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In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is virtually banished from the Puritan society because of her crime. She was guilty for adultery with the town’s minister, Arthur Dimmesdale. However, the reader is kept in the dark that Dimmesdale is the child’s father until latter part of the novel. Although Hawthorne’s novel accurately depicts the consequences that Hester and Dimmesdale suffer from their sin, the novel does not accomplish the task of reflecting upon the 17th century Puritan gender roles in Hester and Dimmesdale. For one, the mental and physical states of Hester and Dimmesdale are switched. Hester takes on the more courageous role throughout the novel whereas Dimmesdale takes on the more sensitive role. In addition, Hester is examined in accordance to the gender roles set for today’s American women. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is written in a manner that accurately depicts 17th century Puritan society, but does not accurately show gender roles. To begin, typical Puritan society during the 17th century was “painfully stern and somber; it was founded on the strictest, unmollified Calvinism,” (Puritan…). In other words, their society was very restricted and confined to religion. Civil law also played a role in the citizens’ business and social relations. Law impacted how they dressed, their religious affairs, and even their family relations. In terms of education, Puritans prospered. In fact, in Massachusetts, they required every township of fifty families to employ a teacher to educate the children. Their government was also structured upon religion because religion served as their only method of life. In terms of gender roles, the men were responsible for earning bread for... ... middle of paper ... ... Letter." Ghent University Faculty of Arts and Philosophy. Ghent University, July 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. New York: Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 1989. Print. Gannon, Andres. "The Puritan Influence in Contemporary American Society." The Puritan Influence in Contemporary American Society. Damien High School, 2008. Web. 12 Jan. 2012. . Tyson, Lois. "Feminist Criticism." Critical Theory Today: a User-friendly Guide. New York: Routledge, 2006. Print. "Puritan Laws and Character." History of the USA. Web. 17 Jan. 2011. .
The characterization of Hester Prynne demonstrates a contrast to pure society, as writer and critic D.H. Lawrence suggests in his article, “On the Scarlet Letter.” There is a genuine disparity in the methods Lawrence uses to portray Prynne, and the methods used by The Scarlet Letter’s author, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Because of his utilization of impactful syntax, religious allusion, and critical tone, D.H. Lawrence’s claim that Hester Prynne is a contradictory character to pure society is effectively justified when compared to the misleading seductive elements of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing.
The church and Christian beliefs had a very large impact on the Puritan religion and lifestyle. According to discovery education, “Church was the cornerstone of the mainly Puritan society of the 17th century.”( Douglas 4). Puritan laws were intensively rigid and people in society were expected to follow a moral strict code. And because of Puritans and their strict moral codes, any act that was considered to go against this code was considered a sin and deserved to be punished. In Puritan theology, God h...
Feminism and The Scarlet Letter  Feminism has been taking the world by storm. From feminist critiques on video game characters to petitions for more female leads in film, this movement has come a long way. That is why it is so incredible that the character Hester Prynne from the novel The Scarlet Letter appears to be a strong female protagonist, a novel written long before the feminism movement began. Some critics lavish praise on Hawthorne’s depiction of a powerful female character, but others view Hester as simply a representation of what men want in a woman. Although some of Hester’s actions are questionable in terms of feminism, she makes up for it in her battle against the Puritan societal constraints she is bound by.  Throughout
Puritans were very religious and strict on many things, like with government, what jobs were for which gender, and politics. A good quote that kind of explains a puritan life is this, "Puritan women, though they didn’t receive a college education, were generally literate and often well-read. The only respectable female vocation in Puritan America was managing a household. But that “household”
Setting in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is a powerful symbol used to support the theme of the novel. The first setting is the city of Boston. In this setting, the lives of all are on display to the public. As the story opens, the townspeople here await Hester Prynne’s appearance from her months in jail. In the city, the people’s private lives and moral actions are the topic of much discussion and observation. The people are particularly interested at this time with the moral failure of Hester. The matrons of the town have a particular “boldness and rotundity of speech” regarding Hester’s appearance before them (38). However, Hester is not the only person under the constant observation and judgment of the Puritan population. In reference to the situation surrounding Hester’s love affair, the people say that Dimmesdale “takes it very grievously… that such a scandal should have come upon his congregation” (39). Others still complain that Dimmesdale and the town’s leadership are too merciful, and that “at the very least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron o...
Nathaniel Hawthorne exploits the life of Puritanism in his guilty pleasure The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne lends the reader into an insight of life and human nature. The Scarlet Letter reveals the ordeal and evils of Hester Prynne, a woman living in colonial Boston whom was found guilty of adultery. Hester’s punishment was to then wear a visible sign of her sin’ the scarlet letter “A.” As the novel progresses the reader is introduced to Arthur Dimmesdale, the minister Hester had an affair with; and Roger Chillingworth, the estranged husband of Hester whom is out for revenge. The Scarlet Letter examines the relations of the main characters and the consequence of these characters to Hester’s sin. Hester’s sin of adultery interacts with themes of alienation from society, revenge, creativity, and consequences of breaking the moral code. The underlying sin Hawthorn explores throughout The Scarlet Letter is hypocrisy. Hypocrisy is easily defines as a falsehood between one's professed beliefs and feelings and one's actual beliefs and feelings, or an application of a criticism to others that one does not apply to oneself. Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and the Puritan society were steep in their sin of hypocrisy. Hawthorne reveals through the pages of The Scarlet Letter that hypocrisy is indeed a sin by punishing the offenders.
Puritans are generally viewed as religious extremists. Their religious beliefs were extended to all areas of life, and were zealously enforced. This is true for the most part, especially the way they conducted themselves publicly. They believed in public piety to the extent that once, “a young married couple was fined twenty shillings for the crime of kissing in public” (Kennedy, 45). This couple was already married, so one can imagine the people would come to feel that rules like this served no purpose. As Albion’s Seed reads, Puritans “believed that costume should not be a form of sensual display” (140). Their finickiness even included their refrain from wearing the color black because it was too stylish for anyone but the elect. It would be difficult to see how this relates to any scriptural laws of God, therefore, one can imagine how people would grow tired of such pointless restrictions on every trivial choice and action.
When Dimmesdale’s affair with Prynne was revealed, Dimmesdale didn’t face the judgement Hester did. But Hester’s growth over the novel and later role as a counselor for those in need, contrasted the belief that woman are inferior. Hester defied the outcast role society wanted her to have and turned an object meant for shame into one of strength. Ann Hutchinson, a Puritan woman banished for heresy, challenged the status quo of Puritan culture. Colacurcio argues that “Like Ann Hutchinson, Hester Prynne is an extraordinary woman who falls afoul of a theocratic and male dominated society” (Colacurcio, 306). Hester might not have publicly discussed her views against the patriarchal society of the Puritans, but she saw a brighter future for women. Hester saw a future for America without strict legalism and hypocrisy as she comforted woman in need with a prophecy of a time “When the truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness.” (Hawthorne
In “Hester Prynne, C'est Moi: Nathaniel Hawthorne and the Anxieties of Gender” (20 November 1990), Robert K. Martin explains that Nathaniel Hawthorne was self-conscious about writing a book from the perspective of a woman, because working as an artist was considered effeminate in his time period. Martin supports this by mentioning how Hawthorne does not portray women as powerful in his novels (with a few exceptions) and that he speaks with his own voice through Hester which allows her to have the iron-willed traits of a man. Martin’s purpose is to convey Hawthorne's views on feminism and how they affect the characters in The Scarlet Letter, and give the reader a more complete understanding of the novel. Martin establishes a very probing and
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a female protagonist named Hester Prynne is subjected to public humiliation and alienation from the Puritan society because she committed adultery. This “sinful” act is further enhanced when her husband, Roger Chillingworth, comes to Boston, and Hester is forced to keep the secret identities of her lover, Arthur Dimmesdale, and her husband concealed from the community. Over the course of her seven-year journey, she becomes more independent, more free, and a model of feministic power to the Freudian society that had once marked her bosom with the letter “A” to shame her. Hawthorne depicts the contrasting views of the patriarchal Puritan society, which is characterized by the town and Dimmesdale against
In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is a single mother struggling in a Puritan society. Hester plays a vital part as a strong feminist, and her character is discussed in “Hester Prynne: Sinner, Victim, Object, Winner” an NPR interview, and the essays, “A Representative of the New Female Image––Analyzing Hester Prynne’s Feminist Consciousness in The Scarlet Letter” and “When We Dead Awaken: Writing a Re-Vision”. From being isolated from her own society and ridiculed for her sins, Hester defies their expectations and creates a sense of individuality by being self-reliant and bold minded– characteristics that represent an early feminist of the new female image.
Throughout history western culture has operated under the idea that women were inferior creatures and lesser beings. Women have been called “a foe to friendship, an inescapable punishment, a necessary evil, and the gateway to the Devil.” Feminism has been around for hundreds years because of the way women have been treated and from that, came the feminist approach. The feminist approach aims to understand gender difference, gender inequality and focus on gender politics and sexuality. When looking through the eyes of a feminist, readers must resist the andocentric point of view and think about the female’s point of view, whether male or female. In 1850 one of the most popular, classic feminist books was published; this book is called The Scarlet Letter. Applying the feminist approach to The Scarlet Letter is ideal because it is written by a man by the name of Nathaniel Hawthorne and is about a woman that commits adultery and lives a very harsh life. As a feminist reader interpreting this book could be taken in a few directions which allows this approach to be appropriate. A feminist reader could look at why Hawthorne made the main character, Hester the way she is, why he had the other characters treat Hester in a particular way, how Hawthorne portrayed the women in this book, or even how and why Hester and the other women acted the way they did. By using the feminist approach Hawthorne portrays that women are the bad guys in situations, but are also a lot stronger than many may think.
In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, the author, Nathaniel Hawthorn makes a commentary on the hypocrisy in the Puritan life style through his portrayal of his characters Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s adored Puritan priest, and Hester Prynne, the ostracized sinner. Throughout the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorn depicts traits that contradict the Puritan’s ideas of how a defiled sinner and a proper Puritan priest should behave by the social conventions of their time. The author does this by illustrating Dimmesdale, who is supposed to be a righteous and holy person, as a sinful and cowardly man. Dimmesdale is also show to be a naive individual who is oblivious to the ever present danger that surrounds him. He is a complete contradiction to commonly held image of the honorable and holy priest. And the character who is portrayed as a righteous and selfless helper is the adulteress Hester Prynne, the woman whom the Puritan people detest for her sin. Hester is also shown to be a confident and strong character, a
Peterson, Linda H. "What Is Feminist Criticism?" Wuthering Heights. Ed. Linda H. Peterson. Boston: Bedford Books, 1992. 330-337.
The Scarlet Letter is a fictional novel that begins with an introductory passage titled ‘The Custom-House’. This passage gives a historical background of the novel and conveys the narrator’s purpose for writing about the legend of Hester Prynne even though the narrator envisions his ancestors criticizing him and calling him a “degenerate” because his career was not “glorifying God”, which is very typical of the strict, moralistic Puritans. Also, although Hawthorne is a Romantic writer, he incorporates properties of Realism into his novel by not idealizing the characters and by representing them in a more authentic manner. He does this by using very formal dialogue common to the harsh Puritan society of the seventeenth century and reflecting their ideals through this dialogue. The Puritans held somewhat similar views as the Transcendentalists in that they believed in the unity of God and the world and saw signs and symbols in human events, such as when the citizens related the meteo...