Easy A Vs Scarlet Letter

In both the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and the film Easy A there is a presentation of a very real and often much thought of theme. That theme being hypocrisy and the existence of double standards which almost go hand in hand. Despite Olive and Hester going through two completely different situations in two very different time periods, their suffering is generally the same. Neither one has committed a sin that is unique to them, others have committed the same sin, yet these two women are seemingly the only ones ostracized for it.

Despite Hester knowing it in her heart of hearts that she is not alone in her sin she is the only one to be punished for her actions. As she lives her days and walks about her hometown her scarlet

Considering high school is generally a cesspool for immodesty and promiscuity there was no reason for everyone to treat Olive so badly because it was unlikely she was the only one to have had sex. Despite this simple fact, Olive is suddenly the target of hypocritical Marianne’s wrath for being a “trollop” and a “slut” despite Marianne dressing very immodestly for someone that is supposedly deeply religious. Her own friend, Rhiannon, ends up turning on her and trying to get her kicked out of school despite the fact that Rhiannon isn’t necessarily Saint Agnes of Rome herself. This is where the whole double standards aspect comes into play with the hypocrisy. All of the males who paid Olive to agree that they had relations only got more popular as a result while it had an opposite effect for Olive. While Olive’s reputation was plummeting straight down to hell the reputation of the guys she had been “with” was soaring high above the clouds. No one batted an eye at the guys who had done something with Olive but when Olive was mentioned everyone lost their minds. One of the guys from Marianne's own group even paid Olive to say that she had shown him hers but he did not show her his. If he had been a truly devout religious person he wouldn't have done something like that. He got away with it however due to the simple fact that he was a male and Olive was now known as the school "whore". In the scene where Olive came out of the bedroom after having had "sex" at the party she was given very scornful and disapproving looks from the girls. When it pans to the male she had had "sex" with it is shown that all of his friends congratulate him as if ruining a person's reputation were something to celebrate. If it had been two girls that stepped out of the room it is fair to say that both would probably get dirty looks as well and