On The Scapegoat Motif And Its Artistic Representation In The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an outstanding romantic novelist of the 19th century in America. He is famous for his profound thought and successful writing skill. His masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, as the mature embodiment of his literary thoughts and art, has aroused much attention and received criticism in literary circle ever since its publication in 1850. Scholars have given a variety of readings to it by employing different critical approaches. The author of this thesis, adopting mythological and archetypal criticism which is rarely used by the critics, by means of the scapegoat ritual and the scapegoat psychology, attempts to supply a detailed and close examination of the scapegoat motif wrapped in the novel from the perspective of its characterization and structure. The thesis is structured into five chapters.Chapter 1 is the introduction starting with the tremendous influence of Hawthorne's works in American literature, in which the thesis talks briefly about the status quo of the studies on The Scarlet Letter both at home and abroad.In Chapter 2, great efforts are made to illustrate the scapegoat motif. First of all, it points out the origin and ritual of scapegoat, then illustrates the scapegoat psychology, and finally concludes briefly the practice of the scapegoat motif in literary writing and appreciating.Chapter 3 delves into the scapegoat motif in The Scarlet Letter from its four main characters: Chillingworth, Hester, Dimmesdale and Pearl. Chillingworth's identity as an alien together with his ugly appearance and physical deformity foredooms his fate as a scapegoat. Hester is sentenced to wear scarlet letter A all her life and acts as a scapegoat of her collective. Dimmesdale is not only a saint but also a sinner, and he serves as a scapegoat of the society like Jesus. Pearl suffers the discrimination of the townspeople and isolation of the children because of her parentage. Therefore, she is also a scapegoat.Chapter 4 is devoted to analyzing the artistic representation of the scapegoat motif in the form of U-shaped narrative structure. Generally speaking, all of the four protagonists experience the U-shaped life track one way or another: degradation-penitence-sublimation. Chillingworth becomes a cold fiend from a kind scholar. However, finally he goes up through introspection and penitence. Hester is discriminated after she falls to be a criminal of adultery. Nevertheless, through her benefaction she is gradually accepted by the society and finally sublimates into an angel in the townspeople's mind. Dimmesdale first descends from a saint to a sinner; then he undergoes boundless aguish; at last, he ascends to heaven because of his penance and confession. Pearl falls to be a demon because of her evil doings. Finally, she is accepted by the society as a human child on account of Dimmesdale's confession which enlightens her and proves her identity.Chapter 5 brings the thesis to a conclusion and indicates that the scapegoat motif can also be employed to analyze Hawthorne's other works.