The Scarlet Letter Feminism

The Scarlet Letter Through a Feminist Lens In a 17th century puritanical society one definitely does not get too much freedom. Especially if one is like that of Hester Prynne, an adulteress with a child from her affair. While Hester may be a cheater and stands for all of the things that are wrong in the world, there is two sides to every story. Hester could be seen as a hero, a 17th century feminist role model for all of the girls in the Puritan community despite the sins that she has committed. Hester, while flawed, truly is a heroic character that represents feminism in many ways in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Hester is clearly a hero but she has many strengths and weaknesses as well as no one can be completely perfect in one way or another. Hester is a strong beautiful empowered woman which we see throughout the novel. In the beginning of the novel, one sees her possessing the ability to walk to the scaffold out of the prison with pride carrying her child with her and of course the burden of the scarlet letter. Hester always remains strong in public, never faltering. Her spirit is also shown through the lavishly decorated scarlet letter, “It had been wrought, as was easy to perceive, with wonderful skill of needlework” (Hawthorne 30), as if to draw attention to the letter as opposed to drawing shame from it. The lavish scarlet letter branded on her chest represents both her strength as a woman and her standing up to the people who were putting her down. In public she is a strong woman and she hides her inner wounds from those in the public but in …show more content…
In the eyes of a 21st century feminist she displays all the traits that would be representative of the feminist ideals. Hester shows dedication, selflessness and so much more that today 's people could learn a lot from. If Hester Prynne is not the picture of a modern day feminist no one