A Difficult Journey Into Morality

As the most outstanding representative of the romantic period in American literature, Nathaniel Hawthorne is the earliest American writer who devoted all his works on moral theme. His probing into morality two hundred years ago still sheds light on the moral problems nowadays. In his novels and tales, he pointed out that the evil seed in man's soul is the main source that leads to man's depravity and social moral deterioration. He believed the evil seed can be eradicated by one's own efforts and the soul can be purified. Hawthorne also predicted in his works that the extreme development of science may bring a moral crisis to man. He considered that science must be brought under man's control and given good moral guidance.This thesis involves Hawthorne's four novels and some of his tales, aiming at probing into Hawthorne's difficult journey into morality. The author of this thesis considers that the moral theme in his tales represents his scattered steps in his difficult journey into morality while his four novels are four typical milestones on this difficult journey. Based on the relevant study, the thesis contends that Hawthorne's life journey almost keeps pace with his journey into morality, and the latter is greatly influenced by the former.The thesis consists of four chapters. The first chapter is a brief review of the literary criticism on Hawthorne's works and the aim of this thesis. The second is on the three aspects of the moral theme in Hawthorne's tales: 1. the theme of the Original Sin; 2. the theme of man's isolation and alienation; 3. the relation between man and science. The third focuses on the maturity of the moral theme in Hawthorne's four novels. By comparison, the author finds Hawthorne's theory of the Original Sin bears much resemblance to the ancient Chinese thinker Xuncius's theory of " Evil Human Nature" and his Utopian dream of the Blithedale is another version of the ancient Chinese poet Tao Yuanming's imaginary land of Taohuayuan (the Land of Peach Blossoms). This indicates the similarity hi certain aspects of morality between different cultures.The last chapter is on the social and subjective sources of Hawthorne's moral theme. In respect to social source, Hawthorne is influenced by both Jonathan Edward's Calvinism and Ralph Waldo Emerson's transcendentalism and this results in his ambivalent attitude towards religion and his limitations in probing into morality. In respect to subjective source, it was Hawthorne's experience of hardship in his early years due to the decline of his family and the death of his father and his quiet, prudent and keen-on-thought personality that are mainly responsible for his great interest in moral theme. Finally the author sums up Hawthorne's literary achievements in three aspects: 1. one of the founders of American symbolism; 2. a path-breaker in psychoanalytic writing; 3. the pioneer of Romance writing.The author considers the comparison between Hawthorne's theory of the Original Sin and Xuncius's theory of " Evil Human Nature" is a topic worth studying. And she hopes that this dissertation will evoke more research on Hawthorne's achievements symbolism and psychoanalytic writing.