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scarlet letter

Throughout The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne touches upon the progression of women’s status in society. According to Puritan beliefs, women are supposed to be tough and hard working individuals. Women are strong, unrefined, broad shouldered, and insensitive. However, Hawthorne’s use of symbolism and imagery while depicting women’s societal standing suggests that women are becoming more feminine and compassionate. At first glance, Hester is considered to be a contemptible adulteress, but as the novel progresses, the scarlet letter on her chest takes on a new meaning.

At the beginning of the novel, Hawthorne explains how women have become more feminine throughout generations:

Morally, as well as maternally, there was a coarser fibre in those wives and maidens of old English birth and breeding, than in their fair descendants, separated from them by a series of six or seven generations; for, throughout that chain of ancestry, every successive mother has transmitted to her child a fainter bloom, a more delicate and briefer beauty, and a slighter physical frame, if not a character of less force and solidity, than her own.

The author uses words such as “broad shouldered, well-developed


Society plays a great role in the novel because Hester’s feelings and emotions are brought on by what society thinks of her. The scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest takes on new meaning as she betters herself, and her standing in society improves as time goes on. Although Hester commits an irreparable sin, her womanly inner strength and fortitude while living a secluded life are notable qualities that future generations of women are predicted to have.

The narrator says, “Never had Hester Prynne never looked more lady-like, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison.” The author is making many positive remarks as he describes Hester. As women are developing into more feminine beings, Hawthorne notices changes and predicts the future of women’s societal status. Generation after generation, a new woman emerges from the depths of society, and her willingness to become feminine is more of a normality than it is an irregularity.

The letter was a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her, - so much power to do, and power to sympathize, - that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able; so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength.

She had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that i

Some topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 904
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)


  

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