An Analysis of Feminism in The Scarlet Letter分析《红字》中(8)

分析《红字》中的女权主义

individual character such as the protagonist Hester in the novel to present himself to revolt to the unfair society.

Another indispensable factor to Hawthorne’s formation of the feminist consciousness should be the religious background in the 19th century. At that time, Calvinism was the pervasive doctrine in Puritan society. These Puritans insisted that as God's elect they had the duty to direct national affairs according to God's will. In the town of Boston, the Church and puritan beliefs became encompassing on every aspect of the society and made people in a moral imprisonment. It is universally believed that people who disobeyed the doctrines were not only criminals but sinners as well; as a result, the sinners were condemned to be punished severely.

Hawthorne is a man with a kind of paradoxes which results from his Puritan family background and his exigent desire to quench the flames of anger. Hawthorne is extensively influenced by Calvinism. The Calvin's major tenets have been completely ingrained in him through his inheritance, his obsession with history, his eager reading of the lives and sermons of Puritan divines. More often he is obsessed with the exploration of original sin. Sometimes he shows his suspicion of Puritanical doctrines in the portrayal of characters. His belief of original sin has been imbedded in his female character, Hester, can be interpreted as an important part of his feminist consciousness.

B The Scarlet Letter

The story has its setting in Puritan Boston during the mid-17th century. Young Hester Prynne is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms. She is sentenced to wear a scarlet A, signifying “adultery,” because she has apparently had an affair when her aged husband is not with her. On the scaffold she is urged to identify her child's father, but she will not.

The elderly onlooker who turns out to be Hester's missing husband is watching in the crowd. Then he settles down in Boston, practicing medicine and calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He plans on revenge and asks Hester not to reveal his true identity. After leaving prison, Hester takes up residence in a small cottage by the

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