The Scarrlet Letter :: essays research papers

The Scarrlet garnerAs citizens of the United States and members of the most open society in the public it is difficult for us to picture a world where the phrases womans rights, equal opportunity, and religious freedom have little meaning. When the surface of American history is scratched, not necessarily deeply a past of limited rights for women is soon revealed. The repugn to any author comes in painting a picture of this colonial past to both current reviewers and readers to come. Nathaniel Hawthorne In his book The Scarlet Letter successfully meets this task through the character of Hester Prynn. Hawthorne describes a woman with freedom fore of her time and a social order unprepared to accept her.Hesters independence was promptly demonstrated at the novels beginning. The court has ruled as penalty for her adultery she must wear an A upon her chest, that to the colonist served as a proctor of the punishment they would suffer if their sins were to be discovered, and to He ster a reminder of sin. Hester stands alone extraneous the court house as the close minded colonial look stare at her and the baby in her arms. Many women during this era of American history would look for a way to run. Hester shows little sign of uneasiness, with exclusion to her firm hold on the infant. At the conclusion of this scene the reader knows that this is a strong woman trying to maintain dignity in a land were a womans independence ranked right higher up blasphemy on the hierarchy of values.Throughout the novel Hester demonstrates her independence of living. Her economise never comes forward, and her lover does the same. With everyone denying relations Hester is forced to live alone. She enhances the child by herself and is successful in her enterprise of sewing and hemming. Hawthorne informs us that this lifestyle of isolationism is anomalous to her, and convinces us that an average colonial woman could not survive low these conditions. At this point in the book Hester has shown her independence in dealings with lifes crisis, and in her style of living.The best way to understand a parents temper is to examine how they raise their children. This idea holds true when one examines closely the techniques Hester uses to raise Pearl. In this era of religious totality, independence of thought, and the teachings of those ideals commanded little