Hester’s Rebellion as Seen from the Perspective of Feminism
Abstract
Hawthorne has been playing a very important role in the history of literature, whose novel The Scarlet Letter has widely attracted people’s attention. And the Feminism tendency in The Scarlet Letter has also got people’s attention for many years. This thesis tries to analyze Hester’s five rebellious behaviors from the perspective of feminism. The first rebellious behavior is her refusal to speak out Dimmesdale’s name; the second rebellious behavior is her insistences on living in the cottage; the third rebellion is her fighting for the right of foresting the Pearl; the forth rebellion is her meet Dimmesdale secretly in the forest; and the last rebellion is her final return to Boston. It analyzes Hester’s rebellions in the novel, in order to find out the causes of her rebellion. And it is concerned with the intolerant moralism of New England Puritan tradition and the Patriarchy society. The 17th century’s Boston was controlled by the Puritan, men were considered the “center”. So, women were to be excluded and repressed. Because of this, Hester has to struggle with the Puritan tradition.
Key Words: Hester; rebellion; scarlet letter; feminism; Puritan
摘 要
霍桑在世界文学史上1直有着非常重要的地位。他所著的《红字》自出版以来就受到人们的普遍关注。多年来《红字》所表现出的女权主义倾向也吸引了众多目光。本文试图从女权主义的角度来分析郝斯特的5次反叛行为：第1次反叛是郝斯特拒绝说出通奸者的名字；第2次反叛是她没有离开这个给她带来耻辱的小镇，仍然留在小镇继续生活；第3次是郝斯特不肯让出珠儿的抚养权，第4次是她和丁梅斯戴尔在林中秘密的相会；第5次是她多年后又回到波士顿。本文通过文本分析方法分析郝斯特的.这些反叛行为，认为她之所以会有这些反叛的行为与当时的清教传统中狭隘的道德观以及夫权社会的背景是不无关系的。17世纪的波士顿是受清教控制的，男性是社会的“中心”，女性是被排除和被压迫的。郝斯特就是因为被压迫被排除，才奋起反抗清教传统。
关键词：郝斯特、反叛、红字、女权主义、清教