Theme of Sexism in The Scarlet Letter Essay Sample

How do the views differentiate when two genders make the same mistake? The two genders live incomparable lives: the woman’s life stops and is truly, notably transforming into a new one; the man’s life is secretly transformed but still continues. In the novel, The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne displays sexism in the 17th century by referring to how both men and women feel after acting on infidelity.  

Presently, Dimmesdale confesses his sins to the townspeople in which ¨he [tells] his hearers that he [i]s altogether vile, a viler companion of the vilest, the worst of sinners, an abomination, a thing of unimaginable iniquity… th[e] [townspeople] d[o] not see his wretched body shrivell[ing] up before their eyes, by the burning wrath of the almighty”(Hawthorne 126). The community disregards Dimmesdale’s confessions but considering others identify him as a sanctified man, they do not fancy him and are unaffiliated. Society blinds themselves, by the way they view Dimmesdale and gaze only at his perfections.  Accordingly, Hester is ¨ the child of honorable parents-at her the mother of a babe, that would hereafter be a woman,-at her who had once been innocent the figure, the body, the reality of sin”(Hawthorne 68). Hester was at one point in her life, filled with dignity and purity but after committing adultery, she is distinguished as someone who is rebelling against God and was cast out of her innocence.  When Dimmesdale makes a mistake, the townspeople still worship him but when Hester acts upon the same error, others look down upon her. Dimmesdale’s holiness affects the way the townspeople see him but his treatment does not justify his action. Both of the characters make the same mistake but each person is treated distinctively: Hester was a pure young woman and in the span of one day, her blooming life turns into a morbid, miserable one; Dimmesdale is sensed as a godly man and over the span of the one night that he was involved in adultery, his views upon him do not differentiate. Hence Dimmesdale sickness, he ¨ exhibit[s] no symptom of positive and vivacious suffering, except that, as little Pearl remark[s], he ke[eps] his hand over his heart”(Hawthorne 166). Dimmesdale feels pain in his heart for being involved in an act of sinful activities but does not do anything to enhance his enmity.  The commoners know about Hester’s actions by looking at her bosom which causes more suffering to her than Dimmesdale. Dimmesdale is internally suffering since no one except Hester knows what he has done. At the time of Hester’s and Dimmesdale’s controversy, “the frown of this pale, weak, sinful and sorrow-stricken man was that Hester could not bear, and live”(Hawthorne 172). Whether Dimmesdale is suffering or not, Hester still cares for him internally and externally even though he does not feel the same as Hester. Considering Dimmesdale is the father of Hester’s daughter, Pearl, generates the strong connection and tenderness Hester perceives for him. In the future, the scarlet letter will cause Hester’s future to pass by  “still with the same burden for her to take up and bear along with her to take up, and bear along with her, but never to fling down; for the accumulating days, and...year would pile up the misery upon the heap of shame¨(Hawthorne 68). Others blame Hester instead of both Dimmesdale and Hester for committing the same sin. Because Hester is a lively representation of adultery, ones classify her as evil. Going through many horrid experiences Hester comes across, Dimmesdale is not there for her. As an illustration of the unfairness between  Dimmesdale and Hester, “his intellectual gifts, his moral perceptions, his power of experiencing and communicating emotion, were kept in a state of preternatural activity by the prick and anguish of daily life¨(Hawthorne 124). Because Dimmesdale is a holy minister from the church, he can rid himself of anything; the entitlement that Dimmesdale has protects the words and events that Dimmesdale says or does.  The privilege that Dimmesdale possesses defends his mistakes but noticing that Hester is a single mother with no husband, her views on all do not matter. 

Hester tries to redeem herself by becoming a seamstress for her community. Although Hester is going through everything by herself, she has no dreariness because ¨she never battle[s] with the public...ma[kes] no claim upon it in requital for what she suffer[s]; she [can] not weight upon its sympathies...the blameless purity of her life...reckon[s] largely in her favor. With nothing to lose... no hope, and seemingly no wish, of gaining anything, it could only be a genuine regard for virtue that...br[ings] back the poor wanderer to [Hester’s] paths¨(Hawthorne 141). Hester has nothing to lose: she does not need the townspeople’s sympathy and no one admires her as much as Dimmesdale for the affair both had with each other.  People feel sympathy for Dimmesdale but not for Hester. In contrast to Hester’s feelings, Dimmesdale notices “his dreary and desert path, faint, sick, miserable, there appear[s] a glimpse of human affection and sympathy, a new life, and a true one, in exchange for the heavy doom which he was now expiating¨(Hawthorne 177). Dimmesdale believes that once he is reborn he will become new and forgiven for his sins. He expects that he can exchange his current worthless life of sinful thoughts, for an affectionate, pleasing one. Hester already lost everything which makes her want to help the town, while Dimmesdale has not lost anything in which he still wants to make a change in life. 

The Scarlet letter makes Hester feel that she does not belong in the world whereas “every gesture, every word, and even silence of those with whom she came in contact,  [i]s banished, and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature...no more smile...nor mourn with the kindred sorrow...awakening only terror and horrible repugnance”(Hawthorne 72). Hester cannot communicate or come into contact with her neighbors due to the sewed scarlet letter on her bosom.  Anything that she says will not matter because of the position that she is in. As Dimmesdale goes to his office after his holy ceremony, he comes to a realization that as “wretched and sinful as [he is], [he] ha[s] no other thought than to drag on [his] earthly existence in the sphere where Providence place[s] on [him]. Lost as [his] own soul is, [he] would still do what [he] may for other human souls! [He] dare not quit [his]  post, though an unfaithful sentinel, whose sure reward is death and dishonor, when his dreary watch shall come to an end”(Hawthorne 174). Dimmesdale feels as if he needs to punish himself for what he has caused and for faking his personality. He feels as if he needs to be there for the others that have been for him and come to that realization as time passes by. Internally and externally, Dimmesdale feels that he is going to decompose if he continues his act of being someone whose life is pure and innocent. Over time, Dimmesdale finally comes across the same feeling as Hester when she first had received the scarlet letter: bitter, melancholy, and dispirited. Both must live with the consequences of their actions. 

Ultimately,  Hawthorne displays sexism between both men and women. He displays Hester as someone who is willing to turn her life around but people will not let her because no one will let her redeem her fault because of the reputation the scarlet letter has. Hawthorne displays Dimmesdale as a man who is privileged; due to the fact that he is part of the church, he is viewed as pure. People learn from Dimmesdale and do not focus on his faults while others focus on Hester’s but not her redemption and the actions she takes to achieve her salvation.