This document provides an analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel "The Scarlet Letter". It summarizes that the novel is a work of romantic and historical fiction that explores themes of feminism. It analyzes the characters of Hester and Pearl who demonstrate strength and independence despite facing oppression, rejection of patriarchal conventions, and raise the child without a man. The document also examines how Hester gains power through rejecting the expectations of her role and femininity defined by patriarchal laws and institutions of the time.

1. Name :- Neelamba R Sarvaiya.
M. A. Sem-3
Paper no-9 “The American Literature”.
S.B.Gardi English department
M.K. Bhavnagar University.
Year-2013-2014

2. The Scarlet Letter
first edition:- 1850
Author:- Nathaniel
Hawthorne
Genre :- Romantic,
Historical
Publisher:- Ticknor, Reed &
Fields
Publication date :-1850

3. • 'The Scarlet Letter' is a feminist novel
• It represents the strength and
independence of the female species.
• Hester, through her struggles with
ignominy and isolation, best
demonstrates the resilience in women,
and their ability to persevere even when
at their lowest states of debasement.

4. • Hester raises a child, manages
financially, and keeps her dignity
high even when her spirit has been
crushed.
•Pearl and Hester represent
dignified, courageous women who
did not need or desire a man to
provide them with the necessities
of life.

5. •The determination and
independence in both these
characters basically defines the word
"Feminism".
•In other words, they contribute to
the theme of feminism in the Novel
by symbolizing the strength of
Woman

6. A substantial part of the
argument in the reading
focused on the idea of Hester
remaining “resolutely outside
patriarchal conventions”.
The basic idea of Hester
gaining power through her
rejection of this expected
ideal is an interesting theory
with a lot of evidence to
support it in the actual novel.

7. “standing alone in the world…and
hopeless of retrieving her
position…she cast away the
fragments of a broken chain. The
world’s law was no law for her
mind.”

8.  Hester’s power, then, comes simply
from her existence – She has rejected of
the role of femininity by twice failing to
live up to its standards (1. original sin, 2.
twisting punishment to showcase her
strength instead of her weakness like
they wanted).

9.  The wild-natured strength that is
created within Hester, the source of
which lies in the rejection of patriarchal
law, and therefore inaccessable by men
or even women living within this law, is
the new kind of femininity that Hester
(and later Pearl) come to represent.