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Scarlet Letter Individual Vs Society Essay

533 Words3 Pages

Nathaniel Hawthorne develops the theme of an individual vs. society through the motifs of vibrant colors and imagery in contrast to the setting and people within the town. Along with the characters in The Scarlet Letter, individuals like Hester Prynne are constantly facing the same battles against their own societies today.
Hawthorne sets his story in a Puritan society that is very judgmental and described as “a shapeless mound, cumberous with its very strength, and overgrown, through years of peace and neglect” filled with people that were “the ugliest and most pitiless”(Hawthorne 49). In contrast to the dull town, Hester Prynne, a disgrace to the town, makes an entrance that “repelled him [the guard] by an action of natural dignity and force of nature”(50). The punishment she receives from the town ends up being more beautiful than anything else in the town that “drew all eyes” and “illuminated upon her bosom”(Hawthorne 51). From the beginning of the book Hawthorne identifies Hester Prynne and her sin as the light of the town. She is set up as the protagonist and leads the reader to want her to make the town more accepting as a whole. …show more content…

Hester Prynne’s strength is very similar to the strengths of other strong females like Marlene Dietrich and Simone de Beauvoir. Marlene Dietrich was similar to to Hester in the way she used articles of clothing as a symbol for female strength. Dietrich wearing a pantsuit was also a symbol of strength that she took for women, consequently, getting shamed and nearly arrested for her actions. Simone de Beauvoir was a feminist similar to Nathaniel Hawthorne. Both used literature to protest for the equal rights of women throughout

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