Nurse Ratched As Depicted In Nathaniel Hawthorne's 'The Scarlet Letter'

Nurse Ratched and Hester are characterized by the views of others and their relationships with them. Much of who the Big Nurse depends on Chief Bromden’s narration and the opinions expressed by the other patients. Randall McMurphy, the rebellious new admission patient, argues right away that Ratched is something other than what other patients had previously thought. He claims that she falls into the category of “people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, [and] to live like they want you to” (60). According to McMurphy, she exercises her power by abusing and manipulating the fragile male patients. This is possible because she avoids exposure to the world outside of the hospital, which is a patriarchy, and thus is able to make her own rules.

Nurse Ratched pushes for absolute power in the ward, something exceeding the demand for equality.

She is not a feminist because the patients view her as a cruel tyrant rather than an equal. Similarly, Hester is mistaken for an elite in her community. In a public gathering, Indians assume “that the wearer of this brilliantly embroidered badge must needs be a personage of high dignity among her people” (368). For the Indians to think this means that she actually is of nobility, and Hawthorne includes this account in his novel to portray this to the reader. The scarlet letter comes to mean much more than a punishment as it becomes part of Hester’s character when she defies cultural gender injustice. By the end of the novel, it reveals that she is someone greater than just an outsider. Although not admitted by the people of the Puritan culture, they view her as an honorable and admirable woman above the others, just as the Indians do. Because others see Hester and Ratched as greater than equals and their struggles as a fight for power rather than equality categorizes them as not

feminists.
The authors’ descriptions, opinions, and characterizations of Hester and Nurse Ratched also reveal that they are not feminists. The Big Nurse cannot stand anything but perfection and order. Even her face is “smooth, calculated, and precision-made, like an expensive baby doll” and “you can see how bitter she is about” her breasts not being perfect (30). Ratched somehow associates her feeling of perfection with her ability to rule. Such an absurd thought reveals her obsession with power, and how easily it is understood by Bromden and the other patients. This depiction of her thoughts shows that she is not a feminist because she craves to be the ultimate authority figure. Furthermore, Hawthorne continues to convey Hester’s prestige through interpretations of the scarlet letter. He illustrates the scarlet letter “with fantastic flourishes of gold thread” (40). She accepts the clergy’s punishment for adultery by wearing the scarlet letter, but defies their view of her by adding a creative touch. Rather than accepting the punishment as any other would, she finds a way to outsmart and humiliate her punishers, placing herself in a status above them. Hawthorne’s characterization of Hester and the symbolic gold embroidery emphasize Hester’s nobility. Ratched and Hester succeed in their attempts to become elites in their communities, which excludes them as feminists.
Lastly, Hester and Nurse Ratched are not feminists because of their views on themselves in relation to the treatment of others. The Big Nurse doesn’t demands that things go her way, so she repeatedly denies McMurphy’s requests to change regulations in the ward. He gets very angry, to the point that his “face and neck are red” (107). Ratched doesn’t care for others’ opinions or feelings at all, even though she claims that the ward is a democracy. Her prohibition of any change or defiance illustrate her obsession with power. This is accentuated in how she treats other people, and reveals that she is not a feminist because she doesn’t perceive the other patients as equals. Additionally, Hester’s scarlet letter influences her thinking and the perspective of herself. “It had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclosing her in a space by herself” (51). The scarlet letter becomes a part of her identity, and is the cause for her exclusion from the Puritan community. As she lives on her own, she is able to develop characteristics that make her noble. Because of her time alone and the spell effect of the scarlet letter, she sees herself in a distinguished status. Hester’s and Ratched’s self-image contribute to the argument that they are not feminists because they seek to become of higher status than others.
In One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and The Scarlet Letter, Nurse Ratched and Hester Prynne have to move beyond feminism in order to withdraw from the oppressive patriarchal culture. In their struggle, it is revealed that they are not feminists because other characters, the authors, and themselves perceive their intentions as a campaign for rank above equality. It is often hard to advocate for the advancement of females through feminism. The way civilizations have always been set up makes it hard for women to achieve equal status. Instead, people move beyond feminism to promote women because the advocacy for feminism will always include an argumentation against it based on the premise of it being an acquisition for authority.