试析《红字》中霍桑的女性意识

A Tentative Analysis of Hawthorne’s Feminist Consciousness in The Scarlet Letter

[Abstract] Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the outstanding writers in the American literary history. The Scarlet Letter is one of his representatives, which has been said that it represents the height of Hawthorne’s literary genus. In this book, Hawthorne not only tells a love story, but he pays attention to create a vivid and influential female image----Hester Prynne. The heroin gradually grows to be independent and strong to fight for her rights under the oppression of Puritan society. Therefore, she is regarded as the representative of feminist in many people’s minds. Throughout the portrayal of Hester’s character, Hawthorne implicitly expresses his attitude toward feminist consciousness. Based on the feminist theories, this paper aims to explore the heroine’s main character and her feminist consciousness, and have a better understanding to Hawthorne’s attitude toward feminist consciousness.

[Key words] Hawthorne; Hester; character; feminist consciousness

1. Introduction

The Scarlet Letter is one of the typical classics and also a work with a long-standing reputation. Different readers have different perspectives and have different research methods to understand it. The Scarlet Letter began in the seventeenth century in Boston which was dominated by Puritan. The heroine, Hester Prynne, is an attractive and beautiful woman who has married with an elderly scholar, Chillingworth. After sending Hester leaving for America, Chillingwoth fails to reunite with her. While waiting for her husband, Hester has an affair with Dimmesdale and bears a child, so Hester is convicted of adultery. Therefore, the people living the community humiliate her for the guilt of adultery. However, Hester bravely endures all insults and humiliation and nurtures her child alone. She struggles to start her new life of repentance and dignity, so people gradually change their view on Hester.

2. Feminist consciousness and Hawthorne’s Feminist consciousness

2.1 Feminist consciousness

The liberal emphasis on the individual stresses the importance of the individual and individual autonomy which are protected by guaranteed rights, economic justice and equality of opportunity (Madsen, 2006:35). Liberal feminists hope to abolish sexual discrimination and to erode oppressive gender roles. However, because under legal and educational barriers to equality,

there do exist these deeper structural obstacles to gender equality.

In the nineteenth century a woman in America was unable to vote, and after marriage had no control of her property (in some states the law compelled employers to pay a women’s wage directly to her husband) or her children, nor could she make a will, sign a contract instigate legal proceeding without her husband’s content(Madsen, 2006:3). Women’s status was similar to that of a slave. It relates to the institution of slavery that the organized movement for women’s right and its origin, when the American abolitionist movement deprive women of rights to participate. Therefore, a number of women then determined to rise up to fight for their own freedom.

The so-called first wave of American feminism began in the 1840s and is commonly marked by the first Women’s Rights Convention, held in Seneca Falls in 1848(Madsen, 2006:3). They quest for peace, equality, mutual cooperation and harmonious social life management rules. The tone of the Seneca Falls Convention had been set by the efforts of Margaret Fuller, who is described as one of “possessed more influence upon the thought of American women than any woman previous to her time.”(Dickenson, 1994:10) Fuller believe that any women are considering within themselves, what they need and what they can have, if they find they need it, what women need is not as a woman to act or rule, but as a nature to grow, as an intellect to discern, as a soul to live freely and unapplied(Fuller, 1994:20).

Therefore, lots of writers including Hawthorne and a group of women were deeply influenced by Fuller’ feminist consciousness.

2.2 Hawthorne’s Feminist consciousness

2.2.1 The writing background of The Scarlet Letter

The Scarlet Letter occurs under a background of the New England which ruled by Puritan in the seventeenth century. Therefore, the Puritan dominated the facets of life and work. “The Puritan fled to America out of the desire to live in a place where they would not need to hide their religious affiliations or fear the other’s persecution. But in this new world, they simply seemed to have re-built the old order.”(JIA&Martin, 2003:135) Puritans established a world which was full of orders and they governed the domination with their creeds. Consequently, during the period human nature has long suppressed, especially the status of women. In the colonial American, the hierarchical view of the Puritan colonists entirely determined the status of women. Since men were obedient to God, so women should defer to men. Puritans believed that the inferiority of women was a symbol of original sin showing in physical weakness, humble

搜索“diyifanwen.net”或“第一范文网”即可找到本站免费阅读全部范文。收藏本站方便下次阅读，第一范文网，提供最新实用文档试析《红字》中霍桑的女性意识全文阅读和word下载服务。