Scarlet Letter: Modern American Women

What does it mean to be a modern American woman? It means your resilient, your independent, you define yourself by your actions and not the projected perceptions of others, you make your own choices, and you are not controlled by a man. It took many centuries for the average woman to demonstrate these characteristics, yet Hester displayed all these far before her time. It was extremely controversial to be so progressive, especially at a time when women were treated appallingly. Hester birthed a child out of wedlock, she raised the child, and was able to provide for the child while being discriminated against. Even present day, single mothers struggle to provide for a child, especially if the mother is a minority. Modern American women are encourages to look inward for strength instead of relying on someone, Hester was forced to look inward for strength since she didn’t have someone to turn to for strength. Fortunately for Hester, she had an innate strength, a strength that allowed for her to be subjected to the …show more content…
Dimmesdale knew he should’ve been up there with Hester and Pearl, and he felt debauched for deceiving his clergy, and for publically shamming Hester. Dimmesdale is fettered by this shame, he can’t move on, till Hester comforts him and soothes some of his shame. This alone would make her a heroine, to comfort the person who is partially responsible for the humiliation you have been forced to endure for years upon years. To comfort them and to truly forgive them attests to the nobility Hester possesses. She lets down her hair and rips the scarlet letter from her chest, she isn’t defined by this, she is more then this letter, and she wants Dimmesdale to understand that he is more than a man who had an affair. Hester stresses that this wasn’t his fault that life moves on and that one day they might be a