The Analysis of Hester Prynne in Hawthorne’s work of The Scarlet Letter

王慧�オ�

Abstract：Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most influential American romantic novelists in the 19th century .Hester Prynne is the heroin of Hawthornes novel The Scarlet Letter. The novel mainly tells a story which is related to a scarlet letter “A”. The heroin Hester Prynne is the wearer of the scarlet letter which means the adultery. From the novel， we know that Hester Prynne gets rid of the control of the religion especially Puritanism and the law on woman， she wins freedom of love and spirit， as a result， she is also punished by the social reality at that time. From the description of Hester Prynnes experience and thought， the novel also reflects Hawthorns strong feminist consciousness. In my paper， I will attach the importance to the heroin Hester Prynne. The whole paper will be divided into three parts. Part one is about Hesters marriage with Chillingworth. Part two is about the love and relationship between Hester and Dimmesdale. Part three is about Hester and her daughter Pearl. From these three parts， I want to speak highly of Hesters independent feminist consciousness and braveness to pursue love and spiritual satisfaction regardless of cruel and dark social regulation.

Key Words： Nathaniel Hawthorne；The Scarlet Letter；Hester Prynne；feminist consciousness

Introduction：

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most influential American romantic novelists in the 19th century， who played important role in the development of US literature work. The publication of his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter has taken a great step in the progress of American culture and has won the permanent high reputation for Nathaniel Hawthorne as well. The Scarlet Letter is taken as the greatest novel in American literary history.

What impressed me most is the scene that the heroine （Hester Prynne） is brought to the scaffold for reprimand. She stands there with her head up and face the malevolence and hypocrisy of those so called loyal Christians bravely. In their eyes she has sinned， but not in Gods eyes. She speaks what she thinks and admits what she has done. Before her， all the magistrates words sound ironic and disgusting. They are the real fiends in disguise！ Away from the religious persecution in England， puritans come to the new continent. But in fact the religious persecution still exists. It exists nowhere but in peoples mind. Those men in power will persecute whoever angers them and doesnt bend to them because of jealousy， wickedness， selfishness and so on and so forth. Yes， I admit that they obey the rules of bible strictly. But they have forgotten what the bible has really revealed. In gods eyes， love and mercy are what his disciples need to learn and obey. If someone attempts to harm other people， they in fact go against gods will， no matter how strictly they observe the superficial rules of Bible. From what those puritans did， I understand that human is evil by nature， or rather， human psyche has two sides. Sometimes when the evil side takes the upper hand， it can be horrible and terrifying. A womans greatness is exhibited perfectly in this segment. Thats the reason why it moves me so deeply.

In the novel， Hawthorne successfully creates a female image——the heroin Hester Prynne. Hawthorne subverted the traditional objective position of woman in the patriarchal society and set the subjective status for Hester Prynne. She fights against the conventional rule and bravely pursues love. Because of her rebellion of social order of Puritanical Community， Hester Prynne suffers enormously from the shame of her public disgrace and from the isolation of her punishment. However， she still retains her self-respect and survives her punishment with dignity， grace and ever-growing strength of character. From the heroins complicated life experience， we know the darkness of the society which is under the control of the Puritanism. It also reveals us the womens status in a patriarchal society. It is obvious that women do not have any right. Nevertheless， Hester Prynne shows us a different female image. She presents us her strong feminist consciousness and reflects the real thoughts of almost all the women at that time. It is just the expression of Hawthornes feminist consciousness. This novel had a great and positive influence on the society at that time. It had foreshadowed the booming development of feminist movement and womens liberation，what is more， the feminist consciousness of Hawthorne had stimulated and accelerated the development of feminist writing.

In my paper， I put emphasis on feminist consciousness and womens status in the society by analyzing Hester Prynnes living experience. Finally， my paper highlights the significance of the positive side of Nathaniel Hawthornes feminist consciousness.By this way， we can strength womens feminist consciousness and appeal the society to treat women more fairly.

Main Body：Chapter One Hester Prynnes tragic marriage with Chillingworth

Hester Prynne is portrayed as a young and beautiful lady in the novel. When she is immature and does not know what is love， she is cheated by an old scholar Chillingworth who is very short and ugly. She marries him and becomes his wife. Without any doubt， their combination is not a happy marriage. Because there is no love exist between them. Chillingworth himself also admits it. He once said： “It is his fault to form an unnatural relationship between Hester and him”.

In the novel， Hester Prynne is convicted of adultery， she can not be accepted by the society and punished by the social order. Actually she is a sacrifice of patriarchal society. After her marriage with Chillingworth， she almost can not get any happiness. The reason is that Chillingworth only pays his attention on books all day and never cares Hester. He could not meet Hesters spiritual need. He is so selfish that he ruins Hesters life and happiness. In this unfair and unnatural marriage， the youth of Hester Prynne is totally buried. Their tragic marriage is just the reflection of the dark social order at that time. From Hester Prynne， we could know the womens status is inferior. However ， Hester Prynne never submits to the reality， she bravely fights for her own right and looks for her happiness. What she has done represents a new trend of the society， that is more and more women ask for their own rights and hope to be liberated from the stern social regulations. In essence， this is just expression of feminist consciousness.

Chapter Two Hester Prynnes Perseverance for Real Love

Chillingworth sent Hester to America， but he did not go there with her. While waiting for her husband， Hester has apparently had an affair with a man， as she has given birth to a baby. However， the man is a young and eloquent minister in local place——Dimmesdale.

They deeply love with each other， but under the pressure of the social order and regulations， they could not expose their true love to the public. In addition， Hesters behaviour can not be accepted by the society， she is punished by wearing a scarlet letter “A” which means adultery. It is a insult for a woman. However， she never yields to the dark society and bravely fights against the Puritanism and social prejudice. She never reveals her lovers identity and undertakes all the punishment and pain. She boldly seek for her own true love regardless of religious regulations and social prejudice. To some extent， her deed represents real thoughts of the women at that time. They are longing for freedom and true love in the patriarchal society. They want to get rid of the control of social orders and regulations and gain the real independence and liberation. Hester is considered as a sacrifice at that time. Although she tried her best to protect her love and lover， her lover did not stand with her to accept the punishment from public. On the contrary， in order to keep his own status and good image， Dimmesdale never admitted his sin until he died. From this point， we know that a man satisfies himself with social cognition and acceptance comparing with love. When there is lack of balance between love and his social status， he always abandons his love so that he is accepted by the society. Therefore， to some extent， Hesters true love is still a tragedy， she could not get what she really wants to have. This also reflects darkness of the society and control of religious regulations. Nevertheless， Hesters perseverance for love and her boldness to object to silly Puritanism and social order wake up the whole society especially women， she lets all the women realize that they should ask for what they want and subvert improper religious regulations and finally gain the real freedom and liberation. Thus， Hesters perseverance for her real love highlights more feminist consciousness.

Chapter Three Hester Prynne and Her Daughter Pearl

Pearl is evidence of the love between Hester and Dimmsdale. She constantly reminds Hester of her sin.

In the novel， Pearl is a mysterious girl， because she could perceive things that others do not and she always put forward some sharp questions which secretly scorn and reveal nature and darkness of the society. In order to protect Dimmesdale， Hester hides her love for him and she puts all her love and affection on Pearl. They live together and get away from dark society. Hence， Pearl never be influenced by the patriarchal society since she was born. As a result， Pearl behaves extremely different no matter in her thought or her behaviour. It is pearl points out the essence of many significant images in the novel. She is not only a spiritual assistant to her mother but also a predictor of the truth. So Pearl is crucial for her mother to fight against social orders and religious regulations. She could be regarded as a female angle of fighting against patriarchal society. In the novel， Hawthorne says that Hesters beauty makes the world darker ， her child takes the society greater losses. In other words， Hesters beauty brings brightness and hope to women， and Pearl is precious for females because she gives a heavy blow to the dark patriarchal society.

Therefore， Pearl is a powerful evidence of Hesters fighting against dark reality and patriarchal society. It is also an appeal for women to seek for their equality、freedom and get rid of the pressure from the society and gain the real liberation.

Conclusion

With the description of the heroin Hester Prynne in The Scarlet Letter， Hawthorne expressed his feminist consciousness by showing us Hesters miserable experience and disclosing the severe and somber social rules and religious regulations. Hesters courageous rebel against the patriarchal society and improper Puritanism also brings unlimited brightness and great hopes to women. Although she is a sacrifice， she wakes up the whole society especially females. Her feminist consciousness has a great influence on the society. It brings the society into a new phase and helps women gain more freedom . Whats more important， it also contributes to the liberation of females thoughts and promotes the whole worlds liberation and advancement.

[Reference]

[1] Guan，Tao.Females New Image-the Third Catergory of Women-Evaluating Hester in The Scarlet Letter[J] XiAn International Studies University， 2004（1）女性新形象——第三类女性——评《红字》中的海丝特.西安外国语学院学报，2004（1）.

[2]Liu， Xuan. The Pioneer of the Modern females— Feminist Consciousness in The Scarlet Letter.[J]2004（7）

Liu，Xuan.[刘璇]，现代女性的先驱——《红字》中的女性主义意识.语文学刊，2004（7）.

[3]Nathaniel Hawthorne，The Scarlet Letter[M].Translated by Liu， Jianxi. Tianjin： Tianjin Science and Technology Translation Publishing Company， 2003，9.

（作者单位：陕西理工大学外国语学院，陕西 汉中 723000）