Contemporary Foreign Languages Studies ›› 2014, Vol. 14 ›› Issue (01): 55-59.doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1674-8921.2014.01.010

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The Repetition and Difference between The Scarlet Letter and The Millstone

Hang Qingqing   

  • Online:2014-01-28 Published:2020-07-25

Abstract: Both The Scarlet Letter and The Millstone are classic literature works. Though comments on these two works home and abroad are countless, study with the juxtapostion of the two never occurs. This paper employs J. Hillis Miller’s Repetition Theory to juxtaposes The Scarlet Letter with The Millstone to analyse the female’s life in different historical periods. Hester in The Scarlet Letter is in effect the spokeswoman of male authority, while Rosamend in The Millstone painstakingly protests against the norms towards women set by the traditional society with the supremacy of male authority. Obviously, the former constructs a male-dominated society while the latter tries to reconstruct one free of restraint of male power through exploring the inevitable living perplexity of women seeking independence in modern society.

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