霍桑红字的生态女性主义解读.doc

1、 Contents Abstract.i 摘要 . iii Introduction.1 Chapter One Theory of Ecofeminism .7 1.1 The Rise and Development of Ecofeminism .7 1.2 The Connotation and Basic Theory of Ecofeminism.9 1.3 The Ecofeminist Literary Criticism .13 Chapter Two The Formation of Hawthornes Ecofeminist Consciousness.15 2.1 H

2、awthornes Affinity with Women .15 2.2 Hawthornes Affinity with Nature .17 2.3 Hawthornes Accusation of Society.19 Chapter Three Ecofeminism Embodied in The Scarlet Letter .25 3.1 The Interconnection between Women and Nature.25 3.1.1 Hesters Experience with Seasonal Change.27 3.1.2 Nature and Pearl.3

3、2 3.2 Oppression to Women and Nature from Patriarchy .35 3.2.1 Mens Subjugation to Nature .36 3.2 .2 Mens Subjugation to Women.40 3.2.3 Nature and Witch Hunts.42 Chapter Four Longing for a Harmonious Relationship among Women, Nature and Men .45 4.1The Ideal Relation among Nature, Women and Men.45 4.

4、2 The Ideal Relation between Nature and Men.48 Conclusion .53 Bibliography .55 Acknowledgements .60 Publications .61 iAbstract Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most influential writers in American literature in 19th century. His creation mainly takes New England of Colonial America as the backgroun

5、d, reflecting the social reality of the day. The Scarlet Letter shows Hawthorne, the literary artist, at his best. Hawthorne sets the novel in the 17th century, depicting the cruelty of the Puritanism and its killing of human nature. With the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850, Nathaniel Hawt

6、horne became famous as the greatest writer living then in the United States and his reputation as a major American author has been on the increase ever since. So more and more scholars are studying the novel from different angles. Ecofeminism is a school of thought arising in the 1970s, which combin

7、es ecology and feminism. It came into the field of literature in the 1990s. Ecofeminism draws on the approaches of ecological criticism and feminist criticism, which concerns the relation between nature and female. It holds that the mens domination over women is closely related to mens domination ov

8、er nature. The ends of ecofeminism are to deconstruct anthropocentrism and advocate building a kind of harmonious relationship between human beings and nature. The thesis consists of six parts trying to have an ecofeminist reading of The Scarlet Letter from the perspective of ecofeminism. Introducti

9、on mainly introduces Hawthornes literary achievement, his status in the history of literature, the content of The Scarlet Letter, and researches on the novel both at home and abroad. Then put forward the central argument of the thesis. Chapter One mainly summarizes the theory of ecofeminism. By summ

10、arizing the background, the development, the connotation, the characteristics, and the significance of ecofeminism, I will provide the theoretical foundation for my thesis. Chapter Two analyzes the reasons of the formation of Hawthornes ecofeminist consciousness. The life experience of Hawthornes mo

11、ther and the influence that his wife has on him make Hawthorne ponder the womens marginal status in the patriarchal society. And Hawthornes family history, his political sufferings and the ii social reality stimulate him to accuse the cruelty and harshness of puritan society. Chapter Three mainly an

12、alyzes the ecofeminism embodied in The Scarlet Letter from two aspects. Women and nature are closely interconnected: Hesters four periods of life is just like the four seasons of a year. Incompatible with the puritan society, Pearl maintains a harmonious relationship with nature. In the patriarchal

13、society with the prevailing Puritanism, nature is exploited and destroyed by men. In the meanwhile, an analysis of the protagonist Hesters marginal status because of the “adultery” and Mistress Hibbins involvement in “witch hunt” case show mens domination over women and nature are closely associated

14、. Chapter Four analyzes Hawthornes ideal expectation of a harmonious world in the future, which is to realize the harmony among male, female and nature. Hawthorne draws a vivid picture for ushuman beings are living in harmony with nature. Nature is the refuge and the source of power for women. Man c

15、an obtain self-confirmation and salvation in nature, and men and women can get along with each other equally in nature. The conclusion part further summarizes the econfeminism embodied in The Scarlet Letter through the analysis of above chapters. Key words: ecofeminism; nature; female; patriarchy; h

16、armony; The Scarlet Letter iii摘要 纳撒尼尔霍桑是 19 世纪美国文学史上最具影响力的作家之一。他的创作多以美国殖民地时期的新英格兰为背景，反映当时的社会现实。小说红字最能展现出霍桑这位文学艺术家的天赋。红字的故事背景设置在十七世纪，描写了清教主义的残酷和它对人性的扼杀。随着 1850 年红字的出版，纳撒尼尔霍桑成为了当时美国最知名最伟大的作家。从那时起，这位美国主流作家的呼声越来越高。从不同角度研究红字的学者也越来越多。生态女性主义是20 世纪 70 年代产生的一种将生态学和女性主义想结合的思想流派，在 20 世纪90 年代进入文学流域。它借鉴生态批评和女性批评

17、的方法，它关心的核心问题是自然与女性的联系。它认为男性对女性的压迫和人类对自然的压迫是紧密联系在一起的，它的目的是解构人类中心主义，提倡建立一种人和自然之间和谐相处的关系。本文分六个部分试运用生态女性主义理论对红字进行解读。 引言部分主要对霍桑的文学成就和在文学史上的地位，红字的内容以及国内外研究现状做简单介绍，从而提出本论文的中心论题。 第一章主要概述生态女性主义理论。通过对这一理论的产生背景、发展、内涵、特征和意义等进行概述，为本论文提供理论基础。 第二章分析了霍桑生态女性主义意识形成的原因。霍桑妈妈的生活经历，他妻子对他的影响，使他开始沉思父权制社会下女性的边缘化地位。他的家庭的历史，政

18、治遭遇和社会现实促使他控告清教社会的残忍和严厉。 第三章主要从两方面分析了红字所体现的生态女性主义意识：女性和自然紧密联系在一起：海斯特的生活经历就像大自然中四个季节的变化。与清教社会格格不入的珠儿却与自然和谐共处；在以清教主义盛行的父权制社会中，自然遭到了男性的破坏和蹂躏。同时通过分析女主人公海斯特因为“通奸罪”处于社会的边缘化地位，西宾斯太太卷入 “猎杀女巫”的案件，说明人类对自然的压迫和男性对女性的压迫也是紧密联系在一起的。 第四章探析了霍桑对未来和谐世界的美好期望，那就是实现男性、女性、自然三者之间的和谐。霍桑给我们描述了一幅人和自然和谐相处的画面，大自然是女性的避难所和力量的源泉，男

19、性也在自然中得到自我认定和救赎，男性和女性 iv 在自然中能够平等相处。 结论部分对红字以上章节的分析做出总结，对小说中体现的生态女性主义思想做进一步归纳。 关键词：生态女性主义；自然；女性；父权制社会；和谐；红字 1Introduction Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the important pioneers of romantic novel and psychoanalytic novel in American literature in 19th century. His creation mainly takes the New England

20、of the colonial period in the United States as the background, reflecting the social reality of the day. On the methods of creation, he is good at applying the romantic imagination, symbolic implication, the massive subjective psychological analysis to highlight the theme, reveal the characters inne

21、r world and simultaneously also displays the obscurity of the mysticism. He attempted to write novels in the 1830s. Then he wrote Mosses from an Old Manse, The House of the Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance, The Marble Faun, etc. Two myth collections of his works are: a Wonder-Book for Girls and

22、Boys and Tanglewood Tales for Girls and Boys. Hawthorne was accorded due recognition by many of his contemporary men of letters and his important place in American literature is fully recognized. He changed Herman Melville original scheme for his Moby Dick, and Herman Melville called Hawthorne “the

23、largest brain with the largest heart”. The Jamesian psychological realism may have taken its cue from Hawthornes soul-searching works. In this century William Faulkner and some Gothic novelists clearly showed their indebtedness to him. If Hawthornes reputation is still rising, it is indeed as it sho

24、uld be. As Henry James put it, “Hawthornes work will remain Among the men of imagination he will always have his niche.”(James, 1902: 183) With the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850, he became the most greatest writer in the United States and his reputation as a major American author has bee

25、n on the increase ever since. And The Scarlet Letter shows Hawthorne, the literary artist, at his best. It is not only because of the creative symbols, ambiguous art, but also because of Hawthornes psychological seriousness, structural unity and poetic languages that make his novels stand out. Henry

26、 James sets a high value on The Scarlet Letter, “In fact, the Publication of The Scarlet Letter was in the United States a literary event of the first importance. The book was the finest piece of imaginative 2 writing yet put forth in the country. There was a conscious of this in the welcome that wa

27、s given ita satisfaction in the idea of America having produced a novel that belonged to literature, and to the forefront of it. Something might at least be sent to Europe as exquisite in quality as anything that had been received, and the best of it was that the thing was absolutely American, it be

28、longed to the soil，to the air，it came out of the very Heart of New England.” (James, 1902: 12) In The Scarlet Letter all elements of Hawthornes thinking and aesthetics seem to find an adequate expression. The story takes place in Boston in the 17th century when Puritanism was very powerful and almos

29、t influenced every aspect of peoples life. The protagonist of the novel Hester Prynne follows her husband, an aging and ugly English scholar who is dehumanized by a life of abstruse studying, emigrating from Britain to New England that is still a colony of Britain. Unfortunately, her husband is capt

30、ured by the Indians on their way to the destination. So Hester comes to New England alone waiting for her husband. Before long word comes that Hesters husband has been lost at sea. The sharp contrast of image, the disposition and the pursuit between Hester and her husband shows their marriage is jus

31、t a formality, not to mention true love. So at that time Hester falls in love with a brilliant minister Arthur Dimmesdale and gives birth to a baby, which is against the doctrine of the Puritanism and will be punished. So on a summer morning in the puritan town of Boston, Hester stands on the scaffo

32、ld holding her illicit child as a humiliation of a sinner for her adultery, wearing a scarlet letter A as a sign of shame. When demanded and cajoled to name the adulterer, Hester keeps silent and leaves Arthur Dimmesdale anonymous in the affair. Just at that time, Hesters husband appears and he is b

33、ewildered to see her in pillory. Determined to find out who is the adulterer, Hesters husband disguises himself as a physician and gives himself a name “Roger Chillingworth”. When Hester returns to prison, he visits her and warns her not to reveal his real identity and pledges to devote himself to r

34、evenging on the adulterer. Refusing to confess his sin to the public, Dimmesdale suffers from shame and compunction physically, developing a serious heart condition. In the meanwhile, Chillingworth tries all means to torment the minister. Dimmesdale cannot do anything 3but banish himself from the co

35、mmunity. But Hester is able to reconstruct her life and wins a moral victory. Shunned by the community, she earns her living by sewing and embroidering, winning respect and admiration by resuming charitable work and performing good deeds to villagers who had a prejudice against her before. The tortu

36、re Dimmesdale suffers from makes Hester realize that she should reveal the true identity of Chillingworth to him. Then she makes the decision to flee to Europe together with Dimmesdale. They agree to find a ship that is due to sail after Dimmedale gives his last sermon. Unexpectedly, on the scaffold

37、 the minister confesses his sin and dies in the arms of Hester. There being no purpose for living except for revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later, leaving a large amount of money to Pearl. Afterwards Pearl is said to have been married to an aristocrat of England. When Hester passes away many yea

38、rs later, she is buried next to the Dimmesdale. As the masterpiece of Hawthornes, The Scarlet Letter has aroused widespread concern since its publication in 1850, which marks a great breakthrough in the creation of novel in America because of its deep theme, rich imagination and the unique way of wr

39、iting. From the publication to now, a lot of critics at home and abroad do many researches on the novel and illustrate it from different angles. In the history of American literature, the critical studies on The Scarlet Letter can be divided into several stages, just as Rita K. Gollin put it in his “ Nathaniel Hawthorne”: before twentieth century, early reviewers read the novel as a moral book, as an allegory; in the early stage of twentieth-century, importance