Such Mind, Such Behavior: A Psychoanalytic Study Of The Scarlet Letter

As a classic novel, The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne in 1850 has aroused great interest of study among literary critics by far. The hero and heroine commit the sin of adultery together, yet display sharply different behaviors later on: Dimmesdale feels guilty and is tortured by his self-punishment, dying his public death as his only escape after the confession of his sin; Hester, however, never regrets her affair with her lover and keeps living her long and independent life bravely and firmly, helping herself and some other emotionally-troubled women out. The writer of this thesis feels fascinated about the two chief characters' behavioral differences and conducts the research of exploring the inner causes of their behavioral differences from the perspective of Freudian Psychoanalysis.The thesis is composed of five parts as follows.Introduction begins with the proposal of the question that the writer of the thesis is to deal with: why the hero and heroine demonstrate sharply different reaction and behavior towards the same thing they have done-their adultery, next offers a detailed explanation for using Freudian psychoanalysis as the theoretical approach to the said research, then overviews the previous psychoanalytic studies on the novel, and lastly expounds the differences between the thesis and the former ones.Chapter One, "The Theoretical Bases of Freudian Psychoanalysis and The Scarlet Letter", surveys the three basic theories of Freudian Psychoanalysis that are relevant to the thesis: the theory of unconscious, the theory of sexual instinct and the theory of personality structure. And the embodiment of the three theories in the novel of The Scarlet Letter is briefly depicted in this part.Chapter Two, "The Personality Structure of Dimmesdale and Hester", mainly analyses the personality structure of Dimmesdale and Hester, through which we see the sharp conflicts in both of their psyche: they are the conflicts between the id and the superego, with the ego consciously or unconsciously adjusting the inner conflictsto the outside reality by means of the defense mechanisms. Dimmesdale's superego is divine, which demands him to sacrifice all his human emotion and desires for his religious holiness. Therefore he desperately suppresses his id, hoping to totally abandon it. However the power of the id is born by nature and is too great to be rid. Thus in the inner mind of Dimmesdale, the psychical conflicts between the id and the superego is more and more severe, and is finally beyond the adjustment of the ego. Therefore Dimmesdale's mental imbalance is caused and his destruction is doomed. On the other hand, Hester's superego is human, which wishes her to unite with her lover at the end of their life and which coincides with the instinct id essentially. Thus the mental conflicts inside Hester are less severe and can be more easily adjusted by the ego. By suitable defense mechanisms, the ego rebalances the personality structure and Hester achieves the success of living. More over, from the analysis of both of their personality structures, we can see that Hester and Dimmesdale are different in personality constitutionally, therefore their love is destined to fail.Chapter Three, "Psychoanalytic Study on the Symbols in The Scarlet Letter", mainly analyses the symbols in the novel from the perspective of Freudian psychoanalytic literary criticism. The symbols in the novel fall into two categories: the objects & scenery and the characters. The scarlet letter A simultaneously symbolizes the sexual impulse (the libido) and the sexual repression; the wilderness symbolizes the returning to the instincts. The character of Pearl is the symbol of Hester's id and another important character Chillingworth's deformity is the symbol of his castration.What is summarized in Conclusion of the thesis is that, the three systems of the personality structure are cross-opposing-and-restricting among one another, and the contradictory movement of them shapes people's personality and thus their behavior. Human beings are a...