...often had to repress these desires more than males. Males have been the dominating species throughout history and have expected women to repress their nature. For the most part, females kept their place in society and played their role but there were some who broke the norm. There have been serious consequences for females who have attempted to liberate themselves, especially when they attempt to do so sexually. Females have the ability to achieve their sexual liberation despite the patriarchal societies in which they live. Two females which have attempted to achieve sexual liberation are Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter and Blanche Dubois in A Streetcar named Desire. Both Hester Prynne and Blanche Dubois’s attempts to achieve sexual liberation were hindered by the patriarchal societies in which they lived in; making only one of them successful. The Scarlet Letter, written in 1850, takes place in the late 17th century in Massachusetts. At this time Massachusetts is a Puritan colony. A Puritan, according to Oxford Dictionaries, is a member of a group of English Protestants of the late 16th and 17th century who regarded the Reformation of the Church of England under Elizabeth as incomplete and sought to simplify and...
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...The Scarlet Letter: The Feminist Approach The Scarlet Letter tells the story of a woman labeled by the Puritan society due to her actions and vows of silence to not explain herself.When looking at the feminist approach to literature, the reader must know the three premises and principles. First, language, institutions, social power structures have impacted throughout history reflected particular interest. Second, woman have always resisted or subvert, and at the last but now least, patriarchal dominance and feminine subversion is evident in literary and cultural text. In Bentuck's analysis of The Scarlet Letter, she uses the statement “ Hester Prynne, however, subverts the Puritan- patriarchal laws of meaning in two ways. First, she embroiders and embellishes the community's representational codes, thereby confusing them. Second, Hester refuses to name child's father.(pg.397)”as one of her primary arguments. In addition to Hester's ability to subvert, Benstuck's argument and statement that The Scarlet Letter“focuses attention on representations of womanhood, with special emphasis on Puritan efforts to regulate female sexuality within religious, legal, and economic structures.(pg398)” is her thesis for her analysis. The people of the society Hester Prynne lived in were strictly judgmental on one if they had not chose to take the “proper” and “righteous” way to reproduce. Benstuck speaks on the biology and religious aspects of man and woman to support her idea gender issues...
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...A woman stands in front of her community, judged for her sin and having an object to show it, her only child. Born from an extramarital affair with an unknown man, she is forced to face public scrutiny in a Puritan community. Somewhere in the crowd, the father of the child stands, guilty but not judged. Nathaniel Hawthorne tackles sin and shame in The Scarlet Letter, a story showing guilt and transgression in a society where “religion and law were almost identical” and “the mildest and the severest acts of public discipline were alike made venerable and awful” (Hawthorne 47-48). The heritage of Nathaniel Hawthorne, common beliefs held by the Puritans, as well as Hawthorne’s philosophies on secret sin and public shame affect the style of The...
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...The Scarlet Letter In the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, A young woman named Hester Prynne in Boston is prosecuted for adultery. To symbolize her crime, she has an “A” imprinted on her bosom. As a result of her committing adultery, she and Reverend Dimmesdale (his identity is not identified until later in the book) have a child. She is a very curious child, and her name is Pearl. Roger Chillingworth, comes to see Hester on the scaffold and he doesn’t want his identity revealed either but it does get revealed in later chapters. In the Scarlet letter, the author uses different symbols, literary devices, and themes that help Nathaniel’s purpose of writing. Symbolism A symbol in the Scarlet Letter is literally the Scarlet Letter...
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...Omar Rios Per. 3 Prompt: How does the scarlet letter become a badge of shame to a badge of pride, courage, and what a better and stronger person Hester had become? The Scarlet Letter In the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hawthorne shows the scarlet letter, that Hester is forced to wear, as a badge of shame in the beginning, but progresses to be a badge of pride courage, and what a better and stronger person Hester has become along the years she has worn the scarlet letter and kept it on even though she didn’t have to wear it anymore at the ending. Hester knew that wearing the scarlet letter would make her look bad, but she was forced to wear it for the sin she committed. But she also had the feeling that it would make her a better person and make her more powerful even though she made a mistake “The effect of the symbol- or rather, of the position in respect to society that was indicated by it- on the mind of Hester Prynne herself was powerful and peculiar” (108). Hester knew what society thought about her, but she took it in, didn’t let that hurt her, and became a stronger person because she looked at the scarlet letter differently. She knew that taking the punishment would help her more than it would hurt her. So there was the start of changing the meaning of the letter A. Hester knew she must go through the shame of wearing the scarlet letter and would not let anyone take it off until she has earned the right. “Were I worthy to be quit of it...
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...AnnaLeis Dibert Mrs. Eron English 2330 April 9, 2014 Each Sin Letter Humans are naturally sinful. With that being said, just because every human being knows he or she is sinful does not mean the entire human race needs to know of our sins; however, in “The Scarlet Letter” the reader learns the importance of his or her sin coming forth in ways they did not expect. The letter represents the ways our sins come forth in the world. Reverend Dimmesdale lives in constant fear of his letter being exposed for the entire world to see. Yet, Hester Prynne tries countless times to hide her letter from the world but cannot because her letter is pinned on the outside for the world to see and judge. In “The Scarlet Letter”, Hawthorne’s choice of characters and their sinful nature is a perfect example of human’s sinful nature and the ways we try to hide. Hawthorne chooses the character of Reverend Dimmesdale to represent the humans who are prideful, and “too perfect to sin”. In the religious community, the reverend is someone the citizens look up to; someone they want to follow and in their footsteps to mirror. After all, a reverend or outspoken religious leader should be someone who mirrors Christ’s image on a consistent basis. With that being said, hypocrisy plays a major role is Dimmesdale’s sins. He realizes he is being watched by the citizens and takes pride in knowing the town is looking to him for religious advice or encouragement; however, Dimmesdale’s sin could never be found...
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...The Scarlet Letter A: Write an analytical essay (900 - 1200 words) on the excerpt from Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter (1850). Part of your essay must focus on the narrative technique and the theme of Puritanism and slut shaming. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”, a dark tale of shame and condemnation, centres on a small Puritan society of Boston during the 17th century. Set in Puritan New England, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, a Puritan woman who has a baby out of wedlock. Although written many years ago, Hawthorne’s “The Scarlet Letter” covers themes and ideas related to modern readers. The themes of slut-shaming and breaking society’s expectations are ones to which many young people can relate to today. Seen in this context, the novel can be approached as the story of a young woman who let her heart rule her head and suffered the consequences. In a dedicated Puritan town, a young married woman named Hester Prynne conceives a child. There is a glitch, however; her husband, a doctor, has been missing for a long time. The society magistrates imprison her for this sin and commands that she must wear a scarlet “A” on her dress as a sign for adultery, shame and sins. Additionally, she must stand on a scaffold, exposed to public humiliation. The reason why is she had an affair with the local minister, Reverend Dimmesdale. The fact that he is a reverend makes the case much worse and also shows hypocrisy in the community, since the minister...
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...Similarities and Differences between Anne Hutchinson and Hester Prynne While many people may feel that Anne Hutchinson has nothing in common with Hester Pyrnne they actually more alike than most people would think. Nathaniel Hawthorne, author of “The Scarlet Letter,” used many references to Anne Hutchinson in his book. During his life, he wrote a sketch of Hutchinson thus portraying his interest towards her and the characteristics of her life. It could be accurate to say that Anne Hutchinson was used as a guide to make the character of Hester Prynne. Therefore, Hawthorne creates Hester’s character to resemble and to differ from Hutchinson. Hester Prynne and Anne Hutchinson show their similarities and differences through those who influenced them, their religious beliefs, leadership, and personalities. In the beginning of each of their lives Hutchinson and Pyrnne both started at a divergent road. Hester had an impulsive behavior. Her parents had to always keep an eye on her because she was oblivious and incautious. She married at smart man while she was young and tried to convince herself she was happy. Anne, on the hand, was forced into a life that made her strong and intelligent. Her father had been imprisoned for preaching against English ministers. Later, Anne was taught by her father of his religious views. She read many of his theology and religion books. This influenced her religious views and made her into the strong minded female. Both of these women show differences...
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...Roles in The Scarlet Letter and The Awakening During the Victorian era, the life a woman was immensely difficult. They were considered the property of their husband, and treated as such. Women were forbidden from owning their own property, even if they were given the property from their father. In such a case, the land would be transferred in ownership to her husband. A woman’s place was in the home, to dutifully care for her husband and children. Her job was to cook, clean, and bear children. Interestingly, a wife was treated similarly to her children. Obedience toward the man of the home was necessary from both the children and the mother. In contradiction to all of the restriction and repression, the nineteenth century produced two of literatures strongest women. Nathaniel Hawthorne and Kate Chopin gave American society two women who actively defied their husbands and who possessed their own strong moral codes. With The Scarlet Letter published in 1850 and set in the seventeenth century, Nathaniel Hawthorne was taking a large risk in creating a novel detailing a woman’s adultery with the town’s minister and producing an illegitimate child in the process. Despite the treatment she receives, Hester does not waver in her promise to keep her lover secret, proving that she is a strong willful woman. As the century is coming to a close, Kate Chopin produced a work that sent shock waves through American society. The Awakening presents the story of Edna Pontellier, a woman who is deeply...
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...Men and women are still viewed differently in spite of all efforts that have been made in gender equality. Hester’s many actions throughout the novel prove that she is a strong female character in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hester Prynne is also viewed as a hero by some people in parts of the novel. A point one could argue is whether The Scarlet Letter is a feminist novel or not; although the novel is supportive and negative to both men and women, it is often considered to be a feminist novel. Despite Hester’s heroic actions throughout the novel, The Scarlet Letter is not a feminist novel because during Puritan times, punishment was equal between men and women. To begin, the most distinguished action carried out by Hester was her affair with the town’s priest. The fact that Hester had an affair became public knowledge when she became pregnant and gave birth to her child. This action was considered a crime: Hester’s punishment included jail time, public shaming, and, “On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes...
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...John White Mrs. Edgar The Scarlet Letter October 10, 2014 Pearl: A Gift or a Curse? In The Scarlet Letter, our characters are expressed as detailed and as expressive as they should. The children in the book are by far the most expressed and true. Ever since she was born, The Scarlet Letter defines Pearl as the symbol of Hesther’s crime. In other words, Pearl is considered Hester’s curse. She is the one who was blamed for all the trouble that our main characters came across. Readers tend to put down Pearl’s role in the novel. Actually, as contradicting as it may sound, I was one of those readers. However, now I believe that she deserves more credit than she gets. Though her imagination and her determination offer both as a gift and a curse...
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...Marcelo Neto US History Hon Mr. Hershaw 11/15/2012 The Scarlet Letter By Nathanial Hawtorne Summary The Scarlet Letter opens with a long chapter explaining how the book came to be written. The narrator was the surveyor of the customhouse in Salem, Massachusetts, where the novel takes place. In the customhouse’s attic, he finds a number of documents, among them a manuscript that was bundled with a scarlet patch in the shape of an “A.” The manuscript detailed events that occurred some two hundred years before the narrator’s time. When the narrator lost his customs post, he decided to write a fictional account of the events recorded in the manuscript. The Scarlet Letter is the final product. The novel begins in the seventeenth-century Boston, when Hester is briefly released from prison so that she can be paraded through town, displaying her scarlet "A" embroided on her chest while standing on top of the town scaffold. She carries her baby daughter, Pearl, in her arms. After being Hester steadfastly refuses to reveal the name of Pearl’s father, so that he might be saved from punishment. Hester Prynne’s long lost husband arrives in the midst of this parade through town. He visits her in prison before her release and asks her not to tell anyone that he’s in town. His plan is to disguise himself so that he can ferret out...
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...Title of Work: The Scarlet Letter Author’s Name: Nathaniel Hawthorne Date of Publication: Genre: Fiction Setting: The Scarlett Letter is set in the middle of the seventeenth century, in a time where there were strict religious values. Major Characters: Hester Prynne is the main character or this book, and hence the book’s title she wears a scarlet on her clothing which is a large letter “A”. This letter means that she is an adulterer, which means that she cheated on her husband. Her husband, an old man named Chillingworth had sent her to America to start a life for them, but when there she had an affair with a young stud named Dimmesdale, and with him she had a daughter named Pearl. Hester is a strong willed woman as she deals with years of shame from her past actions, and as the continues to live in her community she notices their way of treating women and makes good observations. Pearl is Hester’s daughter that she had with Dimmesdale. She has an unique ability to see things that others do not, for example she finds out the truth about her mother and Dimmesdale, and the townspeople say that’s is devil’s spawn since her father was unknown. She is a smart girl that has a wild imagination. Arthur Dimmesdale is the man friend of Hester Prynne, and the father of Pearl. As a pastor he is tormented by what he has done with Hester, as it goes against what he has been studying and teaching to the masses. To try and overcome this he continuously beats himself mentally...
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...Secret Sin in The Scarlet Letter In many of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels, secret sin plays a large role throughout the stories. Hawthorne’s novel “The Scarlet Letter”, contains the theme of secret sin which plays a very important role in the story of the novel. Secret sin in the novel “The Scarlet Letter” plays an important role because it both physically and emotionally damages the characters throughout the story. The character of Roger Chillingworth undergoes a very drastic emotional and physical change throughout the novel due to secret sin. In the beginning of the novel, Hester goes up to the scaffold since she is punished to public humiliation for committing the crime of adultery. Her husband, Roger Chillingworth, comes to the town to see that his wife has cheated on him with another man and now bears a child that is not his. The result of Hester’s partner’s secret sin on Chillingworth changes his inner and outer emotions immediately. Hawthorne writes “ A writing horror twisted itself across his features, like a snake gliding swiftly over them, and making one little pause, with all its wreathed intervolutions in open sight. His face darkened with some powerful emotion” (Hawthorne 45). By using very descriptive imagery and similes, Hawthorne showed that the secret sin was starting to change Roger’s inner and outer emotions. Before Roger saw Hester he was a normal person but once he saw her he started to change into a more evil, darker person. Another example of how secret sin...
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...In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne uses rhetorical devices in a unique manner to add depth to the story plot that goes much deeper than an adulterer and her consequences. The use of these devices is what makes the novel worth reading. In the novel, irony aimed at the puritan actions which Hawthorne had strong opinions about. Also, the symbol of the scarlet letter plays a key role throughout the novel which surprisingly is transformed into something new. Lastly, out of many devices, another device used is diction. Hawthorne cleverly chooses specific words and phrases to lock in the reader to look deeper into what he is really trying to convey. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, religion has a very strong influence over the community and society in which Hawthorne uses irony to project the...
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