Appeal for a Harmonious Relationship between Man and Nature

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an influential novelist in American literature in 19th century. Most of his works are set in New England during the American colonial period, reflecting the social reality at that time. His masterpiece The Scarlet Letter ensures Hawthorne as the leading American native novelist in literature. Hawthorne exposes in his novels the immense destruction and ecological crisis caused by human civilization. Based on a close reading of his works, this thesis aims to study Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novels from the perspective of ecocriticism. In the thesis, the crisis of natural ecology is analyzed. At the same time, the thesis explores the relationship between human beings and nature. Hawthorne suggests that human beings should integrate into nature and maintain a harmonious relationship with nature, which is the primary concern of ecocriticism.