The Colors of Sin
As a reader of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter today, it is safe to say that many of us are shocked by the treatment of Hester Prynne at the hands of her Puritan society. We feel that we have grown as a society, and that as American citizens who value the separation between Church and State, we respect others and extend tolerance, at least politically, towards alternative lifestyles. However, we may not be quite as progressive as we would like to think. Just as in the case of The Scarlet Letter, where Hester Prynne is targeted as a sinner due to her extramarital liaison that resulted in an illegitimate child, women are still considered the responsible party when a child is conceived unexpectedly.
In the opening scenes of the novel, Hester is brought out to be shamed by her fellow citizens, and to withstand her punishment for her sin of adultery. The reader is led to understand through the eyes of the man who ends up being Hester’s estranged husband that Hester refuses to release the name of the man who was her sexual accomplice. It is slightly surprising to the reader that the society found the need to punish the man, in addition to the guilty woman. In some societies, men who compromise women are viewed as acting in the ways of the world, while it is up to the women to deter the men. However, the Puritan society is anxious to hear the name of Hester’s partner, in order to mete out his punishment, as well. Though modern readers may view the Puritan society’s sexual stringency as backwards, it is laudable that the individuals of Salem believed in punishing the male counterpart in a relationship and holding him as an equally accountable party.
Today’s sexual standards in society are nowhere near as strict as those outlined in The Scarlet Letter. Yet unlike the Puritans, we often hold women solely accountable for reproductive slip ups. While Viagra and other sexual aids are advertised towards men, with little female equivalence, women are bombarded with advertisements and medical public service announcements to ensure that they use proper birth control. It is true that men are held fiscally responsible for the upkeep of children which they have created, and this liability has been enforced more and more since the advent of DNA paternity testing. However, women are still shamed as a guilty party for having children out of wedlock and for cavorting with, as the Boston Female Moral Reformers in 1838 coined the term, “licentious men” (p. 112).
A reproductive issue that strongly highlights this point is the topic of abortion. Mainly male candidates feel comfortable proposing laws that would curtail women’s bodily freedom, like Hester’s Puritan society, while the male politicians have no idea what being pregnant and giving birth entails. Once again, it is legally proposed that women be forced to endure a punishment, namely that of carrying a child, while their male counterparts escape with a monthly check.
In Hester Prynne’s society, a woman’s committing the sin of adultery necessitated the donning of a scarlet letter. In our times, being a woman in general means scrambling for multi- colored pills to protect our bodies, and to ward off what, if it were up to some politicians, would result in a Caesarian scar that many women would also be compelled to wear for a lifetime.
-Ariella Medows
February 25th, 2013 at 4:56 pm
Hi Ariella,
One issue that we might discuss further is the changing attitude toward abortion in America. It was legal for Puritans as long as it occurred before the “quickening” at around 4 months into a pregnancy. Here is a bit more information on that:
http://americancreation.blogspot.com/2012/04/founding-fathers-and-abortion-in.html
This began to change in the 1850 to 1880 period, largely through medical professionalization of pregnancy, so as part of what Foucault means by scientia sexualis. It would be helpful in class for you to lead a discussion on the implications of this shift and how it is reflected in the novel.