Views of Hester: Passive Victim or Feminist Heroine?

(Trabalho de Literatura, sobre feminismo e a imagem da mulher no livro "A Letra Escarlate" - pois é, infelizmente in English only)

Nathaniel Hawthorn's The Scarlet Letter has long been looked up to as a hallmark of American literature. Still today, the novel is studied in literature classes all over the world, as a passionate and critical depiction of early American society. The story - the woman doomed with a mark of shame. Its major themes - sin, guilt and legalism. The usual analysis, strangely enough, seems to come about here. And not infrequently, the blatant subject of the role of women in the narrative is left surprisingly unexplored.

Here is a possibility: we are all so familiar with such patriarchal conditions, that we hardly notice its casual appearances. But still, the young woman named Hester Prynne is no casual appearance. She is the story's very main character - a female protagonist. Her personal and social struggle is undeniably the very core of the novel. Yes, "the role of women" is clearly a missing subject in most school guides on The Scarlet Letter and American literature. But what, exactly, should be the approach? The female presence is clear. But what is it with Hester? Is she just a quiet, passive victim, or a strong, fighting, feminist heroine?

I consider myself a feminist (anti-sexist, or whatever label that suits those who worry about gender equality) and I couldn't help but gear up on each of Hester's appearences. I have to admit: it isn't easy. But apart from her several characteristics that weighs down on either side, the whole argument of the novel seem to hang on to the feminist aspect.

The theme of symbolism is very important in this vision. The "scarlet letter" itself (as it names the book) is just as important as the portrayal of Hester in the subject of feminism. Originally, the mark A was an ignominious punishment with the meaning of "Adultery". However, the letter A has such a presence that it does not only appear as a punishing garment on Hester's bosom, but even in the night sky in the form of a meteor trail. And just as the very meteor's appearance in Chapter VII ("Nothing was more common, in those days, than to interpret all meteoric appearances, (…)" page 232), the letter A can also be interpreted in several different ways.

It is interesting to compare Hester's (and therefore, the scalet letter's) portrayal throughout the novel. In the first description of Hester's solitary daily life (Chapter V: "Hester at the Needle"), the mood is radically different than in the second half of the story: 

"The days of the far-off future would toil onward, still with the same burden for her to take up, and bear along with her, but never to fling down; for the accumulating days and added years would pile up their misery upon the heap of shame." (page 118)

And later on (Chapter XIII: "Another View of Hester"), here's how Hester's routine is represented: 

"The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness was found in her—so much power to do, and power to sympathise— that many people refused to interpret the scarlet A by its original signification. They said that it meant Able, so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman’s strength." (page 242)

Hester's contribution to the community remained similar. But as it is clearly described, there was much change in the way it was done and viewed. 

Such change in the interpretation of symbols is often required by oppressed social groups. For example, the word "gay" was slowly changed from "cheerful", to "free"/"uninhibited" (sometimes sexualised), and later incorporated into homosexuality in a positive way - better than the clinical "homosexual" or the derogatory "queer". Also, the now technical-sounding expression "negro" became less frequent, while the bold term "Black" became more usual in African American activism. This re-interpretation of words and symbols incorporating positive meanings, is sure to be found in The Scarlet Letter, as quoted above from Chapter XIII (purposefully titled "Another View of Hester").

It is also quite interesting to notice that a similar effect is presently going on with the notion of "slut". Though a clearly negative meaning is still present (and will probably continue so for years to come), it has now an ironic connotation in the Slut Walk feminist (sex-positive) movement. It all began in Canada, when a Toronto Police officer advised "women should avoid dressing like sluts" to prevent rape, as if clothing justified abusive sexual behavior. Since then, the rallies began to spread all over the world - women dressing as so-called "sluts" and stating their rights to do so. While it sparks some controversy (even among other feminists), the idea of converting a burden into a form of pride is also present. And it clearly relates to Hester's persecution by Puritans, that follows the same struggle against the patriarchal, moralist formula of slut-shaming. 

Couldn't it be that Hester, amid all her social and psychologial struggle, had a certain hidden pride of her position as well? Isn't her daughter Pearl, the result of her very "sin", also a blessing to be proud of?

The following excerpt is from Chapter VII: "The Governor's Hall", when Hester Prynne seem to proudly parade with her wild elfish companion:

"Her mother, in contriving the child’s garb, had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full play, arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic of a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered in fantasies and flourishes of gold thread. (…) It was the scarlet letter in another form: the scarlet letter endowed with life!" (page 151)

Of course, as it has been mentioned, Hester's position in the story (as well as the character's state of mind) is too complex for us to keep track of. Certainly, her relation to her "sin", symbol and daughter are rather ambiguous - but also, her apparent passive reaction to all of her struggles. 

Once again, we come across with the subject of activism. Here, we must interpret Hester's silent endurance not as a form of submission, but maybe as a form of resistance. Sometimes, not reacting is a form of reaction. Refusing to vote, nontheless, is still a political position. This is clear in non-violent movements such as Mahatma Gandhi's Salt March and the civil-disobedience in Marin Luther King Jr.'s activism. Is Hester's situation, her quiet, non-violent struggle, certainly worked out on her favor, as it is mentioned in "Another View of Hester":

"(…) She never battled with the public, but submitted uncomplainingly to its worst usage; she made no claim upon it in requital for what she suffered; she did not weigh upon its sympathies. Then, also, the blameless purity of her life during all these years in which she had been set apart to infamy was reckoned largely in her favour." (page 241)

Some may interpret this passive-reaction as a result of guilt, judging that Hester may agree with her own penitence rather than defy it. However, many other aspects should be taken into consideration. Hester is mostly recognized as a strong, confident character. The scalet letter itself, had its very meaning revoked by part of the population. Hester's Pearl, with its wild elfish, supernatural aura, seems to represent life, if not femininity, in all its wonder. By the last pages of the novel, Pearl's future is left open-ended by the reach of "the flush and bloom of early womanhood". Pearl, in a way, seems to represent a mysterious, but promising future - even if result of such harsh struggles. 

Nathaniel Hawthorn, two years before the publication of The Scarlet Letter, was surely aware of the Seneca Falls Convention - the very first women's rights convention in Western world - in New York, July, 1848. Considering the context not only of its setting, but also of its real-life author, Hester Prynne's story is sure to have a strong position concerning feminism in literature.

Part victim, part heroine, the protagonist's role in the novel may remain ambiguous. But after all, as stated in the very last page of the book, maybe this is the ultimate statement about Hester's position:

"(…) She assured them, too, of her firm belief that, at some brighter period, when the world should have grown ripe for it, in Heaven’s own time, a new truth would be revealed, in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of mutual happiness."