A: AUTORIDADE, ARTE, ADULTÉRIO

Abstract

In a society dominated by the male social group, under a strict hierarchy and ruled by severe religious goals, one woman gets the social spot because of a crime/sin committed by her that shocked all the New England colony population. Starting with the analysis of Hester Prynne’s adultery, we try to take into account the social conflicts related to the oppression suffered by the feminine social group that, as a result of its secondary social role, is diminished in that patriarchal hierarchy divided according to gender. Our focus is on the examination of the way the tension caused by the visibility of Prynne’s sin provided social transformations related to the woman’s identification as an individual independent of the male figure, and endowed with her own identity and subjectivities, apart of historical and cultural limits established by male leadership to make the woman reproduce in her own discourse the oppressive system against the group she belongs to. This discourse based on traditions that create the image of a puritan woman morally irreproachable and incorruptible makes the male position as God’s representative at home and as a social commander get stronger; on the other hand, it undermines the representativeness of the woman before her community, making the importance of her roles fade. Therefore, the penalties imposed to Hester Prynne stimulate the discussions about the growing of a new model of femininity in the New England colony. This model refers to the woman’s self representation and subsistence, which also makes her able to exercise functions considered exclusive to the male social group, without any risk of impairing the development of the community.