Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Reflection On And Construction Of Liberalism

This thesis,employing such liberal concepts as “positive liberty,” “utilitarianism,” and “political liberalism,” conducts a close reading of Hawthorne’s New England Trilogy,namely,The Scarlet Letter,The Blithedale Romance,and The House of the Seven Gables,with the view to studying Hawthorne’s reflection on western liberal tradition and construction of political liberalism against the backdrop of the impending American Civil War.The thesis first,by analyzing episodes in The Scarlet Letter of Hester on the public scaffold,the death of Dimmesdale,and Hester’s autonomous development,discusses Hawthorne’s reflection on direct democracy,“the tyranny of the majority,” and the pursuit of transcendental positive liberty at the cost of empirical happiness,and thus reveals Hawthorne’s appreciation of a form of autonomy integrating transcendental principles but at the same time compatible with empirical ordinary life.Secondly,through anatomizing Hollingsworth’s and Westervelt’s utopian reforming projects in The Blithedale Romance and unmasking their utilitarian foundation,the thesis argues that the two characters are representatives of utilitarian reformers,the cohort of whom also includes utopian socialists.By exposing the totalitarian nature of their projects,the thesis displays Hawthorne’s reflection on the utilitarian foundation of liberalism,which may pose great danger to individual freedom,especially when this doctrine is put to use in a larger social arena;and the failure of Blithedale embodies Hawthorne’s reflection on the self-destructive nature of empirical utilitarianism,which is inexorably associated with selfishness and egotism.Thirdly,the thesis dissects the happy ending of The House of the Seven Gables,whereby Hawthorne’s “reasonable comprehensive doctrine,” namely,his philosophy of history,is unveiled.With a parallel reading of The Life of Franklin Pierce written by Hawthorne,the thesis reveals Hawthorne’s efforts of cohering his political stance,backed by his reasonable comprehensive doctrine,with the Compromise of 1850 so as to reach a “constitutional consensus,” on the basis of which Hawthorne expresses his vision of “overlapping consensus.” And this process is Hawthorne’s construction of political liberalism.To sum up,from analyses of Hawthorne’s reflection on and construction of liberalism in New England Trilogy are revealed the following principles: the protection of those sacred basic rights such as individual liberty and autonomous choice;the necessity of drawing clear frontiers between the individual and the community;and American citizens’ responsibility to hold fast to the Constitution of the United States of America.