Although The Scarlet Letter is considered to be most representative work for the topic of feminism among Hawthorne’s all books, there are still some other pieces , like Wakefield, Birthmark, The Blithedale Romance and so on, showing the writer’s attitudes toward female and opinions of feminism。 In the Hawthorne’s early writing period, Mrs。 Wakefield, who totally depends on her husband and can only live to death without male, is a typical representative of “true womanhood”(Zhang, 2013) in that America。 There was a prevailing view that female’s duty was to support their husband and educate children。 And then the poor wife`s death in The Birthmark is a tragedy caused by such a male-dominated society, in which what the heroine of the book can do is to be subordinated to her husband。 However, to the end, the words on her deathbed imply her inner heroine’s subversion and revolt against the patriarchal discourse, said Xu(2013)。 The women self-consciousness is awakened and at the same time, she set herself free。 In his later works, such as The Blithedale Romance, Hawthorne paid much more attention to feminism, and his attitudes are still the center of concerns。 Some hand up to support, some opposition and the others contradiction。 Two women in The Blithedale Romance very different from each other, are two poles: one is extremely conservative and weak while another spares no effort to pursue independence and freedom。 Hawthorne’s position to the images of them are not so clear。 Gao and Kong(2015) pointed out that the author was not on either side since he thought that the beauty of women should be kind and harmonious。 文献综述

Hawthorne’s thoughts for feminism is a moot point and The Scarlet Letter is regarded as the most representative work relating to feminism among all his books。 Chen Shuhua’s “ The reflection of Hawthorne’s thoughts for feminism in The Scarlet Letter”(2001) points out a serious topic in the work that how the females strive for their equal rights and freedom。 For the feminism in The Scarlet Letter, Hester, the heroine in the novel, is not suitable for the society but regarded as the representative of women struggling for females’ rights and freedom。 Because of her uncommon personalities, many scholars analyze Hawthorne’s awareness of feminism from the perspective of Hester。 Dong and Li(2014) made a study of the feminism in The Scarlet Letter。 They thought the heroine—Hester changed the meaning of the Scarlet “A” from “adultery” to “able”, forming a new female image and the work condemned the unfair treatment given to females。   

On the other side, some researchers pointed out that in The Scarlet Letter it reflects the author’s criticism to women, like Hester who does something unethical。 The heroine’s tragedy is caused by her abandonment of women’s nature。 According to the author’s arrangement for Hester’s ending, Hawthorne was against feminism and withhold judgement on male-dominated society。 The two totally different opinions about the writer’s attitudes toward female and feminism do put up with their standpoints reasonably。 However, Hester is the person through whom we can learn Hawthorne’s view most but not the only one。 

“Why did Hawthorne choose Pearl, a girl rather than a boy to, be one of the main characters in his novel?” was always asked to myself when reading The Scarlet Letter。 And while many other readers show their interest in her parents, especially the mother, I was totally attracted by this beautiful and intelligent girl。 Compared with Hawthorne’s childhood, Pearl has something in common with the young author。 Hawthorne’s mother gets premarital pregnancy and Pearl’s commits adultery, both of which are immoral at that time。 So the two women are punished。 The writer’s mother left the family and they were supported by Hawthorne’s uncle and grandfather。 Though young Hawthorne indeed get more attention and care from the two men , his mother still does not have the right to decide how to educate her child。 On the contrary, Hester brings up and educate her child by herself 。 There is no doubt that the two mothers are in a similar position。 They are unequally treated 。 And on the other hand, although their births are both scandalous results, it does not mean that they are unholy。 And if the prototype of Hester is his mother, why did he portray a girl as a more sinful product of adultery not a boy , who may better express his thoughts? Answers may come to you in my following analysis。 来*自-优=尔,论:文+网www.chuibin.com