Religious Hegemony and Self Emancipation: A Comparative Study of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Samuel Butler’s The Way of All Flesh, and Philip Roth’s Indignation

Abstract

This thesis undertakes a comparative genealogical trajectory of religious hegemony across three different historical and literary settings as represented in The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Way of All Flesh by Samuel Butler, and Indignation by Philip Roth. The study traces the metamorphosis of religious power and the relocation and redistribution of its concepts into secularized and capillary networks of control. Specifically, it uncovers a continuity of religious governance in the modern, and supposedly secular, society as depicted in the setting of Roth’s Indignation. Ultimately, this comparative study investigates the complex networks of power along with the negotiations undertaken by the main characters: Hester Prynne, Ernest Pontifex, and Marcus Messner, to resist their respective hegemonic milieus. Through a close analysis of punishment, surveillance, and subjectivation, this thesis’s core argument suggests that the protagonist’ quest for emancipation is achieved not beyond the boundaries of power, but within its frameworks.