Hester the Anti-Hero
The Scarlett Letter presents a lot of radical ideas (although I do acknowledge that it was written in a more modern time so perhaps it is not as radical as I think it is) in the way that Hawthorne sympathizes the character of Hester and she becomes a martyr.
“Here, she said to herself had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul, and work out another purity than that which she had lost: more saint-like, because the result of martyrdom.”(Chapter One)
She is presented as the strongest character in this novel, much stronger than Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. She becomes the epitome of purity and morality. I would like to juxtapose the idea of feminism as discussed in Cott’s essay: the “passionless woman” with Hester as a feminist character and the shifting of power that occurs as the result of her crime.
Cott demonstrates how female sexuality shifts according to cultural needs by discussing the concept of the “passionless” woman that arose during the 19th century as a way of controlling female sexuality and thus making women less susceptible to the advances of licentious men and also giving them a higher purpose. The de-sexualization of women was a feminist movement. This gave them power over the sexual arena. They were no longer obligated to sleep with their husbands; they were considered purer than men and virginal servants of God. This was a counter to the sexual exploitation that was rampant at the time. Women were repeatedly put in a vulnerable position as a result of illicit affairs with men. Women would take the fall and men would hardly ever be seen as responsible for their actions. We see this in the Scarlett Letter and the double standard is the basis for the novel. The idea of a woman as having more virtue than a man eased the objectification of women and made society more sympathetic to their cause. This concept of the passionless woman was deconstructed in the 20th century in order to advance the feminist movement. During this modernization, feminist leaders of the time advocated that women had as strong a sexual drive as men and dismantled this “holier than thou” view. But it is clear the purpose it served during the 19th century as providing some sort of protection for women and putting them on more equal ground by giving them this societal purpose (beyond the reaches of reproduction).
Hester is guilty of not adhering to the Puritan Law and engaging in sexual misconduct but ironically she becomes this perfect “passionless woman”. I would like to say that I think the term is a misnomer and Cott also shows it as false. Rather Hester has repressed her passion under humility and replaced it with a virginal purity that is seemingly much more powerful than that of other women. But we see her passion unfold again when she meets Dimmesdale in the forest and also when she expresses her hatred for Chillingworth. Yet she has control over this passion. Her restraint and humble nature have made her saintly and she slowly becomes respected. Chillingworth and Dimmesdale are shown as weak, they are still under the tyranny of sin (Chillingworth his revenge and Dimmesdale his ineffable guilt). Hester alone survives. Just as her passionlessness shows her as honorable so does her expression of passion when she gives Dimmesdale strength and freedom. And by being an outcast and standing alone she has more freedom than most and becomes stronger with her own ethics. Hawthorne paints the portrait of a woman who is closer to God than anyone else.
Tags: Hester Prynne, martyr, passionless, Puritan
February 25th, 2013 at 2:49 pm
I agree that “passionless” is something of a misnomer, and I, too, saw it as more of a control over passion than a complete lack of it. Women, like Hester, who adopted that type of lifestyle chose to redirect their passions and control them. This gave many of them power over the rampant sexual objectification they faced. As you pointed out, this idea morphed in the 20th century, although I still think it revolved around the idea of control–just going in a different direction. Instead of women choosing to abstain or be “passionless”, women instead demanded freedom and independent control of their bodies through things like access to birth control, right to abortion, and general sexual freedom. I think the evangelical “passionlessness” helped to plant the seeds for the modern movement’s focus on power, personal choice, and equality.