Archetypes embodied in the image of Hester Prynne in The scarlet letter [3]
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关键词:archetypal criticismarchetypesphilosophical ideasreligious views
begin to regard the scarlet letter “A” on her bosom as “able”, “amiable” and even “angel” and more and more people turn to her for help. Through her austerity and generosity, Hester attains her salvation in the end. The adoption of narration mode is aimed to highlight the strong will of the heroine Hester. Her revolt against the society and the doctrines of Puritanism is actually a quest for her value and position in a self-esteemed and patriarchy society. In other words, Hester is a very typical questing heroine, just like Eve, the most well-known heroine of the questing kind in the western literature. God symbolizes authority and paternity. Therefore, that Eve revolts against God is actually to revolt against paternity while Hester’s quest is to find her true value and position in a society dominated by men. The parallelism between Hester and Eve shows Hawthorne’s strong sympathy toward Hester, who is under oppression in a patriarchy society. In Hester, there reflects another archetype of the fallen woman. In the “Gospel according to John” of the New testament, the doctors of law and the Pharisees brought in a woman committing adultery. They said to Jesus that “in the Law Moses has laid down that such woman to be stoned.” Jesus proclaimed, “That one of you who are faultless shall throw the first stone.” And no one dared to stone and one by one went away. This archetype is also reflected in The scarlet letter. Hester, who is dark hair and of a passionate nature, owns an ill repute, above all, Hester also commits adultery. Unlike the fallen woman in the New testament, Hester is severely punished by the puritans, who have committed unseen crimes themselves. Although all the Christians are supposed to believe that only God is faultless and all the mortals are full of fault, these puritans have severely punished her. Through this depiction, Hawthorne shows his strong objection toward the hypocrisy and harshness of the puritans. Hester’s archetypal sin and tragedy reflects her struggle for self-value in an oppressive society. Through the allusion to Eve and the fallen woman, Hawthorne shows his sympathy toward Hester, who represents individual rebellion against a harsh society. Hester’s pursuit for self value and desire are oppressed in the Puritan society, which undervalues the need for self desire and tramples upon individual feelings.
2.2 Scapegoat
Hester reflects the archetype of a scapegoat, on whom all the sins of community can be laid and the public nature of her punishment makes her an object for contemplation. Frye once defined in Anatomy of criticism, “The figure of a typical or random victim begins to crystallize in domestic tragedy as it deepens in ironic tone. We may call this typical victim the pharmakos or scapegoat. We meet a pharmokos figure in Hawthorne’s Hester Prynne” (Frye, p. 185). The origin of the scapegoat could be traced back to the Book of Leviticus. On the Day of atonement, a live goat was selected by lot. The high priest placed both hands on the goat’s head and confessed over it the sins of the people. In this way, the sins were symbolically transferred to the animal, which was then cast out into the wilderness. This process thus purged people, for a time, of their guilt. From then on, there were many examples in The Bible of selecting a goat to bear all the faults. But when the
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