Rahman 1

Mumtahina Rahman

Lecturer Mohammad Akteruzzaman

ENG 403:

24 April 2020

And The Mountains Echoed: Psychological Approach

Abstract: This study deals with socio-cultural aspects of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, more

specifically it explores the author's attitude to femininity, the creation and portrayal of Hester Prynne

from a feminist perspective. In addition, along with the plot's historical and geographical explanation,

the main focus has been put on the complex relationship of the characters and their development from

the perspective of some of the 20th century feminist theories. The paper's goal is to try and prove my

own theory about the author's own feminist inclinations.

Key words : aspects, explores, femininity, perspective, inclinations.

1.Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne, best known for the very novel that this paper is about, helped shape American

Romanticism. He contributed to the growth of American literature and plausibly the growth of feminist

thought with his plays, which were mainly influenced by the Puritan tradition.

The paper's main emphasis would be on the attempt to create a connection between 20th century

radical feminist movement and Hawthorne's story in the form of a 'seduction novel' from the 19th

century. Until today, women are perceived by prescriptive qualities of belonging to We are raised from

birth to follow and submit to their fathers, their brothers and their husbands who are not far from being

regarded as land. This is exactly why it is important to consider The Scarlet Letter from a feminist point
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of view. Feminism and the entire abolition of a gender, dating back to the 20th century, is fairly young in

nature, and Hawthorne produced a novel in which a woman of liberal ideals fights and prevails over

patriarchal patriarchy. The initial chapters will deal with the brief historical overview on what happened

before and after the events of The Scarlet Letter, using the extensive compilation of historical

information collected in Cyril Aydon's, A Brief History of Mankind, and Alan Taylor's American Colonies,

as well as Hawthorne's own portrayal of his ancestors in The Scarl. As for the Puritans Perry Miller and

Thomas H. Johnson's literary setting, they have an amalgam of Puritan sermons and works in The

Puritans: A sourcebook of Their Writings.

Using Hester as an example, I'll try to examine how patriarchy and the gender binary distribution of roles

affected her will to fight and survive. And it influenced and formed her character throughout the 17th

century, when the distinctions between male and female were much more apparent. More precisely,

through modern feminist theory, I would examine Hawthorne's representation of women, and seek to

decide whether or not this novel might be considered one of the first plays representing critical feminist

values in recent history. This very problem will be discussed with contemporary feminist theories

described in Rosemarie Tong's Feminist Thought, Stevi Jackson and Jackie Jones' Contemporary Feminist

Theories, and most notably Gender Trouble view of Judith Butler. Tongs as well as Jackson – Jones'

handbooks include reviews of essential plays such as Sexual Politics by Kate Millet and Beyond God the

Father by Mary Daly which will definitely help in the paper's study.

2.Settings

Settings : Hester Pryne is the protagonist of the novel The Scarlet Letter. Because, every culture plays a

role in influencing the development of one's personality, it's only natural to think that, in order to

understand what Hester Prynne went through, we first need to know what kind of people she interacted

with. This chapter addresses exactly that subject. Boston's historical study, the Puritans and the whole
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of the 17th century. It's important to point out right at the outset that the first definitions that come to

mind when we hear the term 'Puritan' aren't necessarily the historically accurate ones. As described in

the paper's introductory section, this chapter will deal with both the historical and the author's own

depiction of the Puritan society. What were their characteristics and how did their culture perceive sin,

retribution, predestination, and freedom? The relevance of these questions lies in the relation that

every setting has to the character of an individual. Hester's rebellion in the rigidity of early Puritan

practices only adds more to her personality, and seeing the New England pioneers as strict as they were

plays a vital role in recognizing why it's so remarkable for her to rise to our modern standards.The

theme of the novel The Scarlet Letter is resistance and heart power embodied in a beautiful young

woman, which is, imaginably, exactly how Hawthorne pictured his home country's early stages of

emancipation and development. The general prescription and personification of femininity in homelands

and the author's unusual choice to construct one of the first American novels whose main protagonist is

an autonomous female could be just a mistake, or perhaps precisely the intent of Hawthorne. Perhaps it

was his aim for the reader to create a correlation on a subconscious level that his theme, discussing the

role of women in the beginnings of American culture, somehow reflects the breaking of relations with

something ancient and controlling, the patriarchal Britain. Hawthorne was not the first to materialize

liberty and freedom in a beautiful woman's face. 3. Hawthorne, the Pioneer Feminist As described in the

previous chapter, Hawthorne is the first feminist leaders in history. Sadly, it is difficult to say with

certainty whether or not he had personally recognized the patriarchal inequality and its simplistic

inclinations about the treatment of gender roles. On the one side, reading today's plays, we can only

guess what his motives were in selecting certain themes and characters to be the carriers of his

thoughts.But, on the other hand, it is precisely his decisions that lead us to conclude strongly that he

was certainly aware of what women faced in the patriarchal male – culture dominated. The argument I

would attempt to suggest in this chapter is that it is very possible to use contemporary feminist theory
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to describe the role of a 'feminist' to Nathaniel Hawthorne and to examine Hester's character formation

and identity development in his novel. 3.1. Feminist Standpoint This chapter would deal specifically with

my effort to show that Hester Prynne embodied the characteristics of contemporary radical feminist

thinkers considered critical in rehabilitating the inequality that the patriarchal system inserted into

various social systems. This will have the function of an introductory part of the paper by elaborating the

basic concepts of feminist theory, gradually laying the groundwork for the feminist essence thereof. 3.2.

Post-colonial Feminist theory Nevertheless, the feminist post-colonial theory is an offshoot of the

original paradi. The chapter's aim would be to identify the key emphasis of both hypotheses and to

examine how the Scarlet Letter works within their margins. In seeking to do this I will use the

elaboration of the subject by Sara Mills inside Jackson and Jones' Contemporary Feminist Theories. The

rationale behind the choice of this particular theory is the fact that Hawthorne himself wrote in the post

– colonial era and his novel's theme is set at the moment when North America colonization was at its

peak. 4. Conclusion One woman alone is faced with the implications of an act, primordial and normal to

any living being on this earth, but deemed unacceptable by her kin. Those around her are more

concerned about the circumstances in which, as they term it, the 'crime' was committed than the

emotions which gave it the basis and justification. The story of Hester Prynne is the cornerstone in which

Hawthorne chose to depict the patriarchal philosophy of Puritan while addressing the question of

ignominy, guilt and love. In fact, The Scarlet Letter represents an innovation given the general literary

themes of the period. Even like the new feminist views are considered progressive and groundbreaking,

Hawthorne's creativity for his age may be considered more than innovative