Text: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Critical Lens: Feminist
Children have always a sympathy in the agitations of those connected with them; always, especially, a sense of any trouble or impending revolution, of whatever kind, in domestic circumstances; and therefore Pearl, who was the gem on her mother's unquiet bosom, betrayed, by the very dance of her spirits, the emotions which none could detect in the marble passiveness of Hester's brow (Hawthorne 209).
In this quote, children are described as unique and special individuals who are very different from their parents or guardians. They are a lot more rebellious and outgoing than their parents and are also not afraid to speak their minds and even refuse to remain "hidden" from anyone. This type of relationship is shown quite frequently throughout the novel between Pearl and Hester. Hester appears to be feeling very isolated from the world around her and rarely speaks her mind even when she wishes more than anything that she can one day be accepted by everyone in her society. Pearl, on the other hand, is not afraid to speak her mind and is even willing to get herself into trouble if this means that she will fully be accepted into her society. Through the course of the novel, Hester keeps it a secret who the father of Pearl is, and this leads to her exclusion from the world and others to treat her with little to no respect. On the contrary, Pearl is a lot more outgoing and does not prefer to keep secrets from anyone since she would rather reveal to the world what's on her mind instead of hiding in a corner and being isolated from her society. The differences both Hester and Pearl share with each other shows that during the time period in which the novel takes place, women were supposed to remain silent about everything and that there possibly might have been a few women who were not afraid to speak their minds and demand that they are treated with respect and dignity.
No comments:
Post a Comment