Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most influential romantic novelists of 19th century and the first to write short stories on the history of American Literature. His representative piece The scarlet letter is among the world literature classics. It tells a story about a puritan women under the shackle of unreasonable marriage committing a crime of adultery and being publicly exposed. The story reveals the darkness of the rule of the unification of the state and the church. This thesis consists of three parts. The first part is an introduction to the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and literature review of the novel. The second part includes four chapters:the first chapter tells the creation background of The Scarlet Letter including Nathaniel Hawthorne’s family background concerning with feminism and the historical background of The Scarlet Letter. The second chapter would be a brief introduction to feminism and the three waves of feminism movement in western history. The third chapter is about the four roles of the heroine Hester Prynne. Each of her roles focuses on different rights that feminists would care, the rights of discourse, education, free love and living. The fourth chapter is about the transformation of the meaning of the scarlet letter from the prospective of feminism. And then a conclusion is drawn that the heroine is a pioneer and fighter for feminism, who embodies Hawthorne’s feminism ideology that only by fighting can females’ equal rights be secured.  

Key words: feminism; equal rights; adultery; alienation; angel

Contents

Abstract

摘  要

1. Introduction-1

2. Creation Background of The Scarlet Letter-3

2.1 Historical Background of The Scarlet Letter-3

2.2 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Family Background Concerning Feminism-3

3. A Sketch of Feminism-5

3.1  The Definition of Feminism-5

3.2  The History and Development of Western Feminism-5

4. The Feminism Spirit of Hester’s different roles-7

4.1 As a citizen--Right for Discourse-7

4.2 As a Puritan--Rights for Free Love-7

4.3 As a mother--Rights for Education-8

4.4 As a Human Being--Rights for Living-8

5. The Transformation of “A”-10

5.1“A” as Adultery-10

5.2“A” as Alienation-10

5.3 “A” as Angel-11

6. Conclusion-12

References-13