The Scarlet Letter: Male Dominance

“ The majority of us feel that with a male leader, we feel safer. I would not vote for a woman president ever” (NPR). Women have always been viewed as being inferior to men, and this has led to patriarchy; a system of beliefs in which men always hold power. To expose this theme within Puritan society, Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote The Scarlet Letter. The book starts off with the protagonist, Hester Prynne, being shamed for committing adultery. She is forced to wear the letter “a”, as a symbol of her sin, until the day she dies. As Hester Prynne adapts into her new lifestyle, the reader is shown many examples of male dominance and how she reacts to them. In The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne’s challenges and actions expose the injustices faced by

Hester Prynne’s decision to decorate and flaunt her scarlet letter was an act of defiance which weakened the hierarchy of power. After Hester Prynne gave birth to Pearl, the whole town knew that she had committed adultery. The governor of Boston and his advisors feared that if they didn't give her a punishment, she would become an example of sin being acceptable. So, they sentenced her to wear a scarlet letter until she died. Every criminal before Hester Prynne always wore a very basic letter, because of the shame they felt. But not Hester Prynne, she refused to be defined by anyone else. Hester Prynne didn’t believe in being controlled by men with power, so she forged her own path. She used her exceptional needle skills to decorate and embroider the letter with as much care as possible. There was only one motive in her mind, “to laugh in the faces of [the] godly magistrates, and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment” (Hawthorne 38). Everybody in Boston followed every order issued by the magistrates, because they were considered mighty beings. But Hester Prynnerefused to be oppressed by the patriarchs, she wanted to be in control of her life. By defying the punishment given to her, she disrupts the established hierarchy of power. While everyone believed that the governor held all the power, by defying his order Hester Prynne showcased how all of his power is only illusory. His order should be followed exactly as intended, but when Hester Prynne doesn’t, the townspeople see how the governor can’t do anything to change it. Hester Prynne flaunting her letter leads to a little instability within the hierarchy of power. All of a sudden Hester Prynne is not at the bottom, helpless to do anything, but near the top where she is free to do anything she desires. By defying male authority, she showcases one way to weaken the hierarchy