The Scarlet Letter Is Hester a Strong Female Character

Dominique Schettini

Miss Margarita Curiel

APELAC

11 October 2013

The Scarlet Letter: Hester, a Strong Female Character?

Hester Prynne is the name of the protagonist in the book, "The Scarlet Letter." She committed the sin of adultery and as a punishment must wear a scarlet letter, A on her bosom. She is alienated from the whole town and is only accompanied by her daughter, Pearl. Although she was at her lonesome, her strong character pushed through and embraced the more optimistic side of things. The book read "lonely as was Hester's situation, and without a friend on earth who dared to show himself, she, however, incurred no risk of want." (Hawthorne 200) She didn't need to have any friends; her needlework and craftsmanship took their place. Not only her ability to withstand lonesome but also her keeping her word and not fleeting with the given chance too describe her extremely strong character.

Hester always kept her word, she was extremely strong willed. Throughout all the bashing of the citizens of the Puritan society she never once revealed whom the father of her child was, she kept it a secret until the individual decided it was time for him to tell people. She continued on with her life standing completely alone, facing all the citizens who criticized solely her. She not once wanted to harm herself, nor run away, Even though she had the chance too.

When they released Hester, She was able to move to a new town where no one knew what she has done, but she decided to stay. She was "free to return to her birthplace, or to any other European land, and there hide her character..." (Hawthorne 194) Her decision to stay proved that she was a strong female. She knew the circumstances in which she was going to live. She knew she was going to be in complete lonesome, she knew she will be stared upon everywhere she went, she knew that she would be used as an example of bad decisions to the whole town, and she still decided to stay. She believed that she was connected to the town because that is where she committed her sin, therefore she should serve her punishment in that very town. With all these traits possessed, Hester creates the perfect example of a strong female character. Her actions provide nothing but support of these character traits. She not only stands alone, but completely confident. She somewhat represents the traits equal of any man. This point alone could be a single reason that makes this novel a feminist novel.

When the word Feminist comes to mind, I think of a person that agrees on the foundation of woman's rights. They believe that a woman should have rights equivalent to those of a man. They also believe that along with the rights come expectations. Any woman could accomplish any task a