Alisa Key August 16, 2010 AP English 11 The Scarlet Letter The progression of Hester throughout The Scarlet Letter was dramatic and varied greatly. In the beginning of the book she was feeling ashamed, isolated, and shunned by the townspeople. To her, the “A” stood for more than adultery, it stood for “ashamed.” She was being imprisoned by the judgment of others; the lock was a simple scarlet letter. She was living while being haunted by her past. Even seeing her own daughter, Pearl, would sometimes bring up the emotion of her sin all over again.
She begins to hide her luscious hair in a cap and almost seems to lose her femininity. She becomes an outcast in the town, living on the outskirts of town. Men, woman, and children constantly making fun of both Pearl and Hester increasing the affect of Hester's diminishing appearance. An example of this abuse can be seen in Pearl repeatable being called a "demon child" by the towns people. (Hawthorne, Scarlet Letter 89) It almost seems as if the scarlet letter has absorbed her beauty along with all the rebellious and fiery qualities of Hester, leaving a cold and lonely woman, her tenderness "crushed so deeply into her heart that it can never show itself more.
The Discrimination against Women Identities Throughout history, female were considered lesser beings and nothing more than the property of their husband. In the short story, Blank Spaces by Joanna Cockerline, the acknowledgment of female being inferior creatures in comparison to men is highlighted. Struggle against misfortunes, Elizabeth is oppressed by the social inequality due to the fact that she is a girl. In Blank Spaces, the social inequality implied by the narrative severely impacts Elizabeth’s career hierarchy, character traits, and life experiences. Like many feminist writer, Cockerline focuses her emphasis on how social norm discriminate women by inhibit their job opportunities.
In addition, she portrays similar tones such as desperation and mournfulness. In fact, in lines 30 to 24 her tone is at it’s most somber state as she expresses her guilt for being a bad mother to her “child” and believes she has not sent this child away prepared for the world’s cruel criticism. Furthermore, the diction is a device that coincides with the tone of the poem. Her choice of words all share a very strong connotation. As previously mentioned she uses the words ill formed and feeble to describe her unfinished writing’s fragility.
Contrary to that, there are also multiple similarities between their societal behaviors involving mental illnesses and ours. In Jane Eyre, there can be many arguments made on characters that can be considered ‘mentally incompetent’ or ‘insane’. One example would be Aunt Reed, who found it impossible to care for Jane as her own child simply because she did not like the child’s mother. Today, Aunt Reed would be designated as having Avoidant Attachment Disorder. This mental illness would be diagnosed based upon her hostility, her criticism, her self-important image and her lack of empathy towards Jane.
Esmeralda doesn’t fit into suburbia also she is obsessive which makes her neighbour think that she is a freak. In the scene when Edward is talking to peg, Esmeralda interrupts them and stars perching her thoughts about Edward and saying that he is ‘the devil incarnate.’ Esmeralda is a good example of personal suffering because she is excluded and marginalized by her suburban community. Pegs
In The Scarlet Letter, Hester’s alienation is presented through the harsh treatment she receives before she is even introduced in the novel. Through Hawthorne’s shifting narrative perspective in Chapter 3, readers are given an indication of the dislike felt towards Hester for her sin. Hawthorne presents readers with the perspective of the women in society to reveal the amount of hatred and subsequent isolation that Hester will experience once she is released from prison. Furthermore, the constant use of negative descriptions such as “malefactress” and “naughty baggage” (Chapter 2) by the women of Boston society provide further evidence to show the Hester’s exclusion from the Puritan community as she
Yet, even worse than Chillingworth’s rude and evil nature was her suffering caused by Dimmesdale. Indeed that her love for Dimmesdale was causing her great pain and anguish. From seeing his agony and pain, she suffered by knowing that she was, in some part, responsible for it. “Hast thou not tortured him enough?”.. “Has he not paid thee all?”..“It was myself!” cried Hester, shuddering” “It was I, not less than he. Why hast thou avenged thyself on me?”(Hawthorne
In Arthur Miller's The Crucible Abigail William's traumatic childhood has turned her into a vindictive person who's need for self-preservation has driven her to value nothing but her own life. Horrid incidents such as the grisly one Abigail sustained can have such a tremendous impact on a child's perspective and personality. The lack of attention and love Abigail received during her childhood has furthermore induced her to act very brutally towards people in order to fulfill her urges and needs. The traumatic events a child has experienced can have various complex influences on their development. For example the exposure of ruthless acts of violence inflicted on the child's parent can manipulate the child's attitude as well as behavioral
Her use of words in ‘Elm’ is also interesting. “Faults” could be emotional and/or physical and this shows the psychological states explored throughout Sylvia Plath’s work. “Malignity” symbolises evil and the intensity of how disturbed her life was.Another poem by Plath that I found to be personal on an intense and disturbing way was ‘Mirror’. It is clear as Plath looks into the mirror that she is unhappy, watching her age. A mirror never lies, but Plath cannot find solace in what she sees.