“Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever,” says Martin Luther King Jr. In any form, oppression—a process of maintaining one’s dominance over another by enforcing limitations— ignites women’s deep-seeded need for equality. Through this internal struggle, women fight against a society that stifles them into a given mold. From Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and Toni Morrison’s A Mercy to Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun, these authors tackle the notion of women fighting back against their oppressors. Women mitigate society’s marginalization to gain maximum freedom by exerting their power in unconventional ways. Society encourages women to fit into their ideal standard. Attempting to relegate women to where they …show more content…
Society embeds oppression against women manifested in social norms. In this way, during Colonial times, society subjugates American women to fit into the Puritan moral ideal. When Hester Prynne’s pregnancy reveals her shocking adultery, the town’s women claim she “has brought shame upon [them] all, and [she] ought to die.” (Hawthorne 43). Eventually, the town ostracizes Hester because of her immorality. In the ensuing fifty years, society continues to marginalize women through moral exclusion. Because of this, Lina experiences impingement on her identity, illustrated in A Mercy. Lina, a Native American adopted by a Presbyterian family, is molded into the family’s ideal image. The xenophobic family transforms Lina into Messalina by “clip[ping the] beads from her arms and [cutting] inches from her hair” (Morrison 56) so that she appears more like them. This is a demeaning attempt to strip Lina of her immoral and non-Presbyterian ways. Similarly, Florens’ marginalization occurs when racial barriers keep her from fully participating in society. Florens experiences double consciousness—one defined by …show more content…
While Lina and Hester developed some self-power, Florens and Beneatha gain power by decreasing the supremacy of their oppressors. Florens, tired of being second best, allows the chains holding herself back to fall off. Turning to violence, Florens embraces her power and her “claws scratch and scratch until the hammer is in [her] hand” (Morrison 166-167). Florens transforms under the racial pressure by using violence, a method commonly employed by men. While she scratches with her “claws”, the “hammer” eventually lands in her hand, which represents the transfer of power away from her oppressors. Physically attacking the Blacksmith, Florens is no longer a “combination of defenselessness…[Florens] had become untouchable” (Morrison 179). The fight for equality by unexpected means is also exemplified through Beneatha. However, she takes a nonviolent approach against her oppressors. Simply cutting her hair, Beneatha reveals its true natural and curly state (Hansberry 80). This cutting of her hair is a silent protest against the oppressiveness of society. She accepts her differences and asserts that she is “going to be a doctor and everybody around here better understand that!” (Hansberry 50). Thus, Beneatha has the courage to preserve who she is on the inside, maintaining her sense of self to continue working towards her goals. Society does not expect women to lash out against their