It is a fact that in the United States right now, women are not equal to men. We still lack equal pay, equal control over our bodies, and equal opportunity. The list goes on. But what about in the 1640’s? As the book, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, follows Hester Prynne and her story as a woman in puritan colonial time, we see what it was like for a woman to live in the 1640’s. What it was like for a pregnant woman without her husband in the picture. I wasn’t quite sure at first if it would be a good read, but it proved to be a book that made me not regret my choice to pick it up. 

Hester is a woman scorned by others. Found to be pregnant when her husband is gone, and presumably thought dead, Hester gets marked with a scarlet “A” on her chest. For adultery. Some may wonder what one could learn from an adultery but trust me when I tell you there’s a lot. As I mentioned before, Hester was found pregnant with another man’s child. As she refused to speak the man’s name, she had to take responsibility for herself. So she adorned the scarlet “A” and stood on a public stage to show it as the people scorned and hated her. 

Hester being a relatable character allows us to believe in the lessons Hawthorne is trying to teach us. From the very first page it is clear that she is relatable because we see her flaws and her punishments, but we also see her happiness and determination. Hester is the definition of human life, filled with a turbulence of emotions, and it makes the reader feel comfortable learning from her. It is most often that lessons we take to heart are the ones we can clearly see the consequences of. 

Another aspect to this book was the almost mystery-like mood. Though not a mystery novel, characters such as Arthur Dimmesdale and Roger Chillingworth bring forth an ambiguous feeling; like walking along a tightrope and not knowing which way you will fall. These characters however, can also make you hate the truth of humanity- the strong survive and the weak suffer. In this case, women are the weak.

The plot of the book was also something that caught my attention. It was strange in the fact that there were almost two climaxes in the book, not just one big one, before the falling action. In an effort to not spoil it, I won’t quite explain them, but based on what Hester had to go through the entire book, it only made sense for there to be so much happening. It really made for an eventful read.  

In the end, The Scarlet Letter is a book I am glad that I read. Even though it may be ugly learning about the sad truth of man, seeing man’s constant struggle to stay afloat in a large and dangerous world is important. I for certain learned a lot and am sure that anyone else who reads it will learn a lot as well. Hawthorne refers to a rose bush at the beginning of the novel, saying the roses “might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner.” The book itself is a rose that offers us its knowledge. If that makes me a prisoner, I’d willingly take it.