The Psychic Structure Of The Major Male Characters In Hawthorne’s Fiction

This thesis applies three aspects of Jung’s archetypal theory, namely, the anima,the persona and the shadow archetype, to the analyses of the psychic structure of fourmajor male characters who are Dimmedale, Chillingworth, Brown and Hooper inHawthorne’s fiction. This thesis explores the psychological problems of the characterscomprehensively and tries to find out the reasons for Hawthorne’s creation of suchtype characters by interpreting Hawthorne’s concern for the sins hidden in thosecharacters in the light of Jung’s archetypal theory.This thesis consists of five chapters. The first chapter is an introduction to thestudies related to the field of this thesis at home and abroad. It also comprises thepurpose, significance and structure of this thesis. The second chapter is a theoreticalsurvey of the core concepts, the anima, the persona and the shadow in Jung’s theory.The third chapter analyzes the psychic structure of the four characters. Dimmesdale’soveracted persona as a competent minister and his inability to face his inner impulseslead to his tragic death. Chillingworth, unbearable of his wife’s betrayal, projects hisshadow on Dimmesdale and plays an inflated role of a self-constituted judge in aprivate way. Brown overacts his persona as a good man and projects his shadow onothers, which leads to his failing to mediate between his inner heart and the outsideworld. Hooper’s tragedy lies in his belief that his black veil can force others todisclose their secret sins, but ironically he is unaware of his own sin caused bywearing the black veil. The fourth chapter summarizes the similarities of the four typecharacters and interprets Hawthorne’s concern for sins by using the shadow archetype.Hawthorne’s exploration of the evil in humanity is reflected on the fourcharacters, who evade their dark sides, leading to an imbalanced psychic structure.The real purpose of Hawthorne’s creation of those distorted characters is to advocatepeople confronting their evil side so that their psychology can have a sound andhealthy development.