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The role of women in English literature
The role of women in English literature
The role of women in English literature
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The Other F-Word: Feminism in The Scarlet Letter The concept of feminism is defined as “political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” (Merriam-Webster). Contrary to prior belief, it is not raising women above men. This was a fear held by many men in the nineteenth century. Therefore, Hawthorne was restricted in how he made the characters of The Scarlet Letter powerful within the society by what society feared. Throughout the novel, Nathaniel Hawthorne attempts to write a novel that is ahead of its time by showing feminist tendencies through Hester, however the constraints of his society and that of Puritan society force his writing to portray women in a negative light.
The term feminism was created in 1837 by Charles Fourier, but it was
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One argument for this is that Hester held the power to reveal the father to the community. The townswomen are gossips and they all want to know first who is the father of Pearl: “And who, by your favor, Sir, is the father of yonder babe... and the Daniel who shall expound it is yet awanting” (Hawthorne 6). The community is on edge to hear the news, and at first look it would appear like Hester has power over them. However, Hester would never give up Dimmesdale due to her loyalty to him. Hester and Dimmesdale were too connected romantically that Hester, being the kind woman she was, was too loyal to make him undergo the same treatment she had faced. Despite this, Dimmesdale would not have had to face the same treatment that Hester faced, which shows that Hester was weaker than Dimmesdale. Hester had to confess to her sins because of Pearl and after time passed she was free to live albeit the Letter. Dimmesdale had to live with more than seven years of keeping his secret and still maintain his status as a role model for the
Not only in this story of the Scarlet Letter, but throughout the early churches, we often see religious leaders in this predicament of coming forward or not coming forward with the truth of their role within certain situations. Hester, on the other hand, is portrayed as strong but also abandoned, because she is standing alone for the sins she could not have committed alone. Dimmesdale also struggles with confessing to Pearl the truth and keeping it from her. At first he is regarded as being selfish for not confessing right away and as a result, when he does confess, it is not well received from Pearl at all. This is not only because she is flustered from finding out, but Pearl knows that Dimmesdale abandoned them at first as he weighed the options.
With a strong female protagonist and two mentally weak males, it is hard to consider Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter anything but a feminist treatise. He obviously intended to put down not only Puritanism, which is an obvious aspect of the novel, but to establish a powerful, secure female in American literature. Hester proves, although she has sinned in the past, she can confront her mistakes, take care of herself and her child, and help others at the same time. She can withhold a position in society that many can respect because of her character something the males of the story obviously could not succeed at doing.
Dimmesdale, the “father” in this family shies away from his patriarchal duties and stands by while he lets Hester do all of the work regarding Pearl. First of all, Dimmesdale is absent for the majority of Pearl’s life. He is present in the town but hardly ever sees Pearl, even though she is his daughter. He says that Pearl has, only “twice in her little lifetime” shown kindness to him(Hawthorne Ch.19). Out of seven entire years, Dimmesdale and Pearl have shared only two meaningful moments together. Dimmesdale has obviously shied away from his duties as a father to Pearl. Even though she is illegitimate, it is his responsibility to help raise her. He also does not deal with Pearl directly when she is acting like a crazed animal. He implores Hester to calm her, telling Hester to “pacify her,” through any means to show him “if thou lovest me!”(Hawthorne Ch. 19). Hawthorne uses specific images through the words of his characters to show how much Dimmesdale is shying away from his responsibilities as a father. As a father, Dimmesdale should be raising his child to become a contributing member of the Puritan society in Massachusetts. Instead of doing this, Dimmesd...
"To be fully human is to balance the heart, the mind, and the spirit.'; One could suggest the novel The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, that one should not violate the sanctity of the human heart. Hester was well ahead of her time, and believed that love was more important than living in a lie. Dimmesdale’s theology and his inclinations render him almost incapable of action; Chillingsworth dammed himself, along with Dimmesdale. Hester was “frank with [Chillingsworth].';
4. The Scarlet Letter was written and published in 1850. The novel was a product of the Transcendentalist and Romantic period.
In The Scarlet Letter Hawthorne introduces the community by way of the prison house and the women of the community "being of mature age and church members in good repute." In the conversation that the women have about Hester their jealous hearts and vengeful attitudes are revealed. In this way he shows us that this community, although it was designed to be the perfect Christian community, interprets itself as something else. We can assume that Hawthorne shows us the bitchy ways of the women of the church, the ones who supposedly care for the sick and tend to the elderly, nurturing and comforting in a Christian-like manner, and the prison house to inform us that Puritan society has problems, the same problems that any society might have. We can begin to read Hawthorne from the romantic perspective and see society as the guilty party. Indeed, the author sets us up to see Hester as a heroine, a rose, even though a wild rose.
While reading Nina Baym’s review she opens your eyes to Hawthorne’s touch on being a feminist writer, not only throughout the scarlet letter, but also compares other work of his as well. Going off on a different path and disagreeing with the traditional critics of The Scarlet Letter disclaiming Dimmesdale being the main protagonist, Baym rejects the idea and takes a whole different view. Revealing Hawthorne’s journals and letters written to his mother and sister showed how much his mother played a big role in his life, leading to believe her being the reason for his feminist side and losing, her inspiring the work of the scarlet letter. Baym goes to describe how Hester plays such a strong role and she would be presented as the protagonist not Dimmesdale, She compares Hawthorne’s women to not only have more of a heart in his stories, but also have more intelligence, “Zenobia is
In the part where Hester and Pearl go to the governor's house they were going to take away Pearl from her. She asks them not to and looks at Dimmesdale, he knowing he’s her father he talks them out of taking her. “truth in what Hester says, and in the feeling which inspires her! God gave her the child, and gave her, too, an instinctive knowledge of its nature and requirements— both seemingly so peculiar—which no other mortal being can possess.”(Morrison 8-24) This quote is really important because Hester knows in order to not get Pearl taken from her she needs to get Dimmesdale to say something because they listen to him.
In a normal Puritan society, a woman’s most important role was that of being a mother and housewife, and women were always seen as being less than a man. The rights of women during Puritan times were very limited and they had many restrictions on what they could and could not do. For example, they could not vote in the town council, own or buy land, or command any servants that their husband or father owned (study.com). Hawthorne represented this through the societies thoughts about Hester, and through how most other women in the society act. The societies thoughts about Hester show that any women who does not follow the normal way of doing things is to be punished and looked down on, even if their actions are completely relevant and harmless. It also represents how harshly women were judged for simply just being a
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.
In addition to that, Dimmesdale can be regarded as contributing significantly to Hester Prynne’s alienation from society. Dimmesdale agrees with Chillingworth that Hester is better off with her sin publicly displayed than she would be with it concealed, and says that his sickness is a “sickness of the soul”, and passionately cries out that he will not reveal his secret to “an earthly physician”. This gives us a clear insight into the nature of Dimmesdale’s tortured battle with himself. Clearly, he is declining from the internal struggle within his soul, and yet he still cannot confess that he had an affair with Hester and that he is the father of Pearl. By simply “doing nothing” about his sin, he is consequently contributing to Hester’s punishment
Slavery, and motherhood these things connect two women Hester Prynne and Sethe Garner. Motherhood and slavery is a key role in both The Scarlet Letter and Beloved. Motherhood and slavery is shown with Sethe and Hester, Slavery however this gets a little tricky to explain. Sethe was enslaved by the Garner’s at Sweet Home but escaped and lived in exile. Hester was a slave of her letter A and mistreated because of it. The letter A pushed her into the edge of town in exile much like Sethe. Another great example of how they are connected with motherhood is they are both judged with their parenting like how Hester's community tried taking her daughter Pearl away, and Sethe’s parenting is judged because of when she killed Beloved protecting her.
The Scarlet Letter is in a time period where women are not allowed all the privileges men had. Hester Prynne was the embodiment of beauty and sin, but also strength. After being shamed and losing the respect of the community she raises her daughter Pearl and starts her own business. Dimmesdale, Pearl's father, said "[M]any people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength." Going against all odds she slowly earns that respect back, she has proven that women do not need a man to make a life for themselves and that discrimination should not be based on someones appearance. One way Nathaniel Hawthorne proves this point is through a feminist outlook on women in the Puritan times who challenge the golden halo above man kind's head, and that all woman are equal to men.
The Scarlet letter is a story widely known around the world. Although the story was published in 1850, the context is still very much understandable and relatable to people today. When you bring all the pieces together, the story actually doesn’t seem as ancient as you might think. The story takes place during puritan times, and although a lot of the problems with the puritan society have been fixed, america still has some work to do. The main character hester prynne had an affair which is a sin and you were executed for it once during puritan times. The story begins in boston. I believe the three central themes of this story are passion, proto-feminism, and discrimination.
While Hester tries to protect Dimmesdale by not giving the name of Pearl's father, she actually condemns him to a long road of suffering, self torture and disappointment. She does this by letting him keep the sin he committed in secret while he watches her being publicly punished. Chillingworth observes Dimmesdale's desire to confess, as well as his lack of willpower to do so. Dimmesdale rationalizes not confessing; all the while Chillingworth is torturing with constant reminders of his hypocrisy. Hester never voluntarily confesses to committing adultery, and never feels any remorse for it. Her public punishment comes not as a result of her having any contrition, but rather her apparent pregnancy. She stays in the town to be close to Dimmesdale, as a reader would find on page 84, "There dwelt...the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union..." She also stays in town to convince others, as well as herself, that she is actually regretful for her sin even though she knows in her heart she is not. She does this to appease her guilt. As Hawthorne puts it on page 84, "Here...had been the scene of her guilt...