when she was wearing the letter since she realized that it was her obligation to individuals who were more hopeless than she was. Going out in open places with the letter A must has been a very dishonor and disgrace, but Hester persevered through those sentiments and tackled the townspeople with fearlessness. That is why Hester is a feminist all around and I say this because she did not give up; instead, she defeated her
There are situations during the first part of the Scarlet Letter where Hester responds to the community’s power differently. As Hester stood on the scaffold, babe in hand, community officials demanded she “Speak out the name!” (Ch. 3; Pg. 47). Though pressed with legitimate power, Hester refuses and withdraws from answering who the father of the sin-born baby is. The reader already begins to notice the strong spirit of Hester. The characterization of Hester continues to develop throughout this section when she “ … did not flee.” The adulterer’s inner strength to not withdraw is astonishing. Why not leave the people who just judged you and imprisoned you? Hester and Pearl lived “On the outskirts of the town … but not in close vicinity to any other habitation” (Ch. 4; Pg. 55). The mother decided to stay, but still withdrew from the community. Hester begins to do service for the poor as well as make clothing for a community that harshly judged her. She begins to embrace her position in this power imbalance by doing good deeds, and the narrator suggests that “None so ready as she to give of her little substance to every demand of poverty” (Ch. 13; Pg. 110). The view of Hester by the community changes towards the end of the book. Her “A” was now viewed to mean “able.” No longer did it mean it regular interpretation. Hester at first was on the negative spectrum of responses to power, but we see her embrace her position in the community in the third part of the
The letter "A," worn on Hester's bodice, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This letter is meant to be worn in shame, and to make Hester feel unwanted. "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment . . ." Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She committed this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it because, though she is ashamed, she also received her greatest treasure, Pearl, out of it. She is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well, against what she must face. Many would have fled Boston, and sought a place where no one knew of her great sin. Hester chose to stay though, which showed a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with enough nerve to hold up against a town which despised her very existence, and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a "devil child” is a very tough woman.
As Hester wears the scarlet letter, the reader can feel how much of an outcast Hester becomes. When walking through town, “…she never raised her head to receive their greeting. If they were resolute to accost her, she laid her finger on the scarlet letter and passed on” (Hawthorne, 127).She believes that she is not worthy of the towns acknowledgments and chooses to ignore them. The guilt that now rests in Hester is overwhelming to her and is a reason of her change in personality.
The meaning of the word feminist in the dictionary is the people who advocates or supports the rights and equalities of women. Hester Prynne is a very strong and honest feminist, because she did not follow the traditional role of women in the eighteenth century.
In 1950, Margaret Sanger wrote the research, which was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 1960, to create the first human birth control pill in history. Through the creation of this contraceptive, “the belief in the right of woman to control her own fertility” was taken into account, removing women from the totalitarian rule of men (People & Events: The Pill and the Women’s Liberation Movement). The idea of women to be able to control when she did or did not want to have children was not a belief expressed in the Puritan society. In Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter, he explores the barriers faced by Hester Prynne both internally and externally due to the shame of the consequences of adultery. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne utilizes symbolism to depict his theme of female independence in a male dominated society to encourage the importance of female sexuality.
“Feminism”, as defined today, is “1: the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes,” and “2: organized activity on behalf of women’s rights and interests.”2 Many critics claim that feminism has been active longer than the word itself has existed.3 The word, “feminist” was not in true use until the late 1800s and early 1900s, but activism for women’s rights was alive and well a...
Feminism is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. In simple terms, it is the ideology of women being equal to men and it is often misinterpreted as the belief of women being above them. Feminists believe in diminishing patriarchy which is a system of society and or government in which men are considered more powerful than women. When people are against feminism they are supporting sexism which is why it is important to educate ourselves on the matter and to understand why we need it.
The letter is an illustration of her journey and challenges as the woman who broke social standards and expectations. Instead having the reputation as the “woman with the scarlet letter” the community describes her with “no selfish need, nor lived in any measure for her own profit and enjoyment, people brought all their sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel… Hester comforted and counseled them, as best she might”(pg.64). He once shameful badge of guilt and torture now reveals the ultimate meaningless of puritans community’s system of judgment and punishment. Her goodness and caring nature changes the town people’s attitude towards her and the letter, as now the story of the Scarlet letter is a “legend.” As to those who don’t know her, such as the Native Americans, they see the letter as if, “ the wearer of brilliantly embroidered badge must needs to be a personage of high dignity among her people”(pg.58). Even though, the vision of the A is seen as a new image in the eyes of her peers, to her, it still is a symbol of her past decisions. It is and will always be apart of self-identity and body, for when she comes back to town after many years of shame-free and independence, she puts the letter back
Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ‘The Scarlet Letter’ was considered by many as the controversial novel of its time, given its themes of pride, sin and vengeance. It was also set in a time when very few were thinking about the equality of of men and women, but Hawthorne managed to bring gender-based inequality to light through the novel’s male-dominated Puritan setting and by reversing the gender roles of characters, such as Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale.
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 The Scarlet Letter.
Feminism, in its simplest definition, is the belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. (Webster) Feminists fight for equality for women to men socially, politically, and economically. At the peak of feminist discourse is equality for men and women in education and in employment. However, feminism also focuses on more than issues regarding the rights of women in relation to men. Issues of gender equality and women’s right to control their sexuality are also at the core of feminist theory. A key argument made by many feminists is how women have very little control over their sexuality, mainly being defined and controlled by men. T...
Now, Hester may have been successful in her lack of common sense, but she wore the letter “A” proudly, as is shown in the following quotation from the novel: “... The point which drew all eyes and, as it were, transfigured the wearer-so that both men and women, who had been familiarly aquainted with Hester Prynne, were now impressed as if they beheld her for the first time--was the Scarlet Letter, so fantastically embroidered and illuminated upon her bosom. It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a sphere by herself (61).” I believe that although it caused her much pain and suffering it could also be a token of her love for Dimmesdale. She wears the letter as a consequence from loving Dimmesdale. She might have made the letter so lovely as to vibrate positive feelings from it, however, which may or may not have been a good thing.
...ore, she repeatedly refuses to stop wearing the letter even after earning the respect of the Puritan society and finding her freedom again. Another reason that Hester chose to wear the scarlet letter for the rest of her life is that it is the remembrance of her life in America, a place previously known in her heart as the land of freedom and happiness but then turning out to be a hell of sufferance, restriction and conservation, which prevented her from achieving happiness. In fact the scarlet letter is an important mark on every little event in Hester's life on the transformation and evolution from a weak, poor, helpless young girl into a strong, mature, rich, courage and helpful woman in society. Without it, a reminder of sin and a motive of development, Hester might never find herself and achieve a desirable and outstanding position for a woman in her lifetime.
In the beginning of the story, Hester is being punished for adultery, and is forced to wear the letter A on her bosom. It is shown so that people will know her as an adulteress. The letter A also gives Hester some supernatural abilities. When some women look at the letter A on Hester’s chest, they make a face and look at her with disgust. Other women look at Hester and they seem to share something; “But sometimes...she felt a human eye--upon the ignominious brand, that seemed to give a momentary relief, as if half her agony were shared” (79). Hester knows that she is not the only one who committed adultery, and having the letter with her all the time seems to give her an intuitive power about it. As time goes on, people seem to forget that Hester had committed a sin and see her as a lovely and respectable person.
Even though Hester faced a lot of adversities in the story, she is able to gain advantages as well when she gains power through the scarlet letter. Aside from power, she is also able to utilize the symbol to exercise her freedom against the laws of a patriarchal society. Furthermore, she is also able to control the badge’s meaning as well because through her charity work for the town, she was able to reverse the interpretation of the public to the scarlet symbol. However, this is not the only source of Hester’s power because apart from the scarlet letter, her knowledge about the concept of silence plays an important for this as well. When she remains reserve despite the constant and intimidating interrogations that she receives on the scaffold, she is able to control the townspeople’s curiosity. Other than control, the scene in the scaffold is also able to prove how determined Hester is especially when she stood up for her decision to keep the father’s name a secret. Moreover, the scene also displays her strength as a woman, which was deemed to be uncommon considering the stereotypes present during the Puritan era. Indeed, despite the existence of prejudice against women in the patriarchal Puritan community, Hester Prynne shows how women can destroy the gender discrimination and make the society