Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is popular among researchers. However, few of them analyze Hester as an image of witch. The present author tries to find out why elements of witches appear in The Scarlet Letter, and analyze Hester’s conformity with the witches in Puritans’ context.

Reviewing the literary studies of The Scarlet Letter, this paper starts with a close look at the image of witch in this novel. In chapter one, the author explains the reasons why elements of witches occur in The Scarlet Letter. First, it is because the story of the novel was set during the witch hunt era. Besides, Hawthorne studied the history of witch hunt era of New England well. Moreover, the Salem witch trials had subtle influences on Hawthorne. In chapter two, the author relates the Devil with witches and indicates that Pearl was labeled “imp” by Hawthorne and “demon offspring” by the townspeople which  means that they also regarded Hester as a witch. In chapter three, the author explains that Hester is similar to a witch because she contacted the Black man, signed his pact, and possessed his mark. Actually, all of those traits of were vital proofs of people being treated as a witch during the witch hunt era. In addition, Hester’s traits of witch were all related to her rebellious and lustful adultery. Thus, once a woman’s act was rebellious and lustful she would be considered a witch during that time.

Finally, the author reaches the conclusion that Hester should be treated as an image of witch because she conforms to puritan’s witch in many ways. What is more, Hawthorne’s unconscious depiction of Hester’s traits of witch reflects that the influence of a narrator’s readings and his family history was imperceptible. Furthermore, the internal relation between “adultery” and witch demonstrates that the lustful and rebellious behavior of women during the witch hunt era is the important background of Hester being treated as a witch.

Key Words:  The Scarlet Letter; Hester; Witch

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1   Introduction-1

2   The Influence of Witch Hunts on The Scarlet Letter-4

2.1 The Era of Witch Hunts-4

2.2 The Salem Witch Trials and Its Influence on Nathaniel Hawthorne-6

3   Hester as Townspeople’s Witch-8

3.1 Christian’s Demonology and Witch-8

3.2 Hester’s Imp and Demon Offspring-9

4   Hester as the Black Man’s Witch-12

4.1 The Devil’s Pact, the Black Man and the Mark-12

4.2 Hester’s Pact and Mark-13

5   Conclusion-16

Bibliography-18

Acknowledgments-20