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Mumtahina Rahman

Lecturer Mohammad Akteruzzaman

ENG 403:

24 April 2020

The Scarlet Letter: Feminist Theory

Abstract:

This study deals with socio-cultural aspects of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet

Letter, more specifically it explores the author's attitude to femininity, the creation,

and portrayal of Hester Prynne from a feminist perspective. Besides, along with the

plot's historical and geographical explanation, the main focus has been put on the

complex relationship of the characters and their development from the perspective

of some of the 20th century feminist theories. The paper's goal is to try and prove

my theory about the author's feminist inclinations.

Keywords: aspects, explores, femininity, perspective, inclinations.

1.Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne, best known for the very novel that this paper is about,

helped shape American Romanticism. He contributed to the growth of American

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literature and plausibly the growth of feminist thought with his plays, which were

mainly influenced by the Puritan tradition. The paper's main emphasis would be on

the attempt to create a connection between the 20thcentury radical feminist

movement and Hawthorne's story in the form of a 'seduction novel' from the 19th

century. Until today, women are perceived by prescriptive qualities of belonging to

We

are raised from birth to follow and submit to their fathers, their brothers and their

husbands who are not far from being regarded as land. This is exactly why it is

important to consider the Scarlet Letter from a feminist point of view. Feminism

and the entire abolition of a gender, dating back to the 20th century, is fairly young

in nature, and Hawthorne produced a novel in which awoman of liberal ideals

fights and prevails over patriarchal patriarchy. The initial chapters will deal with

the brief historical overview on what happened before and after the events of The

Scarlet Letter, using the extensive compilation of historical information collected

in CyrilAydon's, A Brief History of Mankind, and Alan Taylor's American

Colonies, as well as Hawthorne's portrayal of his ancestors in The Scarl. As for the

Puritans Perry Miller and Thomas H. Johnson's literary setting, they have an

amalgam of Puritan sermons and works in The Puritans: A sourcebook of Their

Writings.
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Using Hester as an example, I'll try to examine how patriarchy and the gender

binary distribution of roles affected her will to fight and survive. And it influenced

and formed her character throughout the 17th century when the distinctions

between males and females were much more apparent. More precisely, through

modern feminist theory, I would examine Hawthorne'srepresentation of women,

and seek to decide whether or not this novel might be considered one of the first

plays representing critical feminist values in recent history. This very problem will

be discussed with contemporary feminist theories described in Rosemarie Tong's

FeministThought, Stevi Jackson and Jackie Jones' Contemporary Feminist

Theories, and most notably gender Trouble view of Judith Butler. Tongs as well as

Jackson – Jones' handbooks include reviews of essential plays such as Sexual

Politics by Kate Millet and Beyond God the Father by Mary Daly which will help

in the paper's study.

2.Settings

Settings: Hester Pryne is the protagonist of the novel The Scarlet Letter. Because

every culture plays a role in influencing the development of one's personality, it's

only natural to think that, to understand what Hester Prynne went through, we first

need to know what kind of people she interacted with. This chapter addresses
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exactly that subject. Boston's historical study, the Puritans, and the whole of the

17th century. It's important to point out right at the outset that the first definitions

that come to mind when we hear the term 'Puritan' aren't necessarily the

historically accurate ones. As described in the paper's introductory section, this

chapter will deal with both the historical and the author's depiction of the Puritan

society. What were their characteristics and how did their culture perceive sin,

retribution, predestination, and freedom? The relevance of these questions lies in

the relation that every setting has to the character of an individual. Hester's

rebellion in the rigidity of early Puritanpractices only adds more to her personality

and seeing the New England pioneers as strict as they were playing a vital role in

recognizing why it's so remarkable for her to rise to our modern standards. The

theme of the novel The Scarlet Letter is resistance and heart power embodied in

a beautiful young woman, which is, imaginably, exactly how Hawthorne pictured

his home country's early stages of emancipation and development. The general

prescription and personification of femininity in homelands and the author's

unusual choice to construct one of the first American novels whose main

protagonist is an autonomous female could be just a mistake, or perhaps precisely

the intent of Hawthorne. Perhaps it was his aim for the reader to create a

correlation on a subconscious level that his theme, discussing the role of women in

the beginnings of American culture, somehow reflects the breaking of relations

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with something ancient and controlling, the patriarchal Britain. Hawthorne was not

the first to materialize liberty and freedom in a beautiful woman's face.

3. Hawthorne, the Pioneer Feminist

As described in the previous chapter, Hawthorne is the first feminist leaders in

history. Sadly, it is difficult to say with certainty whether or not he had personally

recognized the patriarchal inequality and its simplistic inclinations about the

treatment of gender roles. On the one side, reading today's plays, we can only

guess what his motives were in selecting certain themes and characters to be the

carriers of his thoughts. But, on the other hand, it is precisely his decisions that

lead us to conclude strongly that he was certainly aware of what women faced in

the patriarchal male – culture dominated. The argument I would attempt to suggest

in this chapter is that it is very possible to use contemporary feminist theory to

describe the role of a 'feminist' to Nathaniel Hawthorne and to examine Hester's

character formation and identity development in his novel.

3.1. Feminist Standpoint

This chapter would deal specifically with my effort to show that Hester Prynne

embodied the characteristics of contemporary radical feminist thinkers considered

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critical in rehabilitating the inequality that the patriarchal system inserted into

various social systems. This will have the function of an introductory part of the

paper by elaborating the basic concepts of feminist theory, gradually laying the

groundwork for the feminist essence thereof.

3.2. Post-colonial feminist theory

Nevertheless, the feminist postcolonial theory is an offshoot of the original parade.

The chapter would aim to identify the key emphasis of both hypotheses and to

examine how the Scarlett Letter works within their margins. In seeking to do this I

will use the elaboration of the subject by Sara Mills inside Jackson and Jones'

Contemporary Feminist Theories. The rationale behind the choice of this particular

theory is the fact that Hawthorne himself wrote in the post-colonial era and his

novel's theme is set at the moment when North American colonization was at

its peak.

4. Conclusion

One woman alone is faced with the implications of an act, primordial and normal

to any living being on this earth, but deemed unacceptable by her kin. Those

around her are more concerned about the circumstances in which, as they term it,
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the 'crime' was committed than the emotions which gave it the basis and

justification. The story of Hester Prynne is the cornerstone in which Hawthorne

chose to depict the patriarchal philosophy of Puritan while addressing the question

of ignominy, guilt, and love. The Scarlet Letter represents an innovation given the

general literary themes of the period. Even like the new feminist views are

considered progressive and groundbreaking, Hawthorne's creativity for his age

may be considered more than innovative.