The Scarlet Letter Blog 2

In the article found on pages 246 to 253 of The Scarlet Letter talk mostly about women’s rights and how they have changed throughout the years. Women’s rights have been a leading factor in the changing social environment between early America and America today. Women were given nearly no rights in the 1600s, during the time period that the scarlet letter was written in. Women now have nearly equal rights as men. The laws that have been written and implied throughout society, concerning women’s rights, have changed as a result of women demanding more and more rights throughout the years. In the articles it talked about the rights that men have over their wives, the rights that were given women at the Woman’s Rights Convention at Seneca Falls in New York, and the roles of a woman.
The rights that husbands had over their wives are that “the husbands also might give his wife moderate correction. For, as he is to answer for her misbehavior, the law thought it reasonable to intrust him with this power of restraining her.” This must put a lot of pressure on the husband and wife to honor each other. Women in this culture may not have been so passionate for each other but they had a lot more potential to respect each other. Women a lot of time did everything they could to please and honor their husband, where today it is a constant battle about who is in control of the relationship.
The Rights Convention at Seneca Falls was a convention to determine the rights of women in the United States. This convention was held on July 19, 1848 in New York. During this convention the rights of women in the 19th Century were determined to be as followed: “the denial of the right to vote, deprivation of earnings if married, exclusion from colleges, and the state of coverture, which made married women “civilly dead.” All of these things have changed throughout time. For example, Hillary Clinton would never had been able to run for president in the 19th Century. Women were not even allowed to receive a college education or vote; running for president would never have been allowed.
The role of a woman, as defined in the Scarlet Letter, is better known as the “cult of domesticity.” This means that a woman is “to serve in the domestic arena as wife, mother, and keeper of the home and hearth.” This area too has changed from early America to today. Although there are some wives that take care of their families and their homes, most wives are out working a second job.
All of these three examples show how women’s rights have evolved throughout the years. The more rights that women demand, the fewer things that women are being restrained from. Women of today should be thankful for the women in our past who have fought for the rights that we have today as women.