The Scarlet Letter Blog 1: Underdog Feminist of the 17th Century

-

In “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the main character, Hester Prynne, is introduced, leaving the prison doors due to an act of adultery. Everyone in the town is gossiping of her sinful actions, but she leaves her prison confident and radiating with pride. She wears her scarlet letter on her chest boldly, almost accentuating her reckless spirit. This sign that represents her committing adultery is the first sign of rebellion and feminism of the 19th century. It is however not the the symbol itself, but in the way she carries herself with such a negative connotation on her chest. To be able to have something drag her down and still be considered beautiful by her townspeople, “and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and rich of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes.” The idea that confidence is beautiful, no matter what her neighbors say they cannot make her feel less than she is. She is a feminist figure, ahead of her time. It took until 21st century to realize a woman has a right to be looked down upon while a man is simply just a “player”. She is not letting anyone see her lower that she considers herself.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Scarlet Letter Blog 5: ObjectificAtion

-
In the classic novel “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, the letter has symbolized something degrading, leading to the objectification of women in the book. Something that I realized halfway through was the idea of the A on her chest, is contradicting to what an A usually is supposed to do when exploited as it originally is. When you think of an A on the fridge, it is an accomplishment you take pride in. But what they did to Hester, was pushing her down, and trying to objectify her while STILL trying to use the A as adultery and not accomplishment. This is just an ironic idea I stumbled upon when looking at the storyline. She is treated as an object but is dismissed for operating like one when procreating the Earth, as humans must do. At some point her reputation slowly is regained and her previous perception withers away, just as people do, and the past leaves the world behind for the new people to roam the Earth, free from any reputation for the time being. Only people lik...
Read more

1984 Post 4: Plot Hole?

-
As I read, there was one thing that truly stood out to me. While Winston was in the shop where he bought his diary, he met the owner. He recognized Winston from his first visit and proceeded to discuss things before the revolution, a conversation that failed with him previous with the man at the pub complaining about pints. The owner also showed him a room he used to stay in before his wife passed nearly 30 years ago. The first thing that Winston noticed was that there wasn’t a telescreen. The owner, Mr. Charrington then explained that they were “too expensive”. I was completely shocked and confused at his comment. You mean to tell me in Oceania you have to PAY to be surveillanced by the government? Moreover, someone can REFUSE to buy a telescreen? If such freedoms like this still exist, why is it that the Party has so much fear and control over the population? This minor plot hole that was used to move the story along leaves me with such inquire. As a writer I can see where the fork...
Read more

Chapters 20-22: Lonely and Vengeful.... and Actually 21

-
“Chapter 21” of the suspenseful Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is left on a cliffhanger when Victor wakes from his rest on the boat to find himself accused for murder. This blog was supposed to start of chapter 20 but I summarized chapter 20 in my previous blog, causing this blog to start on a reveal of the tragic death of Henry Clerval, Victor’s best friend whom he was traveling with. Victor is stuck in prison for a while and proceeds to be sick. On day he gets a visitor, he father comes once he hears the news, eventually, Victor is found innocent and if free to return to Geneva with his father. Once the journey home is completed, there is still the wedding to worry about. Besides planning it, there is also the monster’s threat lingering in an eerie spirit. Victor had a right to worry, because the night before, the monster came to murder yet another person, Elizabeth. The prediction proved itself true, besides this, you can also assume Elizabeth was going to die instead of Victor becaus...
Read more