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Hester Prynne: A Feminist Hero

566 Words3 Pages

Throughout history, fragile masculinity has undeniably oppressed women’s rights. The patriarchy believes in its superiority to all women. In the 1600s, misogyny was so embedded into society that it was accepted as normal. Feminists were nonexistent because the male population exerted their power over them. Nathaniel Hawthorne shattered these boundaries with his novel, The Scarlet Letter. The protagonist, Hester Prynne, displays characteristics that make her a feminist hero. Hester is able to resist her punishment’s constraints and challenge the prejudiced court officials in the process. While her sin is plastered across her chest as a constant reminder of her past, she attempts to find feasible ways to live a normal life, defying the Puritan society’s standards. She surpasses all limitations that are put on her as a woman who has committed adultery. Her confidence and determination allow her to rise above patriarchal confinements and live her life independently. Hester is confident in her ability to take care of Pearl as a single …show more content…

In a state of rebellion, Hester adorns the letter to look like a large decoration on her dress rather than the symbol for an unforgivable sin. When the letter is first revealed to the townspeople, Hawthorne describes it as “so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a lasting and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore” (51). The elegant appearance of the scarlet letter distracts people from its true meaning. Hester does not feel ashamed for her sin; therefore, she is outwardly defiant toward the officials that insist on ridiculing her in front of the entire town. They truly believe the scarlet letter on her chest is the most painful form of torture. Hester beautifies the letter, boldly demeaning their notions. She challenges anyone who denies her ability to delegate

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1014 Words | 5 Pages

One woman criticizing Hester is called “the ugliest and most pitiless” (49) compared to the rest of the townspeople who are called “self-constituted judges” (49). Hawthorne’s physical descriptions of the people allude to how they are in the inside. He uses physiognomy to show how each person truly is. When he says that Hester is beautiful, he is saying that she is a good person with a good heart. This could mean that Hawthorne relates to Hester and her letter, and believes that even though the letter signifies her sin, which was wrong, it does not indicate the type of person she is on the

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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.

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(103). Hester believes that with social isolation there is no point to this life she lives in anymore. She has nothing to live for, if it not be her baby, who was a result of her sin, and she begs that they allow her to keep the only thing in the world, in life, that she has left. She believes that her child is the only thing that gives her strength to live through her punishment rightfully, and without her there would be no point in her living in the world. Avoiding the tragedy of losing Hester, who is still thought to be a very vital member of society, the governor and priest both decide to allow her to keep Pearl.

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These characteristics are brought forth by the scarlet letter. It is these same aspects of Hester that enable her to keep her sanity during her arduous time spent in isolation. Therefore, even though the scarlet “A” brings Hester great pain and suffering, it also transforms her in a way that allows her to withstand the burden that is brought on by the disgraceful symbol. As told by the narrator, "The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude!

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In The Scarlet Letter, Hester transforms into a stronger, more confident woman through the experiences she encounters because of the scarlet letter she wears. At the beginning of the novel when Hester is ordered to wear the scarlet letter, she suffers from feelings of hopelessness and despair; feelings that trigger the thought of suicide as an option to end her suffering. While newly wearing the letter, Hester feels as though it is only a burden; however, that changes as the letter soon reveals to be a gift in disguise. The scarlet letter allows Hester to sense the guilt of those who appear to be the purest and sinless, showing her the true hypocrisy of her society. By eventually learning of the hypocrisy of her society, Hester realizes that her fellow men and women should not have the power to ruin her life.

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Pearl keeps me here in life! Pearl punishes me too! See ye not, she is the scarlet letter, only capable of being loved, and so endowed with the million - fold the power of retribution for my sin ?” This quote makes it clear that Hester believes Pearl deserves to stay by her side because she is part of her punishment. Even though Pearl is a product of sin, Hester believes that, with her by her side she will be able to retribute her sin, as she is the scarlet letter.

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Nonetheless, it will be hard; Hester is steadfast to make her daughter Pearl, have a life, just like any other ordinary child. Hester is a remarkable, but peculiar character,

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896 Words | 4 Pages

By wearing the “A,” Hester was publicly humiliated, however, her development in character causes a change in the meaning of the Scarlet Letter, which leads her to taking pride in the letter as it grows a part of her. After Hester’s sin the Puritan community places a false

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1266 Words | 6 Pages

This is just another example of how women and their bodies are policed under this dichotomy. Yet men are free from the being either the Madonna or the whore because that separation is exclusive to women. Throughout the story, Hester’s torment is contrasted with the man whom Hester had an affair with, Arthur Dimmesdale. Despite Arthur revealing his part in their adultery, the townspeople do not condemn him. In the conclusion, the narrator reveals how the spectators refused to believe that Arthur’s “dying words, acknowledged, nor even remotely implied, any, the slightest connection on his part, with the guilt for which Hester Prynne had so lone worn the scarlet letter” (Hawthorne 566).

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The summer of 2016 my family and I took a road trip to Colorado. Colorado reminded me a lot of Minnesota but on a big Mountain. There are river valleys that are 1,250 feet deep to mountains that are 14,114 feet high. I climbed a mountain in Glenwood Canyon.

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Even though the Puritans may have designated the letter as a representation of sin, Hester’s renewed sense of pride does not want society to define the A for her. Rather Hester wants to define it herself and by doing so she develops responsibility and power over her own actions. Because Hester has the power to change who she is, she also has the power to change what the Scarlet Letter represents. By letting the letter be “embroidered with gold thread” readers are able to see how for Hester sin is not something to be fearful of; furthermore, it allows one to see how Hester has developed into an independent individual who accepts who she is and the situation she is presented with. Hester’s lover unfortunately

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Just as The Symposium affected my sense of self through its Hellenistic ideals, my understanding of voice has also deepened. Plato created a story which is intentionally false; however, an idea within the story is to be used to point us towards truth and perfection. The story symbolizes the Hellenistic framework of life, in which nothing around you is in its true form, but your surroundings are able to point you in the direction of perfection. If something is not in its true form, each person that encounters it will perceive it differently because the object is merely an interpretation of the actual form. This reliance on interpretation is an outcome of relativism that requires us to communicate our perception of the physical object and its

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796 Words | 4 Pages

In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s, The Scarlet Letter, the protagonist, Hester Prynne is a Romantic Hero. Throughout The Scarlet Letter, we see Hester Prynne’s struggle in Colonial America after she is condemned by the Puritan society. She is sent to America by her husband, but he never returns, and Hester later conceives a child with the local minister. She is convicted with the crime of adultery, but refuses to identify the father, she is then forced to wear the Scarlet Letter. The novel captures her experience as she struggles to survive the guilt, sin, and revenge.

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1142 Words | 5 Pages

When Hester finally takes off the scarlet letter “A” and her cape in the wilderness, it not only represents the beauty she held despite the emotional punishment she underwent, but it also represents her removing the Puritan and patriarch society holding her back. Hester’s feminist conscious is intricately portrayed throughout the

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959 Words | 4 Pages

Receiving the scarlet letter changed every aspect of Hester’s life. Especially at the start of the story, the letter symbolized the solitude and great suffering Hester faced just because of a letter placed on her bosom. The “A” also depicted how no one viewed Hester the same way as before her peccant actions. “…she saw that, owing to the peculiar effect of this convex mirror, the scarlet letter was represented in exaggerated and gigantic proportions, so as to be greatly the most prominent feature of her appearance” (Hawthorne 109). The pejorative community Hester lived in never saw Hester as the beautiful, young woman she was, but now, as a horrible fiend.

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