Decoding Destiny

Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Scarlet Letter have been the representative works of Thomas Hardy and Nathaniel Hawthorne respectively. The popularity of both books till now has provoked enormous enthusiasm of literary scholars in studying each through various perspectives. Moreover, as the two novels have the most striking similarity in the narration of women's life struggle for the pursuit of real love, they have provided a good subject for feminist study. Nevertheless, the similar fortune yet the absolutely different destiny of Tess and Hester has intrigued my interest in a comparative study of the two novels through the angle of New Historicism.Fortune and destiny are like the labyrinth that has puzzled and plagued people throughout the history, and the mystery of them has been one of the everlasting themes of writers of all the time.New Historicists purport the interaction and interdependence between the literary text and the history of the period, emphasizing the historicity of the text and the textuality of history. Therefore, through the depiction of the fortune of their protagonists, the writers are interpreting their social order and their personal views; in return, the writings contribute to the shaping of the social ideology.In all, this thesis evolves around the writer's speculation over the mystery of fortune and destiny, focuses on the comparative analysis of Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Scarlet Letter in the perspective of New Historicism, including the comparison between the social and the authors'backgrounds, as well as the similar social functions. Therefore, the intricate plot of fortune in literature is disentangled, thus enlightenment in real life provided: fortune is kind of arbitrary in treating man; the only thing that we can do is to keep nurturing our inner virtue in addition to the conscientious work, so as to make a satisfactory destiny out of our transient life.