Madison Fishman
English 11H
The Scarlet Letter- Analytical Essay: Women
It would be impossible for someone in this day and age to imagine a world without women's influence. Women have and will continue, to make a world on the world, as they believe their voices must be heard. However, this belief was once looked down upon, especially in the Puritan town of Boston during the mid-1600’s. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne places women in a society where they had no voice, no self-expression and no way of breaking standards and regulations. However, Hester Prynne, a young, beautiful woman who is found guilty of sin, achieves what is believed to be impossible, independence. Instead of letting authority control her life, she …show more content…
Over time, Hester Prynne is able to build a “new” life for herself, furthermore, “Hester Prynne did not now occupy precisely the same position in which we beheld her during the earlier periods of her ignominy” (145). In other words, Hester no longer occupies the same guilty conscience as she previously had. Hester’s generosity in giving to the less fortunate has finally been recognized by the people of her community. Those who had previously condemned her had been able to recognize the good deeds and generous qualities she possesses. According to …show more content…
Furthermore, her “passport into regions where other women dared not to tread” (178). According to Hawthorne, “Shame, Despair, [and] Solitude had become Hester's “teachers,” “they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (178).” Ultimately, the scarlet letter had been a symbol of Hester’s guilt and sin. Hester’s ultimate act of strength comes about when finally deciding to remove the scarlet letter from her chest. Along with this action, Hester is able to strip herself of the prejudice she had faced by the people in her society. She was able to finally separate herself from the negativity which was perceived by the scarlet letter itself. Hester expresses her opinion towards the scarlet letter when deciding to finally unclasp it from her chest, saying, “The past is gone! Wherefore should we linger upon it now? See! With this symbol, I undo it all, and make it as it had never been!” (181). After unclasping the scarlet letter on her chest and throwing it at a distance from herself, Hawthorne describes the letter as, “glittering like a lost jewel, which some ill-fated wanderer might pick up, and thenceforth be haunted by strange phantoms of guilt, sinkings of the heart, and unaccountable misfortune” (182). The letter is a sign of guilt and misfortune, which is destined to be picked up again one day and cause pain and misery to the “ill-fated” wanderer who comes upon it.
English 11H
The Scarlet Letter- Analytical Essay: Women
It would be impossible for someone in this day and age to imagine a world without women's influence. Women have and will continue, to make a world on the world, as they believe their voices must be heard. However, this belief was once looked down upon, especially in the Puritan town of Boston during the mid-1600’s. In the novel The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne places women in a society where they had no voice, no self-expression and no way of breaking standards and regulations. However, Hester Prynne, a young, beautiful woman who is found guilty of sin, achieves what is believed to be impossible, independence. Instead of letting authority control her life, she …show more content…
Over time, Hester Prynne is able to build a “new” life for herself, furthermore, “Hester Prynne did not now occupy precisely the same position in which we beheld her during the earlier periods of her ignominy” (145). In other words, Hester no longer occupies the same guilty conscience as she previously had. Hester’s generosity in giving to the less fortunate has finally been recognized by the people of her community. Those who had previously condemned her had been able to recognize the good deeds and generous qualities she possesses. According to …show more content…
Furthermore, her “passport into regions where other women dared not to tread” (178). According to Hawthorne, “Shame, Despair, [and] Solitude had become Hester's “teachers,” “they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss” (178).” Ultimately, the scarlet letter had been a symbol of Hester’s guilt and sin. Hester’s ultimate act of strength comes about when finally deciding to remove the scarlet letter from her chest. Along with this action, Hester is able to strip herself of the prejudice she had faced by the people in her society. She was able to finally separate herself from the negativity which was perceived by the scarlet letter itself. Hester expresses her opinion towards the scarlet letter when deciding to finally unclasp it from her chest, saying, “The past is gone! Wherefore should we linger upon it now? See! With this symbol, I undo it all, and make it as it had never been!” (181). After unclasping the scarlet letter on her chest and throwing it at a distance from herself, Hawthorne describes the letter as, “glittering like a lost jewel, which some ill-fated wanderer might pick up, and thenceforth be haunted by strange phantoms of guilt, sinkings of the heart, and unaccountable misfortune” (182). The letter is a sign of guilt and misfortune, which is destined to be picked up again one day and cause pain and misery to the “ill-fated” wanderer who comes upon it.