The Latent Carnivalesque Desire

As one of the classic works of American literature,The Scarlet Letter published in 1850,portrays a female character,Hester Prynne,who was guilty of adultery and gave birth to a sinful fruit,Pearl.Influenced by the oppression of Puritanism and the inspiration of transcendentalism,Nathaniel Hawthorne created the characters and the plot combined with his ambivalent ideas.In the most imprisoned culture,laughter and the carnivalesque spirit to subvert the Puritan society and hierarchy appears.Though a number of scholars have done research on the topics of Puritanism,symbolism,and character portrayal.There is little study conducted on the carnivalesque spirit in The Scarlet Letter.In particular,there is an absence of an intensive systematic analysis of the carnival ambience and the latent carnivalesque desire in the novel according to Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of carnival.The essence of the theory of carnival is the process of crowning and decrowning which represents the transformation of death and birth.Moreover,the basic principle of grotesque realism is the degradation,which is like a circle that represents death that gives rise to rebirth and regeneration.For instance,Hester held Pearl in her arms in front of the prison door with a haughty smile rather than being shameful.Governor Bellingham wore the pair of gloves that is fringed and embroidered by the sinful Hester.Being a clergyman with high reputation,Dimmesdale kissed his child in the public.At the same time,grotesque imagery,folk laughter and marketplace are three significant elements in the analysis of the carnivalesque spirit.As two of the most outstanding symbols of grotesque imageries in the novel,Mistress Hibbins and the scarlet letter A represent the subversive power of society and the coercion of rights.As for the marketplace and folk laughter,it is proved that the carnivalesque spirit cannot be restrained in the Puritan society through analyzing the decoration style of Governor Bellingham's house and his social status,the function of scaffold and the behaviors of Dimmesdale and Hester on it,the image of private evil place and secret conspiracy that happened in the forest.With the guidance of Mikhail Bakhtin's theory of carnival and the reasons of Hawthorne's ambivalent ideas,this thesis is going to demonstrate the latent carnival life in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter through analyzing the clues of crowning and decrowning in the novel,the subversive female character,the collapse of male image,the grotesque imagery and folk laughter and the carnival marketplace.