An Exploration of Patriarchal Dominance Through Discourse in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter

Dr. Abdus Samad, Tamkeen Inam and Arif Ullah Khan
Additional contact information
Dr. Abdus Samad: Associate Professor/Chairman Department of English, Kohsar University Murree, Pakistan
Tamkeen Inam: MPhil Scholar, English Department, Qurtuba University of Science and Information Technology, Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan
Arif Ullah Khan: Assistant Professor of English, Government Post Graduate Jahanzeb College Saidu Sharif Swat, Pakistan

Journal of Policy Research (JPR), 2023, vol. 9, issue 3, 95-101

Abstract: This study aims at investigating patriarchal elements in The Scarlet Letter by applying the tool of Fairclough’s 3D model. Research is qualitative in nature. This study has tried to investigate the logical association between language and society. It seeks to find out different effects of language through which one can learn about language and power relation. Likewise, the study argues that there is a close relationship between discourse, ideology and portrayal of characters in the social context. Through Critical Discourse Analysis of the selected text, the power of language has been identified. Additionally, the hidden agenda which is vivid in this discourse is also implicit. It has been found in the study that society devalues women and demeans their existence. Similarly, the patriarchy demolishes women’s ability for creation, uniqueness and self-independency. Moreover, author of the selected text Scarlet Letter has revealed the atrocities of patriarchy and masculine hegemony through the medium of language. For instance, Hester Prynne accepts the shame of adultery but Dimmesdale (her male counterpart) stands silent and successfully hides himself before society. Critical Discourse Analysis is the broader field of study hence can be applied on variety of literary texts such as Henrik Ibsen’s Doll’s House and Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice for bridging two fields of literature and linguistics.

Keywords: atriarchy; Masculine Hegemony; Discourse; Language; Power; Hester Prynne (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://jprpk.com/index.php/jpr/article/view/383/591 (application/pdf)
https://jprpk.com/index.php/jpr/article/view/383 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:rfh:jprjor:v:9:y:2023:i:3:p:95-101

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Policy Research (JPR) is currently edited by Dr. Muhammad Irfan Chani

More articles in Journal of Policy Research (JPR) from Research Foundation for Humanity (RFH) Contact information at EDIRC.
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Dr. Muhammad Irfan Chani ().