摘 要

自十九世纪以来，科学的迅猛发展使人类社会产生了日新月异的变化，虽然极大地提高了人们的物质生活水平，但同时也对人类赖以生存的生态环境造成了极大的破坏。生态危机的加剧，人与自然关系急剧恶化，使得生态问题逐渐成为一个全球关注的热门问题。在此情景下，生态批评应运而生并广泛应用于文学研究之中。文学研究中的生态批评在有力地反驳人类中心主义的同时，更加关注人与自然的关系。《胎记》是美国著名作家纳撒尼尔·霍桑的短篇小说代表作，小说讲述一位优秀的科学家艾默尔因无法释怀妻子脸上的胎记，试图运用科学实验来消除胎记让妻子变得完美无缺，最终他成功清除掉妻子的胎记，同时也断送了妻子性命的故事。《胎记》充分体现了霍桑对科学的看法和观点。本文通过生态批评视角，运用鲁枢元的生态三分法理论来分析《胎记》中的科学观。本文分为四个部分：第一部分是对作家作品和该小说国内外研究现状的介绍；第二部分介绍生态批评理论和鲁枢元的生态三分法理论；第三部分分析科学观的成因，通过生态自然、社会自然和精神自然三个层面来具体分析小说体现的科学观；第四部分总结全文。本文分析最终阐明了一个道理：盲目追求科学而忽视一切，最终只会招致悲剧性的后果。

关键词：霍桑；《胎记》；生态批评；科学观；

Abstract

Since the 19^th century, science’s rapidly developing has brought about great changes in the human society. Although it has improved people’s material living standard tremendously, it has greatly destroyed the ecological environment upon which humanity depends. With the aggravation of ecological crisis and the exacerbation of the relationship between human and nature, ecological problem has gradually become a hot topic of global interest. In this situation, eco-criticism has emerged as the times' demand and has been widely applied to the research of literature. Eco-criticism in literary studies not only strongly refutes anthropocentrism, but also pays more attention to the relationship between human and nature. The Birthmark is one of the representative short stories by the famous American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. This short story describes a prominent scientist Aylmer could not endure the birthmark on his wife’s face, so he attempts to remove the birthmark through scientific experiment to make his wife perfect. But in the end the removal of the birthmark also kills his wife. This short story fully reflects Hawthorne’s view and opinion of science. This paper applies Lu Shuyuan’s ecological trichotomy to analyze the concept of science in The birthmark from the perspective of eco-criticism. This paper consists of four parts. The first part introduces the writer, his work and research status about this short story at home and abroad. The second part introduces the theories of eco-criticism and Lu Shuyuan’s ecological trichotomy. In the third part, this paper analyzes the reasons for the formation of the concept of science and makes a concrete analysis of the concept of science in The Birthmark from natural ecology, social ecology and spiritual ecology. The fourth part is conclusion. The analyses of this paper finally illustrate a truth that blind pursuit of science and the neglect of everything are bound to result in tragic consequences.

Key Words: Hawthorne; The Birthmark; Eco-criticism; Concept of Science

Contents

1 Introduction 1

1.1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Birthmark 1

1.2 Literature Review 2

2 Theory of Eco-criticism 3

2.1 The Definition of Eco-criticism 3

2.2 Lu Shuyuan’s Ecological Trichotomy 4

3 Interpretation of the Concept of Science in The Birthmark 5

3.1 Formation of the Concept of Science 5

3.1.1 Historical Background 5

3.1.2 Personal Life Experience 7

3.2 The Concept of Science in The Birthmark 8

3.2.1 From the Angle of Natural Ecology in The Birthmark 8

3.2.2 From the Angle of Social Ecology in The Birthmark 10

3.2.3 From the Angle of Spiritual Ecology in The Birthmark 11

4 Conclusion 14

References 16

Acknowledgements 17

The Interpretation of the Concept of Science in The Birthmark from the Perspective of Eco-criticism

1 Introduction

1.1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Birthmark

Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered as the greatest romantic novelist in the 19th century in America. Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachusetts in 1804. His family was a decaying aristocratic family and the offspring of Puritan. His ancestors had been one of the judges of The Salem Witch Trials. When he was four, Hawthorne’s father died. Then he lived in his grandfather’s home with his mother. His grandfather and families are Puritans. Therefore, Hawthorne was deeply influenced by Puritanism. In 1821, Hawthorne studied in Bowdoin College. Hawthorne published his first novel Fanshawe in 1828. In 1841, Hawthorne participated in Brook Farm, founded by transcendentalists, a Utopian community. In 1842, he got married and moved to Concord, living next door to Emerson and Thoreau. In 1842, Hawthorne published a collection of short stories Mosses from an Old Manse which included The Birthmark. Finally, He died on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth.

The Birthmark is one of the short stories which can embody the attitude of Hawthorne to science. The background of the story corresponds to America in 18^th century. At that time, there was a tendency to blindly pursue science. In The Birthmark, the eminent scientist Aylmer gets married with a beautiful woman named Georgiana. She is a near-perfect woman. But there is a birthmark on her left cheek. Aylmer regards it as a symbol of imperfection of his wife. With his wife’s consent, Aylmer does science experiments and makes the potion to remove it. Finally, when his wife drinks the potion, the birthmark has been removed at the expense of his wife’s life. In The Birthmark, the “birthmark” symbolizes the nature. This short story reflects the conflict between human and nature and expresses Hawthorne’s concept of science.

1.2 Literature Review

Since the 20^th century, the studies of Hawthorne and his work The Birthmark have emerged in large numbers abroad. More and more theories and methods have been applied to analyses of The Birthmark. Emphasizing the interpretation of the text, Robert B. Heilman regards Aylmer as a tragic character in his article Hawthorne’s The Birthmark: Science as Religion (Heilman, 1949). Barbara Eckstein puts forward a new thought and considers that Hawthorne expresses the danger of romance in The Birthmark (Eckstein, 1989). Some scholars also have research on The Birthmark from the perspective of feminism. Joel Pfister argues that “common social anxieties or ambivalence about women’s behaviors in biological terms” (Pfister, 1991: 33). Pfister analyzes Aylmer’s intolerance of birthmark on his wife’s check to express the anxiety about women’s bodies (Pfister, 1991).

Domestic scholars also research The Birthmark from various angles. Some scholars focus on the theme of original sin. Shang Xiaojin argues that “the birthmark” is a symbol of original sin which can not be removed (Shang, 2015). Other scholars analyze The Birthmark from the perspective of eco-criticism. They focus on the relationship between human and nature. Meng Xueqin discusses Hawthorne’s anxiety about nature in The Birthmark and explains his nature-oriented strong appeal (Meng, 2012). In recent years, many scholars research The Birthmark from the perspective of feminism. Chen Rong considers that Aylmer treats Georgiana as his appurtenant property and a carrier for his desire (Chen, 2004). In addition, eco-feminism is applied to researching Hawthorne’s works. Peng Zhenzhu analyzes Georgiana’s miserable experience to explain that female role Georgiana who symbolizes nature is controlled and suppressed by science and masculine authority (Peng, 2012).