A Study of Puritanism in the Birthmark from the Perspective of Transitivity System

: The Birthmark is a short story written by Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) who is one of the most influential writers in American literature in the 19th century. It tells a story of a scientist called Aylmer who cannot accept the birthmark on his wife’s cheek, because he considers the birthmark as an imperfection of his beautiful wife. Therefore, he conducts scientific experiments to remove it, which unfortunately results in his wife’s death. Influenced by his puritan ancestors and the contemporary Transcendental Movement, Hawthorne expresses his ambivalent attitude towards puritanism through the portrayal of the destiny of the main characters in the novel. Through examining the flexible choice of transitivity system and the subtle distribution of the six processes in the discourse, this thesis, thus, holds that Hawthorne’s interpretation of puritanism lies in the characterization of the two main characters in the Birthmark. Hawthorne’s mixed feelings about Puritanism are mainly reflected in two aspects, namely, his acknowledgment of original sin and criticism of the rigidity and extremism of puritanism.