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Gender roles in the scarlet letter
What roles do the women in the scarlet letter play
Feminism essay in the scarlet letter
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Recommended: Gender roles in the scarlet letter
Gloria Steinem, a prominent American feminist and political activist, once said, “A feminist is anyone who recognizes the equality and full humanity of women and men” (www.goodreads.com). Unlike what many people think, feminism is not about putting down men, but rather, is the belief that women should have equal rights and treatments as men. As a spokesperson for the feminist movement during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Steinem has spoken about the idea of equality of women for years. During the 1840s, when The Scarlet Letter was written, women were seen as inferior to men, but Nathaniel Hawthorne had a different view. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter uses a strong female character, Hester Prynne, as a social critique for the treatment …show more content…
Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Hester is constantly being tormented by her own feelings of guilt and the judgement of the rest of the community. Rather than crumbling when an obstacle moves into her path, she holds steady. While taking her first step out of her prison it is said, “But now with this unattented walk from her prison-door, she began the daily custom, and she must either sustain and carry it forward by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink beneath it” (54). In other words, Hester knows that she must have endurance to move forward because the path ahead is going to be a lonely and challenging one. Even though women were seen as emotional beings, Hawthorne makes the statement that women are capable of working through hard times. Another time Hester’s inner strength is apparent is when it is stated, “Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came in contact, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished, and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature by other organs and senses than the rest of human kind ” (58). This means that for several years, Hester has to endure public ridicule and social isolation. Overcoming this horrible treatment demonstrates Hester’s strength, which proves Hawthorne’s belief that women can be equally resilient to men when it comes to emotional strength. Finally, due to Hester’s endurance and helpfulness, her reputation
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s well known novel, The Scarlet Letter, extensive diction and intense imagery are used to portray the overall tone of the characters. In particular, Hester Prynne, the wearer of the Scarlet Letter, receives plentiful positive characterization throughout the novel. Hester’s character most notably develops through the town’s peoples ever-changing views on the scarlet letter, the copious mentions of her bravery, and her ability to take care of herself, Pearl, and others, even when she reaches the point where most would give up and wallow in their suffering.
Reading the Scarlet Letter reminds me of one of my own experience. When I was a fifth grade elementary student, two of my friends and I agreed to cheat on a geography test. On the day of the test, one of my friends was caught. The teacher found the cheat sheet where it showed the handwriting of the three of us. When he was asked who the other two is, he remained silent. The teacher said that he will be punished, standing in the corner of the classroom for one straight week, and it will be lighter if only he told our name. My friend still did not say a word, so he received the punishment. What he did was similar to what Hester Prynne does. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne is portrayed as a woman with remarkable strength of character through direct and indirect characterization.
Human nature thrives on labels and stereotypes; they are methods society uses to better comprehend others disposition and justify their behavior. However, when placed stereotypes can override individuality, and this can force one to conform to such labels, hide their true character, and change their persona. In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is a victim of such a stereotype. The Puritan society in which she lives confines and defines her based on her sin, and not by a totality of her actions and character. Nevertheless she emerges, reborn, as her own person once again. Hester Prynne's development through the use of archetypes, symbols, and Romanticism reinforce the theme of the effects of stereotypes and labels and their refutal in The Scarlet Letter.
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.
Hester Prynne, the heroine of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, exhibits considerable character growth both over the course of her life and during the events of the novel. Her view of herself and her perspective on the role of women in the world evolve as she learns from new experiences. She moves through the stages of self-centered happiness in her childhood, deep despair and depression as an adult, and a later more hopeful and selfless existence.
In Nathanial Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, the character Hester Prynne demonstrates the two characteristics of resilience and persistence. By being resilient and persistent, Hester has been able to get through many challenges in her life, such as: recovering from her time in prison and the scaffold, trying to escape the shame she has received, by being loyal to her family and lastly, Hester has kept up with her penance, unlike Arthur Dimmesdale. Hawthorne suggests that Hester has become a strong/strongminded woman from her sin and this sin allows her to be resilient and Persistent.
...and was outside of the country, everybody hated her. Even though she knows that everybody hates her, Hester never gives up to be forgiven by people. Hester Prynne did many great things for people. She decorated people’s clothes and donated her clothes to the poor. She made money and supported her daughter, Pearl. Hester Prynne could have financial difficulties, but she did everything by herself. Hester Prynne is a very courageous brave woman unlike other women in 1850’s. Because of Hester Prynne’s characteristic, the book became a great feminist novel. Not only Nathaniel Hawthrone did not just make up the story throughout the fiction, but he reflected the real society during his time to a novel which is The Scarlet Letter. Hester Prynne’s role, a strong brave feminist, in the story is one of the best elements that brought The Scarlet Letter to a great novel.
The characterization of Hester Prynne demonstrates a contrast to pure society, as writer and critic D.H. Lawrence suggests in his article, “On the Scarlet Letter.” There is a genuine disparity in the methods Lawrence uses to portray Prynne, and the methods used by The Scarlet Letter’s author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Because of his utilization of impactful syntax, religious allusion, and critical tone, D.H. Lawrence’s claim that Hester Prynne is a contradictory character to pure society is effectively justified when compared to the misleading seductive elements of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing.
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, there are two strong female Characters Pearl and her mother, Hester. Pearl and Hester are being punished for the crime/sin that Hester committed, she committed the sin of adultery with the reverend after her husband was perceived to be dead. Hester's punishment for the crime was to wear a scarlet A on her bosom for the rest of her life or until she revealed who she had committed adultery with. Pearls punishment is living with the fact that she is the product of sin and that none of the townspeople are willing to talk to her for the fear of evil. The townspeople constantly mock pearl by calling her a “demon child”. The children in the town goes as far as to throw rocks at her. Pearl, being friendless,
Despite Hester never fitting the description of what a Puritan actually stands for, she emerges and transforms into a respected young woman of society during her revolution. Even though Hester’s humanity degrades itself based on her imprudent actions that resisted Puritan society, the scarlet “A” transforms her rebellion. Hester creates her own symbol for herself rather than one that masks her all along. In writing the Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne highlights the importance of being a nonconformist. Evidently, through the character of Hester Prynne, self-awareness is key in order to achieve happiness. To repress defining characteristics of a human being is to ultimately destroy their individuality.
Hester Prynne committed a crime so severe that it changed her life into coils of torment and defeat. In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester is publicly recognized as an adulteress and expelled from society. Alongside the theme of isolation, the scarlet letter, or symbol of sin, is meant to shame Hester but instead transforms her from a woman of ordinary living into a stronger person.
The novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne was an objective description of the life of Hester Prynne, an adultress. The novel does not go into specific details of the thoughts of the woman except to describe the mien of her character. Throughout the novel she faces humiliation by the other people of Boston, but never loses her sense of pride. Hester Prynne suffers enormousely from the shame of her public disgrace and from the isolation of her punishment; however, she retains her self-respect and survives her punishment with dignity, grace, and ever-growing strength of character.
At the beginning of the Scarlet Letter Hester Prynne is labeled as the “bad guy”. The townspeople demand the other adulterer’s name, but Hester denies this revelation. She does not reveal it because she knows that the information will crumble the foundation of the Puritan religion and the town itself. “‘But, Hester, the man lives who has wronged us both! Who is he?’ ‘Ask me not!’ replied Hester Prynne, looking firmly into his face. ‘That thou shalt never know!’(Hawthorne 52). Hester knows that finding out that the father of the child, the Minister that is leading the town, will diminish credibility for the church and for Dimmesdale, the Minister. During her punishment, Hester decides to move out near the woods and make a living as a seamstress. Hester is regarded as an outcast from Boston, but she still gives back to the society that shuns her. ‘“Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge?’ they would say to strangers. ‘It is our Hester, —the town's own Hester, —who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comfortable to the afflicted!’”(Hawthorne 111). Her acts of kindness, helping the sick and comforting the afflicted, toward the society that makes her an outcast shows the inner goodness of a person. Throu...
With a strong female protagonist and two mentally weak males, it is hard to consider Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter anything but a feminist treatise. He obviously intended to put down not only Puritanism, which is an obvious aspect of the novel, but to establish a powerful, secure female in American literature. Hester proves, although she has sinned in the past, she can confront her mistakes, take care of herself and her child, and help others at the same time. She can withhold a position in society that many can respect because of her character something the males of the story obviously could not succeed at doing.
Throughout the course of history, the concept of women being subordinate to men has always existed. However, in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a woman named Hester Prynne tries to break prejudicial notions against women in a patriarchal society. In the story, Hester commits the crime of adultery and is sentenced by the government to wear a scarlet letter as it symbolizes ignominy. Since she lives in Puritan New England, the people do not value women a lot, her actions becomes a sight of public scrutiny. Yet, with her strength as a woman, she is able to not only survive the situation, but also reverse as she later becomes an important member of their community. In a feminist perspective of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter,