An Analysis of Feminism in The Scarlet Letter分析《红字》中(15)

分析《红字》中的女权主义

some characters but not all. In depicting the efficacy, Hawthorne tends to express his condemnation towards the patriarchal society. Paralleled with profound theme of exploring the complexity of human nature in The Scarlet Letter are Hawthorne's peculiar artistic techniques, the most impressive of which is his skillfully weaving his thoughts, especially his feminist consciousness, into the portrayal of his female character, Hester.

B. Characterization of Hester

In The Scarlet Letter, through the unveiling of Hester's marginalized position, Hawthorne demonstrates his views on women. Firstly he sets his story with a harsh patriarchal background and has his protagonist exposed to the cruel punishment. Then, Hawthorne injects his feminist ideas in Hester and endows her with the rebellious spirit to struggle against the oppression in such a position.

Adultery is illicit sexual intercourse between married or unmarried persons. The seventh of the Ten Commandments mentions that you shall not commit adultery. Hester, who committed the sin of adultery, which went against the Puritan doctrines, had been discarded by the society. As a result, she was abandoned to be in the marginal position. Hester's marginal status results from her unreasonable marriage to Roger Chillingworth. From the very beginning of her marriage, it is doomed to be wrong. Roger Chillingworth, one of the high ranking representatives of patriarchal society, married to Hester before she was mature enough to know the real meaning of love and marriage. Hester's budding youth makes a sharp contrast with the ugly and deformed appearance of her husband Chillingworth, which is described as follows: “He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly be termed aged”(Hawthorne, 1999:45). If the sharp contrast in appearance is secondary to the marriage, the real gap between them lies in a lack of pure love. After her misstep, Hester tells her husband, “Thou knowest I was frank with thee. I felt no love, not feigned any”(Hawthorne, 1999:56). As a matter of fact, Chillingworth's wish to marry to Hester is not from love but just from the satisfaction of his selfish desire and supplement to his spiritual barrenness. As Chillingworth says: “But, up to that epoch of my life, I had lived in vain. The world had been so cheerless! My heart was a

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