The Scarlet Letter

As I reread the Scarlet Letter, as I mentioned before, I always find something new in the story. In Chapter 13, I am reminded of Hawthorne's view of women as they grow older. Now, I imagine I'm not afraid to say that I will be 41 next week. Not a milestone--that was last year. But I never really accepted that I was 40, so I imagine that I now need to get over that idea.
Hawthorne says:
"Some attribute had departed from her, the permanence of which had been essential to keep her a woman. Such is frequently the fate, and such the stern development of the feminine character and person, when the woman has encountered, and lived through, an experience of peculiar severity. If she be all tenderness, she will die. If she survive, the tenderness will either be crushed out of her, or--and the outward semblance is the same--crushed so deeply into her heart that it can never show itself more. The latter is perhaps the truest theory. She who has once been woman, and ceased to be so, might at any moment become a woman again, if there were only the magic touch to effect the transfiguration."

OK. I have a few comments on this. First, I believe that there is some essential part of each of us that makes us male or female. Genetics, nurture? I don't know. I know that as a female, I have the capabiliities of many things that my male counterparts do not. I also believe that if a woman does not have some stamina, the hard parts of life will break them. They may become weak; they may become non-existent; they may become something less than what they were before the hard parts of life. I don't necessarily believe that the tenderness would be crushed out of her.

Now, that being said, I do believe that women can become the woman that they were if the right magic touch is available.
I'm a scorpion. I feel passionately and wholeheartedly about most things. I don't really believe in grey areas. If you're going to believe in something--believe in something... And believe wholeheartedly. Now, saying that is one thing and behaving on that are different stories.
What if Hester's tenderness has been "crushed out of her"? Was it the adultery with Dimmesdale or being alone for two months as Roger Chillingworth galavanted around with the American Indians? She does appear more cold, but can we blame her for that behavior?

"Much of the marble coldness of Hester's impression was to be attributed to the circumstance that her life had turned, in a great measure, from passion and feeling, to thought. Standing alone in the world..."

Hawthorne goes on to explain that women's thoughts can not overcome problems--not necessarily a dig against women't intelligence as he's talking about the soul and a woman's passion. He goes on to say that if a woman's heart is put first, then problems "vanish". And Hester.. has turned to thought.. not her heart.

"There was a wild and ghastly scenery all around her, and a home and comfort nowhere. At times a fearful doubt strove to possess her soul, whether it were not better to send Pearl at once to heaven, and go herself to such futurity as Eternal Justice should provide."

Wow. The choice between killing your own child, committing suicide or being happy and following your heart? Doesn't seem a fair choice. Or a realistic one. Even during the 16th century women were fighting for the simple right to be happy?

Nicholas Sparks, author of great stories like: The Notebook, The Rescue, etc., is often applauded for his ability to write for the female audience with such grace and accuracy. Is Hawthorne the prelude to Sparks? Or is Hawthorne just lucky? I'm going to stick with him being a genius.

Wow... Hawthorne hits so many ideas straight on the head!!!