Feminism is the philosophy advocating equal political, economic, and social rights for women. The idea of feminism was not at all prevalent during the 1850s when Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter was published. In spite of this, Hawthorne wrote one of the most influential feminist novels of his time: The Scarlet Letter. This novel was hailed as an important feminist novel because of the main character: Hester Prynne. Hester Prynne is the very embodiment of feminism because of her refusal to adhere to the societal norms, her independence in thought, and how the view of the society around her changes through the novel. One of the main reasons why Hester Prynne is an important and progressive feminist character in The Scarlet Letter is her refusal to follow societal norms or to be put down by her peers. A primary example of her refusal to be put down by her peers is when Hester brandishes her …show more content…
Even though she is supposed to be humiliated in front of the town as punishment for her adultery, she smiles proudly and wears her scarlet letter as a badge. In this instance, Hester refuses to accept her punishment thereby nullifying the punishment. If Hester were to be embarrassed on the scaffold, she would give her punishment the power to be a punishment. However, when Hester instead smiles on the scaffold, she shows that she won’t let her sin control her, no matter what the other townspeople think of her. Another example of how Hester denies her punishment is how she designed the scarlet letter. Hawthorne describes the letter: “in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. It was so artistically done, and with so much
Hester's divine beauty outshines others corrupt beliefs of her. While Hester walks stumbles out the prison doors and onto the dreaded scaffold, Hawthorne describes Hester as "the young woman [who] was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance, on a large scale" (40). Hester Prynne is being publicly shamed for the act of adultery she committed along with the minister who condemns her. She is forced to stand on the scaffold and beat the sorrow of he sins with the scarlet letter "A" on her bosom to represent her shameful acts. This mark of embarrassment serves a purpose to make her appear unrighteous, but the author chooses to focus on her beauty, which outshines this emblem.
Many tend to focus on either the consequences of sins, or the causes of them. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist Hester Prynne is widely considered as the most controversial character in the piece. D.H. Lawrence’s criticism “On the Scarlet Letter” displays his views of how Hester Prynne is depicted, as well as how she should have been depicted, in the novel. Lawrence utilizes the literary devices of choppy syntax, biblical allusions, and satirical tone to emphasize his opinions on the characterization of Hester Prynne.
In the beginning the scarlet letter represented adultery and shame, but then the A represented “able.” Hester Prynne showed people that greatness can come out of huge mistake. One bad chapter does not mean your story is over. Willingly, Hester wanted to pick herself up again and move on with her life and eventually people noticed that. They began to respect her and think of her as strong and commendable
Hester Prynne, the Worst Sinner Three different people, all with different stories but all have something in common; they’re all sinners but the question is who is the biggest sinner? In The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, many characters are portrayed as sinners like Dimmesdale, Hester, and Chillingworth. But overall the biggest sinner in the story was Hester Prynne and there are many reasons for it. Obviously the reason for the scarlet letter, she was an adulteress. Hester caused many problems with people in the town including the most holy man Dimmesdale and a man that should've never been involved, Chillingworth.
In The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, adulteress Hester Prynne must wear a scarlet A to mark her shame. Her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, remains unidentified and is wracked with guilt, while her husband, Roger Chillingworth who seeks revenge. In June 1642, A young woman named Hester Prynne was found guilty of adultery in the Puritan town of Boston. Then a crowd gathered to witness the punishment and now she must wear a scarlet A on her dress as a sign of shame.
The book The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne has symbolism all throughout it. People and objects are symbolic of events and thoughts. Throughout the book, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses Hester, Pearl, and Arthur Dimmesdale to signify philosophies that are evident during this time period. Hester Prynne, through the eyes of the Puritans, is an extreme sinner; she has gone against their ways, committing adultery. For this sin, she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life.
The scarlet letter, Hester prynne had the letter A sewed on her close for part of her punishment for what she did to her husband. She was charged for adultery for having a child with another man when she was married then she was forced to go to jail. She was scorned in front of everyone in the town, after she was sent back to jail to serve her sentence. I chose the letter “A” for athletic, while I was wearing it around school at least 6 people asked what was the letter for, so I told them it’s a letter that stood for who I am as a person, I got some negative words back but I told them that im very athletics person someone who loves to be out doors, someone who loves spending time with other people just having a good time.
dominating presence in Hester Prynne’s society as well. Faith was so dominant in Prynne’s society that they were going to move across the globe to escape and seek refuge from sin. In Puritanical society, sin was awful and stayed with you for your entire life. Faith dominated everything and dominated specifically over Hester and Reverend Dimmesdale. “It had been determined between them, that the Old World, with it’s crowds and cities, offered a more eligible shelter and concealment than the wilds of New England” (Scarlet Letter 137).
A Role Model that Transcends Time Hester Prynne changed dramatically throughout the course of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter. Initially she was viewed as the antagonist and was a destructive character to those around her. After being confined in her cottage with Pearl, she began to develop a sense of who she needed to become in order to efficiently raise Pearl. Hester’s ability to do what was necessary for her improvement made her into a respectable role model for women to shadow. Hester chose to isolate she and Pearl to create a wave of self-improvement. Because of Hester’s mysterious, seductive, and rebellious actions, she demonstrated the characteristics of a byronic hero.
Wherever Hester goes, people will know who she is, and what she had done. Hester's punishment was unjust because Hester was sent to prison for committing adultery. Hester was sentenced to wear the scarlet letter "A" for the rest of her life and Hester was forced to stand on the scaffold, so she could be publicly humiliated for her sin. Although,
His embarrassment was overwhelming. Hester vowed not to tell anyone who her husband is, while he vowed to find Pearl’s father and expose him. In Hester’s situation, the easiest thing to do would have been to leave town. Het she stayed to protect Pearl’s father and stand by him, even if his identity was not known by the town.
Furthermore, The Scarlet Letter and 1984 both show the reader how an individual can use their personal, sometimes unfortunate, situation to their advantage thereby making both novels, that are set in different historical time periods, very similar. First off all, both novels show how their protagonists, Hester and Winston, use their personal situations to realize the truth of their societies. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester slowly realizes the truth of her society by recognizing the hypocritical nature of the Puritans whom she lives among, as a result of the scarlet letter she wears. As soon as Hester is ordered to wear the scarlet letter, she quickly begins to realize the flaws of her society because of the way her community starts to maliciously
In the Scarlet letter, Hester takes part and rejects the gender roles of her society. This reinforces and undermines patriarchal ideology. For starters, she is seen as a powerful and able woman. " She was self-ordained a Sister of Mercy…Such helpfulness was found in her,—so much power to do, and power to sympathize…so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength."
Throughout the novel, Hester is fraught by the Puritan society and her suffering is an effect of how evil society is. Hester continues to believe that the crime she committed was not wrong and she should not be punished for it. Her desire to protect and love Dimmesdale, turn her into a stronger person and become a heroine in the book. Although society still views her as a “naughty baggage” (Hawthorne 73) and is punished for her wrongdoing, Hester never thought to take revenge on them, yet she gives everything she has to the unfortunate and leaves herself with very little. She continues to stay positive no matter what society has for her.
The Scarlet Letter is a story that details with romance set in a time that was dominated by religious dogma and misconception. During this time society was not equal, especially towards women. Women were not equal to men. Men dominated the family and households, it was a patriarchal society. With the main character, Hester Prynne, being a woman, the story is only intensified.