The Role Of Women In The Scarlet Letter

In The Scarlet Letter, author Nathaniel Hawthorne includes Hester Prynne 's view in terms of the unfair position of women in society. Hawthorne conveys Hester 's thinking about the subservient role women play, and how this is a fundamental aspect of the society they live in, however unfair it may be; the only way to change this idea would be to build society anew and change the very hereditary nature of not just men, but women as well. Hawthorne shows how Hester 's speculative tone comes as a result of her own misfortunes and of society 's role in trying to thrust upon her what they believe a woman should act like. Hawthorne begins the passage by narrating how Hester contemplates the idea of existence being worth enduring for womanhood as …show more content…
Hawthorne uses the appeal to moral and ethics, or ethos, to establish the credibility of Hester 's thoughts. Hawthorne shows that after pondering over the issue of the position of women in society, and realizing how the idea that women fall under Puritan expectations is resolute, Hester feels even more lost and discomforted. Hester begins to contemplate suicide, and it is through the line "the scarlet letter had not done its office," that it comes to fruition that Hester 's thoughts were not instigated all on her own, but instead had to do with the adverse effect society 's efforts to yield her to Puritan expectations of women, had. Hester Prynne was made to wear the scarlet letter in order to remind her of her sins and force her to atone for her mistakes, but instead the scarlet letter did the opposite and showed Hester the unfair fate women had to deal with; the scarlet letter made Hester not conform to society 's expectation of an ideal woman, but instead challenge them. Hawthorne thus uses the ethos of Hester, a woman who had to deal with the backlash of straying from the expected position of a woman, to identify exactly why the idea of either accepting the existence of a women 's current life or changing society, had come up in the first …show more content…
As the question is sprung forth into Hester 's mind, right at the beginning of the passage, "Was existence worth accepting even to the happiest among them?," the following sentences shortly afterwards are short and to the point. They show Hester 's established answer to the question. However, as the idea of societal reform unravels, the sentences get longer, and turn into semi-colon and comma filled structures. Then, for a short while, the sentences once again get shorter as Hester concludes the hopeless nature of the task. The sentences become longer once again after, to mirror Hester 's hopelessness and doubt. The syntax of the passage is guided by the nature of Hester 's thoughts. When she is resolute and has concluded an idea, the sentences are short. However, when she feels full of doubt and has not reached a conclusion, the sentences wind