Paper Example on Feminism in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Introduction

This paper presents an analysis of feminism with a major view of the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It, therefore, presents the author biography, the period when the novel was written and the political situation of that period. It goes further to explain what is feminism and explain the beginning of the story. A feminist perspective of the age, feminism analysis of this work and findings of the analysis are also presented. Moreover, it presents criticisms of feminism, the main message of the work, themes and moral messages, personal opinions, and feminism in 2018 in the world of English Literature.

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Authors Biography

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. He belonged to the sixth generation of the Salem family. He is the writer of several short stories including; "My Kinsman, Major Molineux" written in 1832, "Roger Malvin's Burial" written in 1832, "Young Goodman Brown" written in 1835, and the collection Twice-Told Tales. Nathaniel also became a renowned writer because of his two novels; "The Scarlet Letter" written in 1850, and "The House of the Seven Gables" which he wrote in 1851.

An early ancestor to Nathaniel was William Hawthorne who emigrated from England to America in the 1600s and settled in Salem. William later became a judge and was known for his harsh sentencing. Nathaniel added a 'w' to his name to distance himself from the family. Nathaniel was born of Nathaniel and Elizabeth Hawthorne. Nathaniel's father died in 1808 of yellow fever, he was a sea captain. Leaving his wife with three children Nathaniel being the only son. Nathaniel became more interested in reading and writing while still at a tender age; he had a leg injury that left him immobile for several months, and he developed this interest.

Nathaniel attended college from 1821 to 1825 at the Bowdoin College, this was with the help of his wealthy uncles. In college he read intensely and was equipped with skills in English composition and the classics. After coming from college, Nathaniel stayed in seclusion in Salem for 12 years. It was during this period, he learned on how to write tales and sketches that were particularly unique (Brown, 1997).

Hawthorne published most of his early short stories anonymously mostly through magazines and gift books. He came from his solitude because of his love for his neighbor in Salem, Sophia Peabody (Crews, 1966). Hawthorne started working in 1838 in Boston Custom house since the profit that he made from writing would not be sufficient to support his wife and family. Hawthorne got married to Sophia in 1842 and stayed in Concord, Massachusetts where they stayed for several years (Brodhead, 1997).

In 1846 Hawthorne was appointed to a position in Salem custom House as a surveyor but was later relieved of the duty because of his political links (Bercovitch, 1991). This provided him with the chance to write one of his most successful novels "Scarlet Letter". From 1850 to 1853 was the most productive time for Hawthorne; during this period he wrote "The House of Seven Gables and Blithedale Romance", "A Wonder Book", and "The Tanglewood Tales". At this time he lived in Red House in Lenox in the Berkshire Hills. Hawthorne had been an active man, but his health started to deteriorate. The details of his declining health is still a mystery since he did not allow to be thoroughly examined medically. He died on May, 1864. He died on the second night while in Plymouth, New Hampshire while sleep.

The Period When the Novel Was Written

"The Scarlet Letter" was written in 1850. Hawthorne began writing the Scarlet letter after her mother's death that had deeply affected him. It is argued by Baym that Hester Prynne was social stigmatized as a woman left alone to rear and bear a child on her own is a reflection of the that facts of Hawthorne mothers life into fiction.

Political Situation of That Period

A twofold intersectional analysis perspective is taken by the political project that focuses on critiquing the overlapping frameworks. For instance, it shows how systemic forms like law, affect women adversely, moreover, it indicates on how gender identity leads to the spread of cases of violence through a culture that amplifies cultural, political and social disempowerment against the women (Bickman, 1980) . Before colonization, the native women were more empowered than in the contemporary world, for instance, they had economic, political and religious power at least almost same to the men. The demonstration on how law focuses on sanctioning sexual violence towards indigenous women forms one of a key area of intervention (Kuokkanen, 2008), how patriarchal and colonial structures continue to pose a challenge to women towards the realization and expression of free will through a legal agency (Crowley, 1975). Moreover, it focuses on how the early forms of cultural genocide and discrimination that were directed towards the indigenous people have intensified the contemporary forms of gender violence which indigenous women suffer from (Stanton, 2013).

The paradigm of feminism is conceptualized other than identity politics but as an analytical tool (Synder, 2014). It broad perspective is based on the achievement of gender justices in three different ways that includes; the restoration of indigenous women status that was eroded by the patriarchal and colonial systems, through building indigenous political platforms and legal frameworks that incorporates indigenous traditions that will allow the incorporation of traditional practices in the modern forms indigenous decolonization and anti-oppressive struggles and lastly, by engaging in coalitional politics that results into the decolonization of gender through the indigenous people collective rights (Suzak, Huhndorf, Perreault and Barman, 2010). This is an important terrain that is a representation of contestation and solidarity over the self-determination struggles by the indigenous people (Campbell, 1968). Moreover, it identifies the cultural complexity such as Indian feminism, tribal feminism, native womanism, native feminism, aboriginal feminism and indigenous feminism.

Postcolonial feminism is considered as a source of growth of indigenous feminism that due to its acknowledgment of the importance of decolonization of oppressive systems and the consequences of colonization (Downing, 1999). The concept of feminism may also take the perspective of geographical specify such as Australia's Aboriginal feminism, tribal feminism in Canada and Native American Feminism of North America, however, all these terms revolve around the rubric of feminism (Fogle, 1952). Self-determination and decolonization are concepts that deeply rooted in the indigenous struggles that for a long time have resulted in the distortion of the relationship between the feminism and activism terms. Indigenous scholars and thinkers advocate for decolonization and self-determination, however, these concepts are based on different types of frameworks.

Decolonization is an external and internal process that allows the colonized to change or oppose the control and conquest of the people's goods and land (Loomba, 2005). The devolution of political and social welfare and the governing of the nation through the Aboriginal people come from self-determination (Fuller, 1998). Whenever the people commit to feminist politics both in the present and the past numerous challenges are faced. The disconnection in the understanding of feminism arises from the assumption taken by indigenous that self-government, self-determination and indigenous sovereignty are not part of the feminism.

What Is Feminism and the Story How It Started?

Feminism defines the social, personal, economic and political rights for women. The basis of feminism is the establishment of employment and education opportunities for women. The early twentieth century and the nineteenth century are the periods when the first wave of feminist took place in America. A number of critical approaches are used by feminist critics to arrive in their conclusion about Hawthorne. For instance, the finest critics use methodologies derived from social sciences and historiography such as eclectic approaches such as psychological inquiry and close-reading technique.

Feminism is both a practice and a theory that strives for the sovereignty of the people. Feminism is a fundamental paradigm that seeks to analyze gender-related injustices against the women emerging from patriarchal practices and colonial policies that are inscribed to gendered power dynamics that affect the women. The counterinsurgency against an attempt effect and apply equally to all women the western feminism led to the development of indigenous feminism. However, the indigenous people and women experiences were fruitless due to this attempts. Therefore, the theory of indigenous feminist seeks to reverse ways in which the white feminism ignores or conflates the intergroup differences. The white feminism failed to meet the indigenous women needs hence postcolonial feminism was used as a source of indigenous feminism.

The theory focuses on patriarchy and colonialism intersections for the purpose of examining how gender and race systems overlap hence the creation of conditions in which the women are a subject to sexism, racism, social dis-empowerment forms that comes from the contemporary and historical practices hence leading to discrimination that affect the indigenous women disproportionally. Therefore, the main purpose of this paradigm is to assist women to achieve gender justice through the analysis of their marginalization, moreover, as subjects' colonialism, sexism, and racism (Smith, 2005).

A Feminism Perspective of the Age

The tensions between feminism and indigenous issues arise when there is an attempt at separating the embodiment practices. The bypassing of the politics of feminism arise when the concepts behind activism as used to enable people to create social change and a vehicle for ending oppression. Therefore, the above notion posits that feminists are native activists other than feminists, indigenous people who identify or use feminism hence leading to problems. Social justice activism is the other concept that articulates indigenous justice as a self-determination practice which enacts the principles of transitional justice. The conceptions of the indigenous on matters related to justice are conveyed in three important ways of indigenous self-determination goals. For instance, they lead to a connection between local experiences of injustice to political and ceremonial acts that opens up the struggles within the understanding and the articulation of the nature of injustice by the indigenous people.

Secondly, the indigenous people define justice based on their knowledge of systems that convey their experiences, thirdly, the conceptualization of the contemporary events are based on the knowledge and historical past experiences of specific indigenous persons. Therefore, these approaches are built by indigenous women through the articulation of justice in the contemporary means. In order to facilitate the claims of indigenous social justice, self-determination and liberation struggle practices are undertaken behind the scenes for the purpose of renewal working and inter-generational inheritance with regard the principles of kinship hence fostering community regeneration.

Political and social meanings emerge from justice practices of the indigenous people hence furthering reparative goals. The collective power of choice and aboriginal community standpoints that constitute the indigenous self-determination hence an important tool of governance (Napolean, 2005). Indigenous communities mobilize through the core principle of collectivity, therefor...