A Song for Women: Return of Human Spiritual Ecology

付晓丹

Abstract： The Scarlet Letter is one of the great works by Nathaniel Hawthorne， who is considered as one of the greatest American novelists in 19th century. This paper concentrates on the patriarchal oppression of women and nature and analyses the interconnection between women and nature， exposing the crisis of natural and human spiritual ecology in order to search for the return of human nature. Key words： affinity； natural ecology； spiritual ecology

[中图分类号]I06

[文献标识码]A

[文章编号]1006-2831（2013）08-0220-3 doi：10.3969/j.issn.1006-2831.2013.03.057

1. Introduction

The Scarlet Letter is one of the great works by Nathaniel Hawthorne， who is considered as one of the greatest American novelists in the 19th century. In his novel Hawthorne places the story in the 17th century in American New England under the puritan magistrates， and he successfully depicts the strictness of the Puritanism of that time and its cruel killing of human nature. Despite its shocking subject matter， The Scarlet Letter enters the canon of American masterpieces almost from its first appearance in 1850 and has remained there for over 140 years. No college course in nineteenth century American fiction is complete without it. Literary critics have studied it in the context of Hawthornes life， in the context of the theme， as a reflection of nineteenth-century social history， and in its historical context of Puritanism. Herman Melville， a great nineteenth-century allegorist， describes the effect Hawthornes works had on him： “The soft ravishments of the man spun me round about in a web of dreams， and when the book was closed， when the spell was over， this wizard dismissed me with but misty reminiscences， as if I had been dreaming of him”（Melville， 1987）. Hawthorne obtains the great fame and he may well be American Shakespeare（James， 1879）.

2. Patriarchal Oppression of Women and Nature

2.1 The Crisis of Natural Ecology

Hawthorne portrays the physical reality of the wildness in The Scarlet Letter， in which the gloomy New England is taken as the background and the cruelty of Puritanism and killing of human nature are depicted vividly. This wild land is presented as a place of sterility， emptiness， shadows and a place of the living dead. The town is a place of decay and death， the people who inhabit it are all but dead themselves， everything about the place sends out the smell of decay.

Nature should be the motherland of living creatures， which should pour their energy and passion into the soil， which should devote their care to the plants and animals， which should commit to establishing a harmonious ecological circumstance with nature. But here before the ugly edifice is a grass-plot overgrown with burdock， pig-weed， around them there is a black flower—prison. Hawthorne depicts the prison as the representative of the puritan system. Next to the prison door， there is a wild rose bush， “by a strange chance， has been kept alive in history. But whether it had merely survived out of the stern old wilderness so long after the fall of the gigantic pines and oaks that originally overshadowed it...”（Hawthorne， 1994）. Hawthorne emphasizes the beautiful rosebush which symbolizes some kind of sweet moral flower to reduce the darkness of human frailty and sadness， which forms a sharp contrast with the gloomy dark soil， on which the rosebush survives by a strange chance out of the stern old wildness. Hawthorne uses the technique of irony on mens rude behavior towards nature， warning mankind to protect their environment and cherish the opportunity to appreciate the fragile beauty nature.

2.2 The Crisis of Spiritual Ecology

With the development of science and technology， industrialization has a great influence on human spirit. Instead of the original human nature of kindness， simple， tolerance， men become hypocritical， selfish， greedy， and the soul of human beings is eroded absolutely. All these are typical signs of crisis of spiritual ecology.

Arthur Dimmesdale， a respectable member of the patriarchal society， appeals to Hester with his intelligence， emotion and eloquent sermons. At that time he is a priest with penance and complex inner world. He is selfish and false， and lives in the contradictory and miserable state with the criminal psychology. He is involved in the complicated and conflict struggle between spirit and physical disease. Unlike Hester Prynne who openly exposes her sin， Dimmesdale lives with a secret sin of his own. The puritan system becomes the barrier to the mutual communication between him and the outside world. The only way to confess his soul is to be beat and lashed by the gory whip in his secret closet. It is his custom to purify the body until his knees trembled beneath him. Sometimes in the darkness， sometimes with a glimmering lamp he prays and reflects on his past sin. All these abnormal actions seem to cause him to get serenity even for a while. This complex conflict urges him to die tragically in confession and atonement. This is the evidence of the spirit crisis. Dimmesdale is so self-conscious and remains aloof from his lover instead of giving care， support and warmth to the suffering people around him. His hypocritical personality fails to comfort Hester on his own initiative； even he dares not to admit the daughter Pearl with courage. His spirit has been decayed and his body withered by the rigid rules of Puritanism for his whole life without the hope of redemption. He can not follow his own heart， his own feelings but admits the cold and stern rules in the religious books to dominate him absolutely. He loses the fundamental ability to love others and to be loved by others. For human beings a true love should have been a happy time of life； smiles in the lovers heart； flourishes in the sunshine， but in the novel it is troubled into the coldness and darkness for many years.

3. A Song for Women： Return of Human Spiritual Ecology

Hester Prynne， a woman of graceful nature， was born in a once rich family and lived a happy infancy. But her unhappy marriage was like a tuft of green moss on a crumbling wall， feeding itself on time-worn materials. The dark grey marriage brought about the loneliness and depression to her. She is sentenced to prison for seven years for her commitment adultery.

The whole seven years of outlaw and ignominy helps her prepare for her brave decision for the future. Hester Prynnes confinement is at the end. She comes forth into the sunshine and begins her new life. She doesnt flee away from the colony new land which took the shame and crime to her， but lives in a small thatched cottage not close to any other habitation. During the long lonely cold life experience， Hesters needle work not only provides her means of life， but also establishes her new image gradually in the community. As a person who was banished out of the society， a sinner who was expelled out of the lines of moral standard in the colony land， becomes the representative of independence and selfreliance， but also becomes a winner of new thought model in terms of womens situation. Hesters kindness， assistance and sympathy to the sick and troubled persons reveal the new meanings. The scarlet letter A does not mean Adultery， but Able. When it appears in the sky on the night of John Winthrops death， the community believes it stands for Angel， which symbolizes the freedom， hope and redemption. In the novel， Hawthorne just composed a song for women for the hope that human find out their lost spiritual ecology.

4. Conclusion

This paper shows the subordination of nature and women in patriarchal puritan society by means of analyzing the crisis of natural ecology and spiritual ecology from patriarchy， and reveals the subjugation of women from Patriarchy. Meanwhile， Hawthorne depicts the new image of a brave， independent woman and Hawthorne just composed a song for women for returning the lost human spiritual ecology.

Reference：

Hawthorne， Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter[M]. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 1994.

James， Henry， Jr. Hawthorne[M]. London： Macmillan， 1879.

Melville， Herman. The Piazza Tales and Other Prose Pieces， 1839-1860. In The Writings of Herman Melville： The Northwestern-Newberry Edition[M]. Eds. Harrison Harford， Alma A. MacDougall， and G. Thomas Tanselle. Evanston， IL： Northwestern UP， 1987.