The following research is on the subject of The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. This novel was published over 150 years ago in a very different age. Men and women both had different things expected of them then, and this was also true of the period covered by the novel, a period with even greater strictures on behavior and attitude. Still, there are certain aspects of the character of Hester Prynne that can be seen as presaging the concerns of the feminist in the 20th Century. Hester is not really a rebel in any direct sense, but she does challenge the beliefs and values of the community by her very presence in it and by her strength in the face of adversity. Her fight is the same one that was fought by so many others in the two centuries to come. She was in no way leading others to follow what she had done, nor was she battling for rights for