Study On The Romantic Theme Of The Scarlet Letter From The Historical Perspective

The romantic theme of the Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most outstanding American romanticists in the nineteenth century, is analyzed from the historical perspective. By focusing on the two different periods of time-space, the American colonial period and the nineteenth century, the American industrialization period, by dating back to Hawthorne's personal experience and the novel's plot, the theme of the Scarlet Letter becomes the main focus under discussion. Based on the previous two influential and authoritative viewpoints on the theme of the Scarlet Letter, one is the viewpoint of American critic, Baym Nima who thinks the theme of the novel is about the conflict between man and saint, the other is the generally accepted viewpoint in China by Professor Yong Huang Hu, a well-known critic and translator in American literature. According to Professor Yong Huang Hu, the theme of the novel is the humanistic one which is embodied by the character, Hester who intended to liberate herself from the strict Puritain control and asceticism of Puritanism in search for her happiness and pleasure. The imperfection of these two influential and authoritative viewpoints is also pointed out in this thesis by means of the analytic approach from a historical perspective.Based on the two periods of historical time-space, Hawthorne's personal experience and the novel's plot, together with the four major characteristics of the E uropean Romanticism as well as the unique features of American Romanticism, this thesis analyzes and confirms the romantic theme of the Scarlet Letter in the following four aspects:Firstly, the era, the nineteenth century in which Hawthorne lived was the time when American economy developed rapidly and its science and technology advanced greatly. On one hand, Hawthorne was hopeful of the newly-born America, on the other hand, however, he also felt greatly confused about the various reasons that led to the social unfairness, moral degeneration and corruption. Under such circumstances, Hawthorne didn't sing highly the rapid industralization and material prosperity in America. Instead, he took the view that human being would take advantage of scientific knowledge to satisfy his selfish desire, intellect could also enable human being to lose his normal feeing and sympathy, becoming a cold-blooded devil, as a consequence, Hawthorne questioned intellect. Therefore, in the novel, the Scarlet Letter, there isn't much evidence to show that humanism which advocats science and technology was acknowledged by Hawthorne.Secondly, Romanticism advocats going back to nature. It maintains that nature plays an very important role in individual's personal development. In the novel, the Scarlet Letter, nature was a place where the characters felt happy and comfortable, they could release their pressure from the society and exihibt their real and original self in the nature. He also believed nature's calming and comforting effect on human being, in Hawthorne's eyes, nature could purify human soul. In addition, transcendentalism, as an important element of the distinctive American Romanticism in the nineteenth century, had an impact upon Hawthorne and his novel, the Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne was convinced that nature and human being were a harmonious unity, nature was the symbol of human being, and vice versa. In the novel, the Scarlet Letter, through the interpretation of roses given by innocent Pearl, Hawthorne indicated that there was. an close link between Pearl and roses. Roses symbolized Pearl's beauty and vigour. Furthermore, the Transcendentalism's concept that individual intuition is the highest source of knowledge is clearly demonstrated by Hester. Eventually, because of her sincerity, hardworking and kindness, Hester was forgiven and universally acknowledged as an respectable angel from a person who was looked down. What Hester had achieved depended purely on her own intuition without any religious guidance.Thirdly, Romanticism advocats going back to medieval times. For these American writers who intended to establish their own characteristic American literature, going back to medieval times meant going back to their Puritan society. As a descendant of the Puritan, Hawthorne also expressed a strong desire to go back to the past. The nineteenth century was the time when American economy developed rapidly and its science and technology advanced greatly, facing a series of new social problems accompanied by rapid economic development and technological advancement, Hawthorne believed that a certain moral code should be adopted to regulate and better each individual's moral behavior, consequently, the moral standard of the whole society could be enhanced. The industrious spirit, asceticism of Puritanism happened to correspond with such fuction. Therefore, Hawthorne earnestly wanted to regress to Puritan moral code to solve all these social problems; However, Hawthorne also criticized Puritanism because it oppressed the human nature, he hold the opinion that considerable reform should be made in Puritanism so that Puritanism could have more tolerance, kindness and respect for human nature.Finally, in his novel, the Scarlet Letter, through the letter A that went across the two different periods of time-space, the American colonial period and the nineteenth century, the American industrialization period, the covert relation between the Scarlet Letter and the Custom House is studied to show Hawthorne's rallying cry for his self-value both as an individualist and a romanticist. It was highly demanded by Hawthorne that society should give more space and freedom to tolerate individual's need and provide a stage to show a person's individuality.From the analysis and arguments discussed above, the thesis draws a conclusion that the theme of the Scarlet Letter is neither a religious theme nor a humanistic theme, instead, it is a romantic theme, which, on one hand, embodies its own characteristic features, one the other hand, this romantic theme also has a great inclusive traits. The main rhythm of this romantic theme is the struggling for the realization of self worth. In addition, the main theme of the novel , the Scarlet Letter , is the reflection of Nathaniel Hawthorne himself who was born in a religious family and was influenced by Enlightenment, experienced the fickleness of the world when the capitalism made its great strides, but was still full of passion to make great efforts as a romanticist.