Hester Prynne, the first riot grrrl

From The Scarlet Letter*

Indeed, the same dark question often rose into her mind, with reference to the whole race of womanhood. Was existence worth accepting, even to the happiest among them? As concerned her own individual existence, she had long ago decided in the negative, and dismissed the point as settled. A tendency to speculation, though it may keep a woman quiet, as it does man, yet makes her sad. She discerns, it may be, such a hopeless task before her. As a first step, the whole system of society is to be torn down, and built up anew. Then, the very nature of the opposite sex, or its long hereditary habit, which has become like nature, is to be essentially modified, before woman can be allowed to assume what seems a fair and suitable position. Finally, all other difficulties being obviated, woman cannot take advantage of these preliminary reforms, until she herself shall have undergone a still mightier change; in which, perhaps, the ethereal essence, wherein she still has her truest life, will be found to have evaporated. A woman never overcomes these problems by any exercise of thought.

Historical note: The Scarlet Letter was published two years after the Seneca Falls Convention.

*And yes, I read this in junior high but never understood the complexities of the novel. There is SO MUCH THERE. It’s way better the second time around.**

**Also, The Custom House Sketch, a kind of intro to The Scarlet Letter, is amazing for Hawthorne’s description of his own writer’s block. AMAZING. Who knew I was a Hawthorne fan?