“For the weak and immature man will, often, admire a superior woman, but he will not be able to abide by a feeling, which is too severe a tax on his habitual existence” (Fuller 75). Within the three pieces of literature, The Scarlet Letter, “One Good Time,” and “Woman in the Nineteenth Century,” each boldly steps outside of the traditional female gender roles during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. They define how women should be treated or provide proof that women are strong and resilient. In a strong Puritan patriarchal society, these types of characteristics rebel against their beliefs. In addition to the literary sources, there are documented cases where women were put on trial or defamed for expressing their opinions about women’s
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In Marilyn J. Westerkamp’s essay, “Puritan Patriarchy and the Problem of Revelation” she describes how little respect was given toward females due to their role in society, “In New England, a woman was less an individual than a key element in a functioning system, and the civil law protected the system more than the individual” (574). Without viewing a woman as an individual with rights instead of a piece of property, they are easily convicted if they are found in violation of the Puritan system. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is treated exactly how Westerkamp describes. When Hester Prynne is found guilty for adultery, the community believed that, “…it was safely to be inferred that the infliction of a legal sentence would have an earnest and effectual meaning” (77). Therefore, instead of death, Hester Prynne was publically shamed for adultery since a punishment from God was more damaging. Her lack of rights as a woman negatively impacts her sentence since a man holds power over her, “…a control that was reinforced by law and custom as well as by holy writ” (Westerkamp 573). If a person that was accused of committing adultery was a man, the sentence may not have been as harsh or
In Marilyn J. Westerkamp’s essay, “Puritan Patriarchy and the Problem of Revelation” she describes how little respect was given toward females due to their role in society, “In New England, a woman was less an individual than a key element in a functioning system, and the civil law protected the system more than the individual” (574). Without viewing a woman as an individual with rights instead of a piece of property, they are easily convicted if they are found in violation of the Puritan system. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is treated exactly how Westerkamp describes. When Hester Prynne is found guilty for adultery, the community believed that, “…it was safely to be inferred that the infliction of a legal sentence would have an earnest and effectual meaning” (77). Therefore, instead of death, Hester Prynne was publically shamed for adultery since a punishment from God was more damaging. Her lack of rights as a woman negatively impacts her sentence since a man holds power over her, “…a control that was reinforced by law and custom as well as by holy writ” (Westerkamp 573). If a person that was accused of committing adultery was a man, the sentence may not have been as harsh or