Available online: http://scholarsmepub.com/ 595

Saudi Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences (SJHSS) ISSN 2415-6256 (Print)

Scholars Middle East Publishers ISSN 2415-6248 (Online)

Dubai, United Arab Emirates

The Professor of North China Electric Power University in China, studying American literature, literary and non-literary

translation

2

The post-graduate student majoring in English of North China Electric Power University in China, studying American

literature

The Scarlet Letter is a good example to show

his writing ideas, especially Hester Prynne. Hester

Prynne, the heroine of The Scarlet Letter, is a young

Scholars have interpreted this novel from

many perspectives, such as the theme, writing technique

and other literary theory. The early Commentators

generally regard The Scarlet Letter as Hawthorne‟s

complaints about Christian ethics. Recently scholars

hold different ideas about it. Su [1] holds that the

scarlet letter profoundly embodies the Christian ethical

spirit: the universality of sin and redemption. They

agree that Hawthorne‟s attitude towards religion is

complex and contradictory. Then, the most notable

Chen [1] extracted the image of needlework

gender role and class identity. Moreover, this novel has

Criticism, Ren and Wei [3] focused on the ambiguity or

the multiple meanings of “growing-up ceremonies” and

mother archetype in this story. Meng [4] explores this

novel from modernism, holding that People could not

communicate with others; therefore they are doomed to

be lonely. Moreover, people studied it from the

perspective of eco-feminism and expressed the

expectation for the harmonious relationship among

woman, nature and men. Even from the Feminism, few

researches interpret heroine in The Scarlet Letter from

Li Zhang & Huijuan Li., Saudi J. Humanities Soc. Sci., Vol-3, Iss-5 (May, 2018): 595-600

Available online: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjhss/ 596

traditional viewpoint of sexuality. Besides, this article

explores the influence of Hester's androgynous

characteristics on herself, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth

and the people around her, which is to embody Hester's

to get out of troubles and realize her self-worth. As a

result of her innermost androgyny, she grows from an

unworldly young woman to a strong-willed,

independent and mature woman. Furthermore, it will

lead the young man in modern society to improve them,

pursuing happiness and realize the true meaning of life.

Androgyny

The formation of feminity and masculinity is

actually an imperceptible process. This is similar to the

strong, active, independent and rational. At the same

time, women are weak, passive, dependent and

emotional. This traditional gender stereotype affects all

levels of social life. It is customary for people to

categorize all phenomena, social experiences and

individual behaviors with male or female

characteristics. Virginia Woolf bravely breaks the

stereotype, putting forward androgyny in her essay A

Room of One’s own.

sexes, she puts forward the artist's ideal creation

mentality.

Virginia Woolf [5] stated in her essay:

In each of us two powers preside, one male, one

predominates over the man. The normal and

confortable state of being is the harmony of them,

and literary ideal. The harmonious state of the

coexistence of both sexes is the keynote of her main

point. Through the thoughts on the opposite position

between history and literature history, man and woman,

Virginia Woolf boldly deconstructs the oppression of

own gender and life limitations in their creation. We

should not only write from the perspective of man, but

woman. We should not be influenced by the authority

of the patriarchal culture, and not dominated by the

absolute feminist consciousness. Therefore, the

reasonable combination of these two characteristics can

bring harmony of identity.

a great contribution to literary criticism, both female

If we want to achieve the full and free development of

human beings, it is just a fantasy by weakening the

consciousness of differences of sex.

reasonableness of the existence of men and women,

which means that it transcends gender to pursue human

harmony. This paper will focus on Hester Prynne in

terms of her masculinity and femininity. The previous

introduction to androgyny will lay the foundation for

Androgyny in Hester Prynne

woman [6]. Hester Prynne is such a character with

androgyny. For one thing, Hester Prynne has the

masculinity like the rebellious spirit, survivability and

the pursuit of self-value. For another thing, Hester

Prynne represents the characteristics of woman in

general, like tenderness, charm, gentleness and

maternity.

Feminity in Hester Prynne

Hester Prynne, as a young woman, is full of

Li Zhang & Huijuan Li., Saudi J. Humanities Soc. Sci., Vol-3, Iss-5 (May, 2018): 595-600

Available online: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjhss/ 597

appearance, good skills in needle as well as her

optimism.

Nathanial Hawthorne [7] stated in The Scarlet Letter:

black eyes. She was lady-like, too, after the manner of

the feminine gentility of those days. (p.53)

after she goes out of the prison. It is no doubt that she is

still attractive, charming and fair, full of feminine

gentility. People who know her expect that

her spirits must noticeably sag and she must have lost

the past elegant demeanor. The reality is that Hester is

still radiant. Later, Hester walks towards the place

populace. At that time, “It was the art---then, as now,

almost the only one within a woman‟s grasp---of

needle-work[7].” It seems that the needlework has

imagination has been poured into the ordinary articles

pleasure, incomprehensible to the other sex, from the

delicate toil of the needle. To Hester Prynne it might

have been a mode of expressing, and therefore

femininity.

In addition, Hester is

a warm, generous and kind-hearted woman with

optimism and humanism. In this novel, she uses her

extra income to relieve others in need who may insult

her once. She doesn‟t care what has happened before,

good nature deeply moves many people. Therefore they

no longer explained the bright red word in their original

her relationship with both Pearl and Dimmesdale, a

representation of her femininity.

and happiness. As her only wealth, Hester poured all his

love into Pearl. She lives the simplest and most difficult

life while the Pearl leads a more comfortable one. She

often did her best to buy Pearl the most expensive

clothes, and she tried to decorate the Pearl's clothes and

dress her up brightly. It seems that Pearl is Hester

Prynne‟s hope to survive from troubles. That is the

power of maternal love and her feminine charm.

her lover, Dimmesdale. It not only needs courage and

determination, but a motherly broad mind and selfless

love. Hester Prynne is brave and courageous, full of

virtue and wisdom. But Dimmesdale is very cowardly,

having a spiritual attachment to his lover. Every time he

meets Hester, Dimmesdale will acquire the spiritual

comfort and wisdom. Before the reunion in forest, he

looks very pale and drawn with faltering steps.

Dimmesdale is so dreamy that he is just a dying man.

After meeting Hester, he recovers himself and

Masculinity in Hester Prynne

Living in a world of binary opposites in

gender, the women in a weak position must face the

pre-existing social norms. They often have to follow

these conventions and norms in this situation, and they

have to change their behavior in order to be consistent

with the social stigma of women's expectations [5].

this limitation. In her composition, a complete man

Li Zhang & Huijuan Li., Saudi J. Humanities Soc. Sci., Vol-3, Iss-5 (May, 2018): 595-600

Available online: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjhss/ 598

from her survivability, rebellion against unjust

marriage, Pearl‟s custody and her pursuit of true love.

the property of the wife in marriage and the inheritance

after marriage. Therefore, women must rely on men

politically and economically. Obedience, piety and

chastity are widely supposed as their virtues. But in

contrast, Hester is a laborer in this novel, not a man's

appendage. During her exile, she earned her respect by

making a living by embroidery. Chen [1]believed that

the needle and thread in her hand stands for the weapon

for her to fight against the unjust, which made her get

rid of the shackles of male ideology. With excellent

thoughts by taking the economic independence of

needlework. She is not a woman to beg for food from

man. When the novel ends, Hester Prynne is deeply

marked with hope and happiness.

be reflected in her rebellion against the unjust marriage

and her pursuit of true love. Hester is a very beautiful,

young and charming image in this novel, full of passion

marriage may be bounded by some kind of interest or

sweetness of love until she met Dimmesdale. She fell in

love with Dimmesdale, and then gave birth to Pearl. It

seems that Hester betrays her marriage. The betrayal of

this marriage, to some extent, is the emancipation from

the family and social constraints of patriarchy. Later,

to escape with Dimmesdale, which embodies her

yearning for love and desire for love and freedom.

regards her behavior as guilt. Therefore she refuses to

contempt and irony for the Puritan society. Hester's

silent resistance can be interpreted from the scarlet

letter A in her chest. The letter is set with a lace of gold,

colorful than the simple standard of the time, which

shows her inner impulse and resistance. Furthermore,

Pearl should have been dressed up as usual to avoid

arousing people's attention in common views. But

Hester acts in a diametrically opposite way. Hester was

proud to dress Pearl in a very beautiful way to release

his repressed enthusiasm.

Moreover, Hester‟s actions to win custody of her

daughter also represent her rebellion against the unjust

She is my torture, none the less...You shall not take her!

protect his daughter from injury and she will never give

up her right to be a mother, fully maintaining the

dignity of a mother.

Influences of Hester Prynne’s Androgyny

influences on herself, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, and

the people around her. That means the Hester‟s self-

changes herself from a naïve woman into a strong-

willed woman. Her androgyny is also gradually formed

with the tribulation. Hester suffered a lot in the process

with her androgynous characteristics. When she was a

young and charming woman, she suffered spiritual

emptiness in marriage. After her trail, Hester silently

endures the spits of the world. Therefore, she separated

herself from the outside world and started her

humiliating and lonely life in the outskirts of the city.

However, in any case she did not give up the hope of

On the other hand, she shows her unyielding rebellious

Li Zhang & Huijuan Li., Saudi J. Humanities Soc. Sci., Vol-3, Iss-5 (May, 2018): 595-600

Available online: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjhss/ 599

spirits. Seven years had made Hester strong and mature,

but her love for Dimmesdale did not change for a

moment. Her repentance and rebellion have been

intertwined, just like the combination of feminity and

transforms a lot under the influence of Hester Prynne.

Dimmesdale is a talented young minister who is both

handsome and respectable. He is very devout about

Puritanism, and his deeds are in accordance with his

teachings. However, his love with Hester Prynne

changes everything. He does not have the courage to

stand on the bench with Hester to openly admit his

crimes, and dares not to accept the fact that he betrays

the violation of the religious rules and is afraid of being

In his last breath, Dimmesdale shows the scarlet letter

on his chest. Finally, he dies in the arms of Hester and

realizes the self-salvation of the soul.

Besides, Hester bravely reveals

Chillingworth deserves. In this novel, Chillingworth is a

matter of medicine, a learned man, and a sinner with

vengeance. When he finds the adultery between Hester

and Dimmesdale, Chillingworth appears as a doctor and

Chillingworth works hard to torment the Dimmesdale to

death and eventually go to the platform, Chillingworth

was not happy to achieve the goal of revenge. On the

contrary, he fell into depression without the aim and

motive of life, and he died in less than a year.

In this novel, Hester changes the hypocrisy and

apathy of the society through her sincere behavior. That

is to say, through her efforts, Hester endows the scarlet

letter A in her chest with multiple meanings. The

trust and respect of others. She earns people‟s respect

and rewrites identity with her own actions. She

emancipates herself, to a great extent, as well as the

people around her.

women should have some male characteristics. If Jung's

"anima" male femininity and the "animus" femininity

theory were true, the world would be in harmony. The

Scarlet Letter successfully shaped the rebellious

character of Hester Prynne. Under the cruel reign of

Puritans and Calvin's teachings, she never stopped

pursuing a good life, equal rights and a longing love.

She dared to fight against the Puritan ruler and fight for

her rights. In the patriarchal society, Hester has the

the novel, Hester took Pearl leave the land that brought

her true love. The story seems to have come to the end.

But Hester returned again, bring the story to a climax

again. On the one hand, she was fearless against the

unreasonable dogma and pursued her own happiness.

On the other hand, she cannot completely get rid of the

limitation of religion, that is, the rebellion against

religion is not thorough. This embodies the dual nature

of her mind, resistance and obedience. In a way, it was

also a compromise of her femininity and masculinity. In

Li Zhang & Huijuan Li., Saudi J. Humanities Soc. Sci., Vol-3, Iss-5 (May, 2018): 595-600

Available online: http://scholarsmepub.com/sjhss/ 600

5. Clare, H. (1994).Women Writers: Virginia Woolf.