Blog Post #2: Critical Lens Close Reading

Text: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Critical Lens: Feminist

In all of her intercourse with society, however, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those whom she came in contact with, implied, and often expressed, that she was banished, and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, or communicated with the common nature by other organs and senses than the rest of human kind. (Hawthorne 75).

In this quote, the character Hester Prynne is shown to be feeling isolated from the world and believes that she does not belong in her society. Throughout the course of the novel, Hester's character is treated very differently than others since she committed adultery. For instance, committing adultery led Hester to be forced to wear a scarlet "A" on her chest, and this demonstrates that women were treated cruelly and unjustly in their societies for committing "crimes" during this time period and did not have the right to stand up for themselves and demand their rights. In addition, since during the time period the story takes place women were not treated with equality, they therefore had no power or purpose in their society and in the world in general. On a side note, in addition to having to wear a scarlet letter on her chest, Hester had to put her differences and isolation from the world aside and do the best she possibly could to raise her daughter Pearl. She taught Pearl to be outspoken and to never let others tell her what to do, and because of this, both Hester and Pearl were strongly criticized due to the fact that during this time women were supposed to remain quiet and never speak their minds, even if this meant having to be punished for a certain "crime" they might have committed or be treated with cruelty or brutality. While Hester's character appears to be somewhat strong at times, throughout each chapter of the novel, it is shown that there are other times where she feels like there is no place in the world for her and that no matter what she does to make up for the crime she committed, there is no guarantee that the society around her would accept her for who she really is and gain the respect she desires.