霍桑為美國文藝復興時期之重要作家。本論文針對其著名的小說《紅字》為研究對象，期望以多樣性的閱讀方式作一個全方位的分析。除此之外，也期望使讀者對霍桑的《紅字》有更多的思考脈絡與閱讀詮釋。我在本論文中以三種主要的策略為理論架構，當中包含詹明信的「政治潛意識」、拉岡的精神分析與(生態)女性主義。這三項不同的重要策略，雖然在表面上是分立的，但是它們的共通點「潛意識」可構成本批評研究的整體性。

在第一章中，我著重分析霍桑以浪漫小說為其寫作表現與重要性，而且說明此文類可含蓋許多具有衝突性與斷裂性的思想。更進一步的，我引用詹明信於《政治潛意識》中的重要概念，說明文學批評正是透過種種表面的社會現象揭示現實存在的本質。而這一點在當代極為重要，因為詹明信認為在當今的資本主義社會中，日常生活的一切都已經物質化了，被無情的壓入地下而成為了「潛意識」。對他而言，馬克思主義文藝批評有責任揭穿此虛假的社會現實，並且還原其面貌。我藉由詹明信的此觀點，視浪漫小說為一種歷史性的必要性，進而探討清教對當代社會的影響。

在第二章中，以拉岡的理論為基礎，進而討論文本中主體性的議題，並對主要的人物以心理分析的手法做詳細的解說。另外，也對文本中的紅字A做詳盡的解釋。最後，於此章節中也討論公民權與紅字之間的監禁關係。

於第三章中以女性主義為基礎，進而運用生態女性主義為補充分析文本。於本章一開始，描述法國女性主義對性別在語言上的影響。但是，由於女性主義並未對自然有充分的描述與分析，故我在第三章以生態女性主義為補充說明。藉由生態女性主義對自然的特殊觀點，說明霍桑在《紅字》一書中對女性及自然的觀點及其語言表現。

總而言之，本論文中期望帶給讀者全方位的方式閱讀《紅字》一書。而且，以「潛意識」為主要的思考主軸，並開啟不同以往的單一閱讀方式。這也是本論文所強調的重點。

This thesis, to draw upon Fredric Jameson’s idea of political unconscious, is an attempt to present a pluralistic interpretation of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Given in this condition, I will first of all focus on Hawthorne’s will to romance as a stylistic expression that is suggestive of the multilayered subtexts, which subsume the conflicting fragmentations such as the idea of wilderness. Seen from this perspective, I will argue that romance helps articulate the locus of the Other and serves as the historical necessity which is hinged on the appropriated fourfold framework of interpretation. 
In the second chapter, I will present a Lacanian reading that sheds light on the formation of subjectivity with the dialectical relation of the scarlet letter as objet petit a. Also, it will touch upon the politics of citizenship or identity politics that is hinged on the surveillance of the scarlet letter. In the third part, I will address the relationship between the unconscious and woman from the perspective of Julia Kristeva’s “women’s time” and attempt to extract an eco-feminist reading that supplements the cultural paradigm of “ecriture feminine” that attempts a differential language as to the Universal language of identification. I will demonstrate to problematize the unproblematic relationship of the equation of woman and nature in Hawthorne’s sexed language on the one hand. On the other, I will focus on the silenced and repressed marginal subjects of witch, hysteric and thus bracket the male historiography.
My conclusion will reassure that The Scarlet Letter is an open-ended text of multiple significances that are still “on the road” for further readings.

Introduction: Mapping the Political Unconscious in   
              Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter ......1-16

Chapter One:  Will to Romance: Mapping the Political    
              Unconscious of The Scarlet Letter.....17-34

Chapter Two:  How Does The Scarlet Letter Speak? 
              A Lacanian Reading....................35-52

Chapter Three: An (Eco) feminist Reading........... 53-72

Conclusion  The Scarlet Letter On the Road..........73-76

Selected Bibliography.............................. 77-81

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