Throughout the history of mankind, women have been portrayed as the weaker sex, the scapegoat, and the inferior. The Scarlet Letter, by Nathaniel Hawthorne, is an uprising story of Hester’s strength in exposing and accepting her sin, choosing to wear bold apparel, and helping Dimmesdale deal with his inner conflict. She is truly a model for advocates of the early women’s right movement.
Although the scarlet letter burned a hole in her heart, Hester wears it and never denies it, which shows a true strength from within. She is subjected to standing on the scaffold she held her baby tight as “people looked her up and down with disgust” (Hawthorne 52). Even though the “A” presented such problems for her, she didn’t remove it and stood her sentence
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Her lover, Dimmesdale, her husband, Chillingworth, and the town's Governor, Bellingham. Each of them exhibited their control over this poor woman in a different and shocking way throughout the story, and she unfailingly obeyed whatever she was lead into by them. Part of the reason Hester let herself be controlled--when she was being told what to do by Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and Bellingham--like that probably had something to do with her past, which was not adequately covered by the book, so one may never know what would possess such a strong willed creature to bend so easily. In the chapter, "The Elf-Child and the Minister", Hester is in the presence of all three of the men who control her blatantly, and as one would expect, a fair amount of control is exhibited. The governor and his cohort, Mr. Wilson, verbally abuse and criticize Pearl to no end, while Hester stands in the background and says nothing to stop them. For example, when they criticize her, “Pearl?--Ruby, rather!--or Coral--or Red Rose, at the very least, judging from thy hue!” This just proves how the men were able to take control and do whatever they want to do in order get what they want or just do whatever they want for the fun of