A futuristic Scarlet Letter?

As one begins to read When She Woke  it quickly becomes clear that the novel has many similarities with the classic novel The Scarlet Letter. The similarities in some cases are striking and very evident, while others are more subtle and can go unseen if the reader is not playing close attention to detail. Now you may ask, what are these similarities and is When She Woke a futuristic version of The Scarlet Letter?

The first similarity that was very clear to me when reading the novel was the use of the color motif, specifically red. In When She Woke Hannah Payne is dyed to the color red for having an abortion, which in her society is considered murder. Meanwhile, in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is marked with a red letter “A” as a sign of adultery and she is considered to be a harlot. The use of the color motif strongly develops and forms the character of Hester and Hannah because they are both categorized and with people shunned because of their actions and marking. In relation to Hannah and Hester’s “markings” both receive this branding due to rebellious acts on the society that they lived in, which for both When She Woke and The Scarlet Letter revolves heavily around religion. In both novels religion set strict regulations on society and the actions that could take place in that society. For Hannah, abortions were considered to be a sin and any woman who committed this act were dyed the color red and sent to prison where they sat alone and were watched by people of society and the researchers. In Hester’s case adultery was deemed one of the worst sins by the church, any person who committed adultery was forced to wear the red “A” to show that they had sinned. In both cases, those who committed these acts were shut out by society and left alone, also women were usually the ones who received the blame for the acts.

When talking about the consequences of the crimes women were usually the ones who were affected. For example both Arthur Dimmesdale and Aidan Dale (who were both ministers/reverends) never recieved consequences for the crime that they also committed, both Hannah and Hester were the ones who were forced to suffer through the punishment. I believe that this reveals a lot about the society in both of the novels. In both literary works it is the women who appear to suffer the most, they lose the most, and they are always the ones who take the blame even when there are others involved. In both societies the men carry the higher jobs, and they are affiliated greatly with the church, which in relation to the society is one of the most important roles to have. Overall, in both novels women are considered to be inferior to men while the men are considered to be superior and hold very powerful positions in society.

Now back to the question of whether When She Woke is a futuristic version of The Scarlet Letter. Personally, I believe that it is a futuristic version of the earlier work because of the many similarities that the novels have. There are too many similarities between the novels for When She Woke not to be based on the earlier work of The Scarlet Letter. If I were forced to choose between the two works, even though I believe they are both great, I would choose When She Woke because it is a more modern version with an interesting spin on the ideas that had already been developed in the other novel. Given the similarities, do you think When She Woke is a futuristic version of The Scarlet Letter?