The Feminist Scarlet Letter Essay -- essays research papers

The Scarlet Letter can easily be seen as an early feminist piece of work. Nathaniel Hawthorne created a story that exemplifies Hester as a loaded female character living with her choices, whether they were good or bad, and to a fault as the protagonist. He also presents the daughter of Hester, Pearl, as an intelligent female, curiously for her age. He goes on to prove man as imperfect through with(predicate) both the characters of Dimmesdale and of Chillingworth. With the situation that all the characters face, Hawthorne establishes the female as the triumphant one, accomplishing something that, during Nathaniel Hawthornes time, authors did not attempt.In the beginning of the book, Hawthorne paints the picture of a female named Hester who has sinned. non only is she publicly ostracized for having an affair while unmarried, but her major repercussion, her daughter, receives her penalisation as well because she derives directly from sin. It is through these tribulations that Hawt horne exemplifies Hester and Pearl, no matter how young, as blotto, independent females. These attributes were not easily applied to females during this time. Hawthornes ability to suggest Hester collected and under control to the crowd, although she may have felt other inside, while she exits the prison and while she is on the scaffold, exhibits her as a strong woman. The fact that Hester exits the prison by an action marked with natural lordliness and force of character, and stepped into the open air, as if by her own free give, and the fact that while on the scaffold, under pressure, Hester refuses to give the name of the cause of her child, also proves her strength and compassion. She states, Never....It is too deeply branded. Ye cannot take it off. And would that I might endure his agony, as well Lewis 2as tap To Hester, there is no reasons to put both shame on her and her partner when she can take all the shame. She proves herself to be selfless, another strong charac teristic that exemplifies feminist attributes in the book. At first, when Hester is confronted by her ex-husband Chillingworth, she is portrayed as weak and feeble. This trait does not go on to prove Hester as a huge feminist character for the Scarlet Letter, but as the book continues, Hester receives the strength to stand up to him and realizes there is no use up ... ... him feeble. In the end, he frees himself from his guilt by admitting to everyone his sin. He crumbles under the fear of holding his secret inwards revealing Dimmesdale to be a quite weak male protagonist. He also is not strong rich support Hester, to show love towards Hester, or to take his own consign of sin on himself, although he does realize how wrong he is. His softness to outwardly show his sin like Hester proves Hester to be the stronger one which supports the root that Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter is a feminist composition.With a strong female protagonist and two mentally weak males, it is hard to contemplate Hawthornes The Scarlet Letter anything but a feminist treatise. He unadornedly 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 military service 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 manifestly could not succeed at doing.