Hawthorne "middle Ground" Theory In "the Scarlet Letter",

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most controversial American writers of the 19th century. As a romance writer, his inheritance of the traditional Romance and his distinctive extension of this genre remains a focus of discussion in the Hawthornian Research.This dissertation, based on previous studies of the Hawthornian Romance, mainly discusses the concept, of the "Neutral Territory" in Hawthorne's literary creation, and its realization in The Scarlet Letter. With the help of a detailed textual analysis, this dissertation tries to display the essence and the distinctiveness of the "Neutral Territory" from three perspectives: the psychological aspect, the social aspect, and the symbolic aspect. I also suggest "the oscillation of the representation" as the basic pattern of narration in the textual realization of this concept. In addition, this dissertation attempts to explore the psychological background of the "Neutral territory", the "borderline condition", and the expression of this psychological condition in The Scarlet Letter, "the oscillation of representation", the author and the characters' "silence".In a word, Hawthorne is more than a romance writer who is skilled in psychological depiction. His concept and practice of the "Neutral Territory" bring the Imaginary and the Real into perfect combination, and saturate his romance in a strong color of symbolism. In this sense, he is much more a romance experimentalist who is, either consciously or unconsciously, propelled By a strong sense of Utopianism-a desire for the "Neutral Territory", a dreamland. As a consequence, the psychological background behind his literary creation forever determines him as a hesitant romancer, a utopia-like romance experimentalist.