During my reading of the Scarlet Letter, I have learned a lot about social perception and self esteem. Hester, before the incident, was a very spirited girl-- one who would fight back and have no shame for herself. However, once she was caught and forced to wear the Scarlet Letter, something within her changed, She began to look at herself as not just a person who was caught in adultery, but as a representation of the Scarlet Letter itself. She was filled with shame and began to believe in everything that the town though of her-- evil, wrong, unworthy, outcast, slut. Her spirit was then broken. Looking through these passages with the psychoanalytical lens made it easier to stop why Hester felt the sudden shame and distaste in herself so rapidly and continuously throughout the novel. These feelings all came from an outside source stating she was not good enough and did not fit into societies morals and regulations, and therefore should be banished. When I read about this I was very upset and frustrated that she let the towns thoughts and perspectives define who she was and had become. However, this is still seen and done in today's society through social media and the societies perception on what makes a person beautiful and worthy. We have images of the perfect woman who is usually a white skinny blond female and women all over are faced to deal with the opinions of others based on the "perfect image". This caused women to lose a lot of self esteem and make them feel as if the observations of others define who they are, just like Hester. I don't think I will ever let my actions first of all define me or to let my community decide how I should be treated based solely on my actions alone.
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