In The Scarlet Letter, what role did Hawthorne believe women should play in society? In The Scarlet Letter, what role does Hawthorne believe women...

is not
transformed or renewed in any way by her punishment or this experience aside from her physical
appearance.  She loved a man who was not her husband, and despite her public ignominy she loves
him still.  Unlike , it's clear Hester would have committed the same sin/crime of adultery with
Arthur if she had been given the chance.  To that extent, then, Hawthorne portrays her as an
independent woman, beyond the morality of this Puritan town.  The people change how they see her
and interact with her, but she is essentially unchanged from beginning to
end.