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Hester Prynne In Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter

1856 Words8 Pages

Abby Kelley
Ms. Wood
Honors English 2
18 May 2018
The Scarlet Letter Essay
As the advocacy for women’s political, economic, and social rights on the basis of equality with men, feminism certainly did not exist in the setting of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, nor was it supported in 1850 when the novel was published. When taking context into consideration, the book is more of a commentary on the preconceptions of society than a feminist statement. Nevertheless, Hawthorne’s support of progression for women in society is certainly evident in the thinking of his main character, Hester Prynne, who displays a courage and resilience, which demands respect for traditionally feminine behavior and builds a new image of women and definition …show more content…

Some argue that in order to be considered a feminist it’s important to believe that women deserve the same respect and the same opportunities as men, but in The Scarlet Letter which is based in a Puritan society full of strict rules and rigid people, Hester Prynne does not have these ideals. They conclude that it may be dangerous to apply modern social thought to a work this old and, while Hawthorne wrote with what is seen now as feminist tendencies, the novel must be put into the context of his time. This context being that at the time when Hawthorne was writing The Scarlet Letter women’s suffrage movements still had not begun and their role in society was to get married, bear children, and stay at home to cook, clean, and raise their kids. Hawthorne was one of the first to confront this unfair lifestyle and he used The Scarlet Letter as his platform to do so. Towards the middle of the novel Hawthorne describes Hester’s changes since she was punished for committing adultery. He says, “She who has once been a woman, and ceased to be so, might at any moment become a woman again, if there were only the magic touch to effect the transformation” (Hawthorne 199). This suggests that Hester has ‘ceased’ to be a woman in the eyes of her community since she has not experienced love with a man in a very long time and in order for Hester to become a woman once again she needs to be touched by the ‘magic touch’ of a man. This rationale would enrage and modern day feminist as it often did Hester because it is technically declaring that in order for a woman to be accepted and happy she needs a man in her life. Although most of the book is written with this view because of the society and time period, Hester is still able to advocate for women with her courage and boldness. She is

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