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延安大學(xué)

Abstract

:Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most influential writers in the19century in American literature.Based on the eco-feminism theory,this thesis points out that Hawthorne’s eco-feminist consciousness demonstrated in The Scarlet Letter is helpful in arousing people’s awareness of the importance of reconstructing human society in harmony with the natural environment and is also beneficial for the harmonious development of man and nature.

Key

words

:The Scarlet LetterEco-feminism

一、Eco-feminism Theory

Eco-feminism implies a new trend of literary criticism that combines ecological consciousness and feminism.It opposes the traditional anthropocentrism and androcentric,repudiates male chauvinist cultural values,compliments women’s good essence of being close to nature,calls for equality between the sexes,and asserts human being can subdue the nature is wrong.

二、Hawthorne’s Eco-feminist Consciousness

Hawthorne lives in the men-dominated society,but the ideological revolution has great influence on him,and he accepts and develops his eco-feminist consciousness.Through describing Hester’s punishment by the Puritan society,Hawthorne implies that Hester’s status is very low,and she is put in a subsidiary position in the Puritan society.Hawthorne’s eco-feminist outlook of the world is reflected in Hester’s longing for nature and his rebellious thoughts.In order to challenge the notion that women are subsidiary to men in the men-dominated society,Hawthorne describes Hester as the main character in the novel,and it is from her,he expresses his eco-feminist idea.

三、Eco-feminism’s Harmonious Relationship among Women,Nature and Men

Eco-feminism strongly opposes the view of oppressive patriarchal conceptual frameworks which justify men’s two dominations of nature and women; it aims at the achievement of the ecological sustainability and advocates that the harmonious relationship should be built among women,nature and men without gender and racial discrimination.Hawthorne advocates eco-feminism and it is reflected in the novel The Scarlet Letter.

(一)The Ideal Relation among Women,Nature and Men

In patriarchal society,nature and women are separated from the ‘whole’.In The Scarlet Letter women are deemed to play the subsidiary role and dominated by men.Forest was a symbol of nature free from the Puritans’ law.For Puritans,forest was a place that represented darkness and evil,because witches gathered there,individuals sold their souls to the devil.However,Hawthorne thinks nature is a harbor for women.When Hester was abandoned by the society,she had hidden her inner feelings under a shield of shame and her beauty.In the forest,she showed her beauty openly.She concealed her beautiful black hair when tried for adultery because under the control of puritan law at that time women were not allowed to display their beauty and what they could do was to hinder their desire for freedom.

(二)The Ideal Relation between Nature and Men

Though men do great damage to nature and want to control nature totally,they can’t ignore the fact that nature plays an important role in purifying and motivating people to be aware of their weakness and realize self-perfection.Eco-feminists hold the opinion that the relationship between man and nature,and the exploitative and oppressive relationship between men and women were closely related in men-dominated societies.The development of human beings is realized by improving science and technology at the cost of the ecological destruction of the nature.Meanwhile,science demands people who are emotionally crippled and kill all feeling of sympathy,all imagination that would lead to thinking without imagination and emotion.

四、Conclusions

Eco-feminism thinks the harmonious relationship should be built between human beings and nature,men and women without gender-based prejudice.Human beings should be regarded as an inseparable part of the closely-interconnected ecosystem.As a living whole and independent entity,nature should be more respected other than conquered to human will.Human beings and nature are friends and their relationship should be set up.Briefly,neither men nor women should dominate nature and conquer each other.In return,nature provides human race freedom,power,equality and liberation.