Women have been judged more harshly than men throughout time; it’s depicted through novels and movies, even today. This theme is common in both novels, The Scarlet Letter and Speak. “Man had marked this woman’s sin by a scarlet letter, which had such potent and disastrous efficacy that no human sympathy could reach her, save it were sinful like herself.” (Baym). This quote connects how harshly characters Hester and Melinda are judged and punished in both novels. It also shows the struggles for empowerment that the protagonists face. Even though, in the end of Speak and The Scarlet Letter, sins committed by both men come to light, Roger and Andy are looked up to by the community. Hester as well as Melinda are shunned by society. There is a struggle for female empowerment in both novels because of how harshly women are judged in comparison to men.
Andy and Roger are both respected in the community because of their strong male status. They are not judged and shunned the way Melinda and Hester were throughout the books. Andy Evans is an attractive and popular senior at Merryweather High
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Melinda struggles to stand up to Andy and her classmates because of the fear that no one believe her. Hester faces the conflict of standing up to Roger and stopping him from tormenting Dimmesdale. “Melinda has kept the attack a secret because she is ashamed. She feels she brought it on herself, even though she tried to fight the boy off” (Constantakis). This quote describes how Melinda fights to gain power during her whole freshman year as well as when she was raped by Andy. Hester struggles to gain power also because the characters that mainly shape her and control her throughout the novel are strong male figures. Female empowerment is an important theme in both novels because it shapes the characters towards the end of each novel into strong women that stand up for