Hawthorne Supports the Ladies

Many people have declared The Scarlet Letter to be a hidden feminist book due to the intense characteristics of Hester Prynn. From the beginning of the novel it is evident that Hester is a strong willed women with the capabilities of individually raising a child, which is a task that she has to endure. Also, the main male character, Dimmesdale, is illustrated as a weak, cowardice man. Although he is the most relate-able to human nature, I personally found his characteristics to be very unlikable. To begin with, he finds no capability to properly confess his sin to the public, so instead he watches his "love" interest become a secluded and unwanted figure in society. To continue, when he finally does confess about the adultery, he is on his death bed, which serves as a scape-goat to any public shame or tarnished reputation. These aspects of the novel clearly portray that femininity can overpower males and their lack of strength. This is even further emphasized when the aspect of Puritan society is put in place. The reason being, Puritans viewed males as strong and reliable, so they were given an exceptional amount of power. Although, Hawthorne creates a protagonist who depict "masculine power" in as a female figure. This ultimately shows Hawthorne's hidden support for the feminist movement, even if it was unintentional.