Puritanical Dimensions in The Scarlet Letter: Moral Demands Versus Individual Needs

Abstract

This thesis concerns itself with those obstacles in American experience that placed themselves in the way of the search of happiness. The Puritan ethic is examined in relation to Hawthorne’s romance The Scarlet Letter. Its heroine, Hester Prynne, though on a binary position as a woman in Puritan society, rebels power and puts up a tenacious fight against the colonial rule combined by church and state. From her rebellious actions, we can see her struggle with the Puritan community. She becomes totally different from the traditional women who are always obedient to the unfair rules enacted by society. She has won not only the self-reliance in economy, but also in thought. It can be sensed that a new image for the individual is born. This dissertation tries to analyze Hester’s conflict as an individual with society and its strict morals at the respect of her rebellious spirit, self-reliance and strong mind.