Ecofeminism Embodied in the Scarlet Letter

In the Scarlet Letter， Hawthorne created a heroine Hester with a strong and magical personality. When adultery was disclosed， punishment as the main line， the novel was narrated depending on her inner world and the fate of misery， and successfully created an admirable female image. She defended and pursued her rights with the courage ahead her time. As a female at that time， she scorned from being condemned and spit on， but through her own silent struggle and persistent efforts， finally to become a pursuit of freedom and happiness thinker. What she did and experienced had shown strong feminist consciousness. Hester’s femininity mainly includes her self-reliance and self-protection.

Frye implied that the experience of one person may have something with the change of four seasons： comedy with spring， romance with summer， tragedy with autumn， and despair of winter. Hester was one of the women who were deprived of their rights of pursing true love and should be put in the hands of male characters in the 17th New England. Her self-reliance and self-protection first lie in her persistence to pursue true love. In order to pursue her true love， Hester violated the doctrine of Puritanism and committed adultery. As a result， she was abandoned to be in the marginal position and her behavior should be accused and severely punished in the eyes of puritans， so she was forced to put on the scarlet letter A on her breast. Confronted with the questioning of the puritans， if she had told the public the name of her lover， she would have been regarded as a victim not the adulterer and exempted herself from the humiliation and punishment， but with her deep love with her lover Dimmesdale， her courage of facing the obstacles and humiliation came from her new-born daughter Pearl， Hester would rather keep her lover anonymous and admitted all crimes. On the scaffold， Hester forced to the cruel punishment with the infant in her arms with great perseverance. She is independent of herself without any help. She made full use of her excellent needing skills to support herself into society. The symbol of “A” is changed from “Adultery” to “Amiable” and even “Angle”. Finally she removed to her cottage again and accomplished her salvation with her determination， enthusiasm and her love for the needed. Hester neither showed any disgust or despair at all， nor did she discard her pursuit love and happy life.

Another reason of her self-reliance and self-protection is that she brought her daughter by herself. She and her daughter Pearl enjoyed the peace of the nature. She named Pearl to her daughter to imply that she cherished the true love with her lover and never regretted to pursue the pure and innocent love. For Hester， Pearl was her only treasure， her only friend and her only companion to help her to purify her soul. Hester used her love to educate Pearl， although Pearl was a child， she was able to see through the hypocrisy of people and behaved with her own principles. The result is that she was free and was herself in nature.

Either economically or ideologically， Hester showed a strong and independent sense of women， or she was deeply aware that women were in an unfair， hopeless position. If one person wants to seek self-liberation， he or she must act boldly. Hester had feelings of pain and helplessness during the process of love， but her heart was always full of longing for a better life and selfless love， showing strong feminist consciousness.

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高運艷. 《紅字》的生態女性主義解讀 An Ecofeminist Reading on the Scarlet Letter. 2010

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