feminist essay scarlet letter Final
April Upchurch
Mr. Barnett
Honors English III
February 13, 2015
Scarlet Letter Essay- Feminism Feminism is the theory of how men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. In the past, men and women haven’t had the same rights, especially in the eighteen forties. The Puritan society thought Hester’s sin was a disgrace and shunned her for it. The Scarlet Letter shows feminism from a different perspective such as Hester stepping completely out of Puritan beliefs becoming an outcast, wearing her punishment proud, and being a single mother and loving it. Puritan’s placed family at the center of their societies. The biblical story of “Adam and Eve,” portrays the Puritans belief that marriage represented one of the most fundamental human relationships rooted deeply into salvation. This meant that it represented not only the relationship between husband and wife, but also between the spouses and God. Hester has sinned and cheated on her husband, making her an outcast. The narrator compares her state to a forest. “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest: (18.2). She was forced to live in this “moral wilderness” for seven years. The Puritan’s thought the wilderness was full of scary creatures and that it was utterly lawless. In other words, Hester disobeyed the order of the town and was forced to live in a metaphorical forest: a wilderness of shadowy right and wrong, which is Hester’s little cottage “on the outskirts of the town… out of the sphere of that social activity which is already marked the habits of emigrants”(5.4). On the other hand, Hester is an independent woman because she had to learn the hard way to fend for herself. All the women in her town are tied to a man, no matter if it’s a father, brother, or husband. The man usually makes all the decisions. Hester didn’t feel as though she had to be one of those obedient women to a male figure. Therefore she became an
Mr. Barnett
Honors English III
February 13, 2015
Scarlet Letter Essay- Feminism Feminism is the theory of how men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. In the past, men and women haven’t had the same rights, especially in the eighteen forties. The Puritan society thought Hester’s sin was a disgrace and shunned her for it. The Scarlet Letter shows feminism from a different perspective such as Hester stepping completely out of Puritan beliefs becoming an outcast, wearing her punishment proud, and being a single mother and loving it. Puritan’s placed family at the center of their societies. The biblical story of “Adam and Eve,” portrays the Puritans belief that marriage represented one of the most fundamental human relationships rooted deeply into salvation. This meant that it represented not only the relationship between husband and wife, but also between the spouses and God. Hester has sinned and cheated on her husband, making her an outcast. The narrator compares her state to a forest. “She had wandered, without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast, as intricate and shadowy, as the untamed forest: (18.2). She was forced to live in this “moral wilderness” for seven years. The Puritan’s thought the wilderness was full of scary creatures and that it was utterly lawless. In other words, Hester disobeyed the order of the town and was forced to live in a metaphorical forest: a wilderness of shadowy right and wrong, which is Hester’s little cottage “on the outskirts of the town… out of the sphere of that social activity which is already marked the habits of emigrants”(5.4). On the other hand, Hester is an independent woman because she had to learn the hard way to fend for herself. All the women in her town are tied to a man, no matter if it’s a father, brother, or husband. The man usually makes all the decisions. Hester didn’t feel as though she had to be one of those obedient women to a male figure. Therefore she became an