Invisible Discourses In The Scarlet Letter

As a representative work of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s ficiton, The Scarlet Letter has always been acclaimed as one of the greatest works in American literature. Mainly focusing on sin and repentance, the traditional researches on this classical novel, both overseas and at home, are invariably about issues of religion. With the intention to reexamine those factors that make The Scarlet Letter a literary masterpiece, this thesis tries to explore the dynamism of power that operates in the fictional world of the novel.Drawing on Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish, this thesis pursues its inquiry along two clues:punishment and discipline. With the help of Foucault’s power-discourse theory, this thesis investigates the operation of punishment and discipline on three dimensions:namely, law, morality, and religion. That is, this thesis is a study of the dynamism of power in the discourses of law, morality, and religion. This thesis finally draws the conclusion that it is power, holding the supreme right to determine, metes out punishment and discipline to Hester and Dimmesdale. This is manifested in the discourses of law, morality, and religion. Power exercise is in turn strengthened by the exercise and indoctrination of punishment and discipline.