Gender Roles In The Scarlet Letter - 1665 Words

This current generation lies in a time of unprecedented growth and change. The last few decades have endured years of transformation, thereby allowing for the evolution of the human mind. The evolution of the human mind and its thought process all lies within cultural beliefs; beliefs affect attitudes and attitudes invertedly affect behavior. These behaviors may implement a form of prejudice and discrimination upon a certain group of individuals. Perhaps the most concurred concept revolving around attitudes and behaviors rests upon gender roles. This flawed concept created by man himself has indoctrinated society to acquire a negative perception of women. Women carry a stigma that they are both unintelligent and are subordinate to their†¦show more content†¦This ridicule has a trickle down effect on Hester as she too is banished from her own community for committing adultery. The comparison between Hester and Hawthorne defines the external struggle for the reader to fully un derstand the effect of opinions from society on them Although reluctant to allow Hester to leave prison, the members of the town suggest that her punishment is to wear a scarlet red letter A on her bosom, thereby allowing all to know of her crime. The scarlet letter â€Å" was red-hot with infernal fire, † (Hawthorne 81) and defined the state she was currently in, that being eternal hell. Though she was forced to marry an older man at a young age, her rebellion to have an affair is not seen as an internal struggle that she overcame; rather, it is merely seen as a woman who sinned, a woman who shall therefore endure the punishment for the sin, rather than a woman who was never given a say in what she wanted with her life. Time and again, Hester Prynne is seen defying society by allowing herself to stand out from societal norm just as the roses â€Å"with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisonerâ€Å" (Hawthorne) d id. Instead, she returns to the community and is observed aiding those in need, all with seven year old Pearl by her side.Show MoreRelatedGender Roles : The Great Gatsby, The Mystery Of Heroism, And The Scarlet Letter1862 Words   |  8 Pages To quote author Chimamanda Adichie, â€Å"Imagine how much happier we would be, how much freer to be our true individual selves, if we didn t have the weight of gender expectations.† However, the influence of gender is pervasive from jobs to the military, even extending to education. Men are generally characterized as strong and independent. Women, on the other hand, are supposed to be more feeble and domestic by societal standards. These distinctions have always been the case in the United States,Read MoreThe Gender Of The Scarlet Letter888 Words   |  4 PagesThe Gender Spheres in Puritan Society and Their Importance in the Scarlet Letter Throughout the history of the last few centuries, an ongoing conflict in society has been the roles of the public and private spheres. The first of these has been mainly represented by men, taking on the positions of power and dominance, working outside of the home. The latter however was primarily controlled by their female counterparts; their positions as wives and mothers being all that mattered. In the private sphereRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1641 Words   |  7 PagesThe Scarlet Letter is a story about a woman, Hester Prynne, who painfully lived her life in shame because of the adultery she committed in a1840s American colony. The way she and the other characters conducted themselves after the reveal of Hester’s baby all show a deeper meaning into what kind of person each character was, which can be interpreted in many ways. The story was written by a man named Nathaniel Hawthorne, only about a decade after his story took place, which meant that so ciety in hisRead MoreSummary Of The Scarlet Letter 1136 Words   |  5 PagesPuritan society, seen in The Scarlet Letter, traps many women in the confines of patriarchal gender role with its rituals and beliefs. These common beliefs caused many of the women in the community to feel oppressed and silenced. Amongst these silenced women, only a few chose to stand against these unfair and unjust beliefs. This minute group includes Hester Prynne, the adulteress whose scandalous life is at the center of the novel. Hester eventually breaks the common gender role, set in place by PuritanRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter : The Objectification, Ostracization, And Targeting Of Women Essay1523 Words   |  7 Pages The Scarlet Letter: The Objectification, Ostracization, and Targeting of Women. Kevin Sachtleben Harris- Period 3 â€Å"From the intense consciousness of being the object of severe and universal observation, the wearer of the scarlet letter was at length relieved, by discerning on the outskirts of the crowd a figure which irresistibly took possession of her thoughts.†(Hawthorne, 52). This quote from the top of page fifty two surrounds the most controversial event in the book from when Hester wasRead MoreIs The Scarlet Letter A Feminist Novel?1456 Words   |  6 PagesAshley Noack M. Chau-Lee English 3H 11/ 13/14 Is The Scarlet Letter A Feminist Novel? A feminist is defined in the British Dictionary as a person who advocates equal rights for women. However incredulous it may sound, women had to fight for rights for equality in things such as politics, economics, and their personal affairs. If the revolutionary feminist concepts were surfacing in the time of Nathaniel Hawthorne, circa 1850, then how was it that he was inspired to write Hester’s character? HoweverRead MoreHester As A Strong Female Character And The Scarlet Letter1572 Words   |  7 Pagesand The Scarlet Letter as a Feminist Novel In The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, a question arises: Is The Scarlet Letter a feminist novel? First, what is feminism? Feminism is â€Å"the advocacy of women’s rights on the grounds of political, social, and economic equality to men†. Feminism is really about a woman’s strength since the act of feminism causes a woman to go against traditional views and be ridiculed for that. What does feminism have to do with The Scarlet Letter? HawthorneRead MoreHester Prynnes Development Of Women In The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne1204 Words   |  5 PagesNathaniel Hawthorne’s,The Scarlet Letter, conveys Hester Prynne’s struggles against the oppressive Puritan society of the 1630s, which leads to the illumination of her progressive feminist views. Hester’s sin of adultery leaves her shunned from her pious New England community, but the extreme consequences that she encounters highlight the notion that she recognizes women as possessing equal capabilities and strengths as men. Hester evinces feminism throughout Hawthorne’s novel, without ever trulyRead MoreAntifeminist and Feminism within The Scarlet Letter1388 Words   |  6 PagesAntifeminist and Feminism within The Scarlet Letter In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s â€Å"The Scarlet Letter† Hester Prynne is accused and convicted of adultery. During the puritan era women in this society had specific obligations and rights they had to maintain. By Hester having an affair and acting unladylike the community disapproved of her actions causing everyone to isolate her in her town. Due to Hester Prynne’s Isolation and the harsh judgment she received from everyone in her town, she goes throughRead MoreThe Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne And The Awakening1416 Words   |  6 PagesThe gender prejudice that exists in society does not only affect the individual being discriminated against, but the people close to them as well. This is demonstrated through the novels The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Awakening by Kate Chopin. The Scarlet Letter follows the story of a woman named Hester Prynne who is forced to wear a scarlet letter â€Å"A† on her chest as punishment for her crime of adultery. The Awakening follows the story of a woman named Edna Pontellier and the