The Scarlet Letter

The following research is on the subject of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This novel was published over 150 years ago in a very different age. Men and women both had different things expected of them then, and this was also true of the period covered by the novel, a period with even greater strictures on behavior and attitude. Still, there are certain aspects of the character of Hester Prynne that can be seen as presaging the concerns of the feminist in the 20th Century. Hester is not really a rebel in any direct sense, but she does challenge the beliefs and values of the community by her very presence in it and by her strength in the face of adversity. Her fight is the same one that was fought by so many others in the two centuries to come. She was in no way leading others to follow what she had done, nor was she battling for rights for women in general. Rather, she was surviving and fighting for her child.

Hester Prynne is the openly repentant sinner in the work, though Dimmesdale and Chillingworth share in the consequences of the sin (Male 91). From the standpoint of structure, the first third of the novel traces Hester's limited ascension. She ascends the platform and stands out in sharp contrast to the hard, manlike women who surround her and who disapprove of her. She is both a sinner and a saint and very feminine in both roles, and she reaches the peak of her moral development in this first part of the book. She openly recognizes her own guilt

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. Hester's almost constant confession, performed in public, gives her a kind of strength and purity not otherwise found in the God-fearing people of the community (Spiller 73). Hester shows great strength of character, and in setting her as an example of a sinner with greater strength than the non-sinners in the community, Hawthorne is really drawing her as a woman showing that the strictures against her sex have been unfair. On the simple level of comparisons between Hester as the symbol of the female and Dimmesdale and Chillingworth as symbols of the male, Hester clearly stands above the other two (Gale 240). Her strength is greater, her courage more immediate, and her contribution in the form of Pearl more lasting. Hester stands before the community bravely, feeling a thousand eyes upon her. Hester finds that the scarlet letter enables her to transcend time and space, enabling her to see through to the truth in past, present, and future. Though she sees through to the truth--and this includes seeing through Chillingworth and recognizing who he is--she does not speak that truth. She remains in Boston by saying that the scene of her sin should become the scene of her penance as well, but there are other reasons for her r

Category: Literature - T