An Ecofeminist Reevaluation Of The Scarlet Letter

As a leading figure of American literature during nineteenth century, Nathaniel Hawthorne writes many renowned works. The Scarlet Letter is the most famous and influential masterpiece of Hawthorne’s. Since the publishing of this work, the Scarlet Letter attracts a large number of critics and readers from different countries to interpret it. Through various perspectives, the rich connotations of this work are explored vastly. And this thesis explores the inner relationship between the domination of woman and domination of nature from ecofeminist perspective.As a radical school of the environmental movement, the ecofeminist criticism springs up from the early1970s and matures during the middle of1990s. In this literary criticism turn, ecofeminist critics emphasize the importance of reevaluating the literary classics and their connotations. And the American literary classic, the Scarlet Letter becomes one of the objects of reevaluation. Through the intensive study of the text and its cultural context, we could explore the root of ecological crisis of ideas. And then, the reevaluation helps to provide a possible way of emancipation of nature and woman.This thesis consists of the introduction and main body. And the body of this thesis includes three chapters, which are "anti-nature and androcentrism dimensions in Puritanism","ecofeminist reevaluation of the female characters" and "ecofeminist reevaluation of the male characters". The analysis of the Puritan cultural context of the seventeenth century helps us in studying the text. The key effort of the research is directed to the ecofeminist reevaluation of the two female characters, Hester Prynne and Pearl. Hester Prynne’s identity could be regarded as a rose-like woman and ocean-like mother. These characteristics of Hester Prynne are similar to nature nature. And the similarity between the dominations of women and nature lends us a way to search for the mutual solution of the emancipation of women and nature. Though Pearl in this work is described as a "supernatural" being, she is the embodiment of Hester Prynne’s agony and integration of human nature and nature nature. From the ecofeminist view, men are also the victims of the anthropocentrism and androcentrism. Roger Chillingworth is regarded as a representative of patriarchy while Arthur Dimmesdale is regarded as a real man. And Arthur Dimmesdale’s action is the restoration of human nature. From the ecofeminist perspective, we could get closer to the truth of solution for the dominations of woman and nature by reevaluating the literary works and reevaluating whether the values in the text are appropriate. Consequently, through the analysis of the relationship between human law and nature and between man and woman, the inner relationships between the dominations of women and nature are explored.