Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
English
Date of Award
5-2002
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Mark Holland
Committee Members
Michael A. Cody, Kevin E. O'Donnell
Abstract
This thesis examines the works of Nathaniel Hawthorne and the archetypal images therein. The Scarlet Letter is discussed extensively with references made to The Blithedale Romance. Characters in the following short stories are referred to: “Rappaccini’s Daughter,” “Young Goodman Brown” and “The Birthmark.” An overall analysis of feminine repression in both male and female characters is explored. Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, and Pearl are the subjects of lengthy discussion. Journeys, both inward and outward are explored in the characters. The context is nineteenth-century culture of which Hawthorne is a product. The characters in The Scarlet Letter search for a complete existence, an integration of the unconscious and the conscious. Through a mythological study of Hawthorne’s work, we draw closer to understanding this complex example of nineteenth-century literature.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Hallenbeck, Kathy H., "Completing the Circle: A Study of the Archetypal Male and Female in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter." (2002). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 652. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/652
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.