Defining the Term “Woman” and Why Everyone Can Associate With Feminism Everyone, by definition, identifies with a woman because everyone has external dispositions and wants freedom and wants to overcome adversity. Hawthorne saw this distinct, parallel relationship between the aspirations of men and women and was able to depict male history through a female narrative despite the social injustice against the women (Desalvo 505). Hawthorne detected the universal theme that conjoined the plight of feminists with the strife of the afflictions of societal pressures and failures of any human: humanity by nature looks to condemn and pressure others in order to align the opposed to its ideals in an effort to maintain order and self-determined righteousness. The perfection of his use of puritanism as his designated environment out of every oppressive and corrupt civilization to …show more content…
The puritans were notorious for mistreatment and censure of sinners in order to attain a self-defined level of "purity" in their society, and Hester- the female character- faces this oppressive entity. As Hawthorne ties individuals that face oppression with Hester's figure, the oppressed individual acknowledged and defied the oppressive figure's ideologies in order to achieve self-fulfillment and pleasure. While the oppressed figure's actions seem regrettable, Hawthorne molds Hester into a character that embraces her decision to defy societal definitions of "correct activity" and turns something that was meant to harm her and into something beautiful: “the wearer of this brilliantly embroidered badge must needs be a personage of high dignity among her people” (Hawthorne 156). The scarlet letter- the method of symbolic persecution by the Puritans- evolves from a brooch intended for mockery into a badge that exudes a sense of high dignity. In place of her shameful condemnation, she now captivates a remarkable figure that overcame