Essay Sample on The Role of Women in The Scarlet Letter

In Puritan society, women were viewed as inferior. They wore the simplest clothes, lived the most basic lives, and were restricted in the few things they did. The Scarlet Letter, written by Nathaniel Hawthorne, takes place in Puritan society in the 1600s. The story is centered around a young woman named Hester Prynne, who had committed adultery, and got pregnant with her future daughter Pearl. Her punishment for this "Sin" was wearing a Letter "A" standing for adulterer, in bright red on all articles of her clothing. This punishment was intentionally for public humiliation and shame. Hester Prynne uses her Scarlet Letter to blaze a path of individuality and feminism for women. This links to the theme of trailblazing, and in Hester's case, in a selfless manner. Hester's motivation for this questionable endeavor was crystal clear, and the impact it has made is even more explicit. 

Hester had the unlikely opportunity of staying in her town, living a life full of judgment and humiliation with her scarlet letter or moving, and getting rid of the permanent stain of her "Adultery" label. Despite the perceived shame and despair, Hester decided to stay. Her punishment intended to affect her mentally, watching an equally guilty male live his life as if nothing happened. This realization sparked a cause for staying, a cause for recognizing that their society was corrupt, and a change needed to be made. Although Hester's thoughts and beliefs were unimaginable for women, her ability to pursue these thoughts and ultimately make them actions was astonishing. "A tendency to speculation, though it may keep a woman quiet, as it does a man, yet makes her sad. She discerns it may be, such a hopeless task before her." Her ability to stop and realize the world around her led to taking her scarlet letter and using it for a purpose. 

Hester's courageous trailblazing is not acknowledged until the ending of the book. However, her devotion to staying true to herself set an example for people to follow. It is known that Hester takes all of her negative connotations like "Shame, Despair, Solitude" and uses them as "her teachers—stern and wild ones." This is an example of Hester using her Scarlet letter as a stepping stone on her trail to progression and equality. "The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread."

It is made very clear that Hester uses her Scarlet Letter as a tool and does not let society get to her. "stare into her face and at the winking baby in her arms, and at the ignominious letter on her breast." The following quote displays the purpose of the letter by showing reactions to her wearing it. Hester courageously ignored the judgment and shame and was fixated on equity and moving forward with her life. Not once in the story did Hester complain about how she was being treated. Instead, she used that energy to make a difference and to pave a new path for women to come. "She assured them, too, of her firm belief that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven's own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness." This excerpt represents Hester's focus on fixing societal issues for the future and blazing a path for women like her.