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Hester Under Scrutiny: Hawthorne’S Heroine V/S Joffe’S Cinematic Representation

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Hester Under Scrutiny: Hawthorne’S Heroine V/S Joffe’S Cinematic Representation Hester under Scrutiny: Hawthorne’s Heroine v/s Joffe’s Cinematic Representation By Boukali Dimitra A dissertation submitted to the Department of American Literature and Culture, School of English, Faculty of Philosophy of Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master. ARISTOTLE UNIVERSITY OF THESSALONIKI DECEMBER 2009 Hester under Scrutiny: Hawthorne’s Heroine v/s Joffe’s Cinematic Representation By Boukali Dimitra Has been approved APPROVED Smaragda Yemenedzi-Malathouni Savvas Patsalidis Michalis Kokkonis Supervisory Committee ACCEPTED Youli Theodosiadou Department Chairperson Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………...i Abstract………………………………………………………...…….ii Introduction……………………………………………….........1 – 8 Puritanism…………………………………………...…………9 – 11 Hester Prynne: The Symbol of Evilness …………..………………........….11 – 17 The “Poor Woman”…………………………………...…....17 – 20 The “Banished Woman”……………...…………….….....20 – 23 Inner and External Beauty………………....................23 – 38 Feminine Instinct and Intelligence………………......38 – 42 The “Earthly Saint” - Motherhood…………………….42 – 53 Hester on Screen: Introductory Comments……………………………….....53 – 56 The Symbol of Evilness………….………………………..56 – 64 The “Poor Woman”…………………………………..…….64 – 71 The “Banished Woman”……………….………………….71 – 76 Inner and External Beauty…………………………….76 – 88 Feminine Instinct and Intelligence…………………..88 – 91 The “Earthly Saint” - Motherhood………………...….91 – 96 Conclusion……………………………………………….…..98 – 104 Appendix: Pictures………………………………………105 – 115 Bibliography….............................................................116 – 121 i Acknowledgements Firstly, I would like to thank all of my teachers that have made the postgraduate program of the Department of American Literature and Culture worthwhile, namely Professor Youli Theodosiadou, Professor Smatie Yemenetzi- Malathouni, Professor Tatiani Rapatzikou, Professor Domna Pastourmatzi and Professor Savas Patsalidis. I have learned so much from them, both at academic and personal level. I would also like to thank Professor Michael Kokkonis and Professor Savas Patsalidis for accepting to contribute to the evaluation of this project. Moreover, I would specifically like to express my gratitude towards Professor Smatie Yemenetzi-Malathouni, without whom this project would be unattainable. Her invaluable guidance, advice and feedback have been a true inspiration. I would also like to thank her for believing in me and my capacities throughout my postgraduate years, including the process of conducting this paper. I have learned to believe in myself, a fact to which her contribution has been enormous. Finally, I would like to thank my family, including Dr Demetrios Xenides, and friends for their incessant encouragement and patience. This paper is dedicated to my parents and my sister, who have always stood by me, supporting my decisions and efforts and reminding me that they are always by my side. A ii Abstract This project is a comparison between Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel The Scarlet Letter and its film adaptation by Roland Joffe, focusing on the character of Hester Prynne. One of its aims is to show how Hawthorne indirectly expresses, via his heroine, Hester Prynne, his disapproval of the Puritan ways in 1600 Massachusetts, Boston, although he actually lived in the Puritan society in question. This project will lay bare that the writer holds a positive attitude towards Prynne, who has committed adultery, and it will demonstrate his implied compassion and sympathy for her and the ordeals she is submitted to by the Puritan people, due to her sin. Another aim of this paper is to highlight the similarities and differences of Hester’s presentation between the film adaptation and the novel, delving into miscellaneous, but specific, aspects of the heroine in question; it will be shown that although the director of the film respects Hawthorne’s narrative and viewpoint about Puritans and Hester, creating himself sympathy for her, as well, he adjusts the story to his own era, adapting it to the twentieth century mentality, adding rather daring scenes and presenting the heroine to correspond to the feminine role-model of the time. Boukali 1 Introduction In this paper I attempt a comparison between Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and its 1995 film adaptation by Roland Joffe, highlighting similarities and differences between particular issues. To be more specific, I will delve into the way the character of the protagonist, Hester Prynne, is represented in both works. There might be some references to other characters as well, but only to serve the purpose of Prynne’s better presentation. The heroine will be approached from several different perspectives, as I will explore specific themes concerning her character. After saying a few words about Puritanism, its laws and mentality, which are considered essential for a better understanding of the community the heroine lives in, I will explore how Hester is inextricably connected with evilness by the Puritan society in Boston. Then, I will elaborate on the way the writer and the director present Prynne’s ordeal, creating sympathy towards her, which comes in opposition to the Puritan community’s cruel attitude. After that, I will describe how Prynne is represented to be secluded and isolated from the rest of the community and I will go on shedding light on the way her femininity and womanhood are portrayed. Moreover, I will discuss how Hester’s intelligence and strong intuition are implied in both works. Finally, Prynne’s connection with religion, along with her maternal side, will be looked into. What I will be arguing is that in both works, Prynne is presented to be inextricably connected with evil by the Puritan society she lives in, responding to patriarchal stereotypes that want women to be linked with wickedness, evilness and impiety. However, I argue that both the author and the director insist on emphasizing the benign nature of the heroine. Joffe seems to follow Hawthorne’s depiction, which comes in contrast to the views and attitude of the Puritan mentality, while both the Boukali 2 director and the writer manage to awaken feelings of compassion and admiration towards the heroine. More specifically, I argue that Hawthorne holds a positive attitude towards his female protagonist, Hester Prynne, revealing, as hesitantly as he may, his sympathy for her that is opposed to the way the Puritan society treats her in the novel, implying his criticism against the Puritan mentality, as well. In fact, I detect the writer’s own admiration and sympathy towards the heroine, while he presents her to have male traits, alluding to a subversion of gender roles, as she is depicted to possess the strength, the courage, the boldness and the dynamism of a man. Furthermore, I argue that Hester Prynne is presented to be much more dynamic, educated and strong woman in the film than in the novel, alluding to the later rise of women’s revolution and emancipation and to the effect the book may have had on Joffe’s interpretation of the heroine. Additionally, I detect an intense subversion of gender roles in the film, which is not emphasized in the book, as the character of Prynne is presented to have male characteristics in her behavior, a fact that makes her act like a man in the film, too. I maintain that the director of the film does what Hawthorne did not dare do, because of the era he lived in, presenting a much more daring and liberated, unconventional version of the story. During the nineteenth century, an outstanding flowering in literature took place both in England and in America. To be more specific, the year 1850 was the center of a span of six or seven years, standing out as one of the eminent ages in the history of the novel and fictional achievement in America (Brodhead 1). According to Brodhead, this wonderful, and even fearful, welling up of creative energy signaled a revolution in America, whose most important figure was the so-called “obscurest man of letters” of the continent, namely Nathaniel Hawthorne (2). Boukali 3 After having written short stories for several years, Hawthorne decided at least writing a novel around the period in question. He resolved in producing, as he, himself stated, a “large and serious work that should evolve some deep lesson, and should possess physical substance enough to stand alone” (Brodhead 2). This hopeful resolution of Hawthorne’s turned out not only to stand as “the bright dawn” of his creative life as a novelist, but it also inaugurated the two years of the greatest literary prosperity in America, which were initiated by the release of The Scarlet Letter in 1850 (Brodhead 3). At this point, a few words ought to be said about a particularly important writer of the time, such as Nathaniel Hawthorne, given his enormous success and numerous achievements in the domain of American fiction that have made him one of the most significant representatives of American literature. From his early childhood, Hawthorne displayed a distinctive playful and imaginative personality, which was characterized during his mature years by independence of mind, thought and action, and an unshakeable reliance on his own convictions (Turner 23). The writer’s distinctive quality of mind and his intellectual and artistic integrity, along with his demand for perfection are definitely notable. As Ellery Channing puts it, Hawthorne’s “wide comprehension and awful insight” are indisputable (Turner 163). Hence, the author displays his “remarkable
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