They both receive jail time and are marked with something that would constantly remind people of what they had done. For Hester it was the eloquent scarlet letter on her bosom; while sex offenders and rapists have to constantly remind the people around them what they had done. Whenever they move to a new place, the people in the community are notified of what that person had done. Both the letter on Hesters breast and the notices to people in the community are constant reminders for the people that committed the crimes. It reminds them and the people that they interact with of what they have done and what they have to live with for the rest of their lives, and they will not be able to forget it.
When it comes to a modern understanding of sexuality another contemporary scarlet letter has to be teen pregnancy. This problem is not against the law, but it is a moral issue much like adultery is today and was in the times of Hawthorne. People see teenage girls who get pregnant as being irresponsible kids who do not think about the consequences of their actions, and then end up being up a burden on their parents. Hester was viewed back at those days also as a pregnant teen would look today. They both are seen as an outcast from the social group they were previously surrounded with because people now are like oh my god! She has a baby? and people simply do not how to react. This was the exact same response that Hester received in the novel.
People did not know what to do when they saw her as a single mother, so they treated her as an outsider, who was not part of the community anymore. Over time people began to realize that just because Hester was a single mother, it did not make her an evil person. In fact, she was quite the opposite. People began to realize her A did not stand for adultery but for able, and they began to slowly restore their respect in her because of all the right things she was doing after her big mistake, but they still knew that she had committed a sinful act, and she could not repent.
The Essay on People Like That Are the Only People Here: Canonical Babblings in Peed Onk
Although everyone has different experiences and no one life is the same, we all live with a certain unspoken right to have a full and normal life. We see harmful and hurtful and even unimaginable things happening around us and we feel bad, but in the back of our minds we know that our own life doesn’t have a place or allow for these experiences to happen to us personally. If by chance something of ...
A teenage mother goes through the same process, at first she is an outcast, but overtime if she does the right things, she will gradually return things to normal, but her child will always be the symbol of her mistake, no matter what. Hester continued to be an outcast in a society of hatred and used her extreme talent and skills to start her own business as a seamstress. This was a very unorthodox way for a woman to live. In the Puritan era, women never worked outside of the home and never had a separate income. The man was always the supplier for the family, but Hester was different than all the rest. She went against all odds and under adverse circumstances, used her incredible skill as a seamstress to earn a decent living.
Raising her healthy, elf-like child, Pearl, in an isolated cottage without a husband to assist her, Hester proves herself as a caretaker and provider. Hester shows her tremendous courage as a single mother by raising Pearl on her own. She dresses her little daughter beautifully and even spends time playing with her, showing no need for a male role model for Pearl. Hester proves to be a courageous woman by standing up for her thoughts and beliefs. She is an assertive woman that loves her daughter immensely, and risks her life to keep the pride of herself as well as the other woman of her community.
I believe that Hester Prynne is portrayed as a feminist woman by Hawthorne. Unlike many Puritan women, Hester creates her own lifestyle and way of living without the help of a male husband. Hawthorne uses Hesters business success, assertiveness toward well respected men, and skills as a single mother to emphasize the feminist aspects of The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne did not focus and could not actually discuss sexuality; however, today we can compare the scenes from the Scarlet Letter with real life examples.
The Essay on Hester Pyrnne in The Scarlet Letter
Nathaniel Hawthorne's character Hester Pyrnne in "The Scarlet Letter"In the novel The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, Hester Prynne undergoes both physical and emotional revelations. Hester is directly affected by the consequences of breaking moral and social codes of behavior. The novel is a story of a young woman who commits adultery, and stays strong when the community harasses ...
Since the time when the Scarlet Letter was written the sexuality concept have changed a lot. Intimacy and sexuality are the most important aspects of our life, our sex lives affect all other spheres and often determines a sense of our adequacy. However, as human beings, Christian morality has left a deep influence on the development of the modern individual. Christianity has always prohibited open portrayal of human sexual feelings and activities. Sex, as a theme has always been a taboo subject, which was an inappropriate topic for discussion and indecent portrayal. Emily Dickinson explored un-conventional themes and explicitly expressed her feelings and desires regarding intimacy.
She shared the deep feeling that portrayed human emotions and world would not be adequate unless the potent theme of sexual desires is exposed. Emily Dickinson break through barriers supposedly protects humans from natures force. Dickinson is viewed as rebels against social control.
