浅析红字中象征主义手法的运用AnalysisofSymbolisminTheScarletLetter

浅析红字中象征主义手法的运用Analysis of Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter1 Aim and SignificanceNathaniel Hawthorne is a great romantic novelist in America in the nineteenth century He is deeply influenced by Puritanism consciousness Transcendental philosophy and mysticism As a result instead of giving the objective description of the world he always gives a symbolic meaning to an objective thing to express his true understanding of the world trying his best to discover the hidden meaning through the symbols Therefore if we want to deeply understand Hawthornes writing style it is essential for us to make a thorough research on the symbols and symbolism in his works The Scarlet Letter is Hawthornes masterpiece which makes him well known around the world and it is also one of the most remarkable works in American literature This novel with an everlasting glamour mainly lies in Hawthornes skillful handling of symbolism From the title to the arrangement of the plot then to the description of the characters and objects the author uses only a few words to express rich meanings which leaves us much room for imagination The author of the paper develops a deep interest in The Scarlet Letter after having finished reading this novel What strikes the author most is the scarlet letter A It runs through the whole novel and manifests in various forms at different time places and scenes Furthermore the meaning of the scarlet letter A becomes richer and more complicated as the plot further develops 2 Main Methods and Ways of StudiesThe research into the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter can make readers deeply understand Hawthornes writing style First by way of exploring the various symbolic meanings of the scarlet letter A to different characters and the changing symbolicmeanings of the scarlet letter A at different time places and scenes the thesis can help readers have a better understanding of the rich meanings of the letter A in the novel and the process of moral growth of the main characters Second the research into the symbolic meanings of the characters names various objects in the novel and the symbolic meanings of Pearl can make readers deeply understand Hawthornes unique artistic writing characteristics the profound social significance revealed by the novel and the authors writing aims AbstractNathaniel Hawthorne is a great romantic novelist in America in the 19th century As a great romantic novelist Hawthorne is outstanding in handling application of symbolism The Scarlet Letter is Hawthornes most important symbolic novel which is the best work of Hawthorne and one of the indubitable masterpieces of American Literature And it is this novel that makes Nathaniel Hawthorne known all around the world In this work Hawthorne uses the symbolism so skillfully that it enhances the artistic effects of his work greatly In The Scarlet Letter symbolism runs through the whole novel The most important symbol is the scarlet letter itself Not only does A manifest in various forms but also it has changing meanings from adultery to able even angelic in the novel Besides the name of the four major characters in the novel Hester Prynne Arthur Dimmesdale Roger Chillingworth and Pearl also have their own symbolic meanings Some other objects and natural surroundings that are described in the novel such as the jail the forest the rose bush and so on are all endowed with a deep symbolic significance The author of the thesis will explore the usage of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter from the three aspects mentioned above and analyze Hawthornes skillful use of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter Key Words the scarlet lettersymbolismHester PrynnePearl 摘 要纳撒尼尔霍桑是十九世纪美国伟大的浪漫主义小说家作为一位伟大的浪漫主义小说家霍桑对象征主义手法的运用可以说是独具匠心长篇小说红字是霍桑重要的象征主义代表作品无疑也是美国文学浪漫主义时期最著名的作品之一也正是这部巨著使得霍桑誉满全球在这部作品中作者巧妙运用了象征主义手法加强了作品的艺术效果整篇作品象征主义手法贯穿始终其中最重要的要数红字A本身的象征意义它不仅以各种各样的形式出现并且其象征意义不断变化从通奸到有能力的甚至天使般的 此外小说中四个主要角色海丝特丁梅斯代尔齐灵沃斯珠儿也都有其各自的象征意义小说中描述的景物和场景例如监狱森林玫瑰花园等等也都寓意深刻本文正是从以上这几个方面着手探究作者在小说红字中对象征主义手法的巧妙运用关键词 红字象征海丝特普琳珍珠AcknowledgementsThis thesis is the product of the author and the supervisors three months of efforts It has been repeatedly revised under the guidance of Professor XXX It was the joint efforts of both the author and the teachers in Foreign Languages Department I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to Professor XXX and the teachers who have helped the author in the process of the thesis writing I will also give my thanks to my classmates and friends who have helped me revise the thesis Last but not least I will give my heartfelt thanks to my parents who have been always supporting and encouraging meContents Introduction11 Various Symbolic Meanings of the Scarlet Letter A311 The Change of the Symbolic Meanings of the Scarlet Letter A3111 Adultery3112 Alone and Alienation4113 Able Admirable and Angel512 The Scarlet Letter and the Strictness of Puritan Society52 The Symbolic Meaning of the Four Main Characters621 Hester Prynne622 Arthur Dimmesdale723 Roger Chillingworth824 Pearl93 The Symbolic Meanings of the Objects in the Novel12Conclusion15Bibliography16IntroductionNathaniel Hawthorne was born in Salem in 1804 He was born in a prestigious New England family closely related with Puritan church his ancestors attended the persecution of people belonging to different churches such as Quakers When he was born his family declined He was aware of his ancestors misdeeds and thus blackness of Hawthorne formed He thought that the reason of his familys decline is his ancestors misdeeds And he didnt agree with the optimism held by Transcendentalists towards human nature He wrote lots of works on everlasting evil side in human natureHawthorne graduated from Bowdoin College Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Franklin Pierce the 14th American presidents were his classmates After graduation he lived in seclusion and wrote Later he worked in the US Custom House After Pierce became president he was asked to be the consular in Liverpool and ItalyHawthornes masterpiece includes his short story collections Twice-Told Tales Moses from an Old Manse and novels The Scarlet Letter The House of Seven Gables The Blithedale Romance The Marble FaunHawthornes writing skills can be summarized as follows Hawthorne seems to be influenced a lot by the sin and evil in his sense He believes evil exists in human heart all the time For example in the novel The Scarlet Letter the minister Dimmesdale tries to pretend how pure and pious he is He wants to cover up the evil in his mind Not only Dimmesdale wants to do like this but also all the people in the world because we are only human beings And the evil just likes a mark that exists in our mind when we are born And in Hawthornes mind people who commit a crime must be punished because people can get experience from this way And also he supports people to tell the truth and not to offend Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great romantic novelist in America in the 19th century and is considered to be the first greatest American fiction writer in the moralistic tradition Hawthorne is outstanding in literature skill especially in handling symbolism His work-The Scarlet Letter is notable for its symbolism and is regarded as the first symbolic novel in American literatureThe story begins in seventeenth-century Boston which is under Puritan command The husband-an old and ugly scholar sends a young woman named Hester Prynne ahead to America However for many years he himself doesnt arrive Obviously it is possible that he has been lost in the sea While waiting for her husband Hester and a young local minister called Arthur Dimmesdale fall in love with each other They commit adultery secretly Because of Hesters Pregnancy the secret is finally discovered Hester and Dimmesdale love each other But their love is forbidden in that strict society It is sinful Due to this fact Hester is punished by society with a letter A on her chest which is considered to be an evil a shameHester is brave enough to face the cruel society She is always with a mind of courage She has been alone with her child for so long a time with little communication Hester has to wear the letter A day by day seven years as for punishment and ill fame However Hester is a kind-hearted woman and is always ready to help other people in the community without expecting any thanks Later people in the town no longer view the scarlet letter A as a punishment but rather as representing her great strength and bravery and they say it means AbleBut Arthur Dimmesdale his sin against Hester and Pearl is that he will not acknowledge them as his wife and daughter in the daylight He is too weak to admit his sins He suffers from mysterious heart trouble seemingly caused by psychological distress Whats worse he is an advisor to the townspeople about their sinsAfter Mr Dimmesdales death no one changes more in appearance than Roger Chillingworth All his strength and energy has been used to harm his patient This unhappy man has made his aim in life to add to the suffering of the young minister When the evil old man no longer has such a purpose the devil takes him back to the hellThe Scarlet Letter is a cultural allegory in which the author indirectly tells the future of Puritanism The Scarlet Letter is a sample in which American Romanticism adapted itself to American Puritanism The theme of the story should 1 Various Symbolic Meanings of the Scarlet Letter A11 The Change of the Symbolic Meanings of the Scarlet Letter A In this novel the scarlet letter A changes its meanings for many times This change is very significant It shows growth in the characters and the community in which they live At the very beginning the letter A is regarded as a kind of sin or evil Then with the development of the story it becomes a symbol of alone and alienation of the female character Hester Finally it becomes a symbol of able admirable and angel111 AdulteryIn the novel the letter A worn on Hesters bosom is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth Putting the letter A on her bosom and letting her show to the public is the puritan way of treating her as a criminal for the crime of adultery Hester is looked down upon as if she is some sort of demon from hell that commits a terrible crime This letter is meant to be worn in shame and to make Hester feel unwanted This is the common way to explain the symbolic meaning of the letter The color of scarlet is the symbol of blood and desire Hester and Dimmesdale cannot control their love for each other and become the criminals of God A woman loses her purity and a holy minister is punished for bringing shame to his holy occupation Red should be regarded as the symbol of love and life but under the control of the Puritan strictness Hester has to wear the scarlet letter A in order to be regarded as a symbol of shame and punishment Here she said to herself had been the scene of her guilt and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment Brown2002 Hester is ashamed of her sin but she chooses to face the reality rather than escape from it Many people may choose the way of leaving for some other places where nobody knows of her sin However Hester is brave enough to continue to live her life which shows great strength and integrity of her112 Alone and AlienationThe scarlet letter A also symbolizes Hesters lonely life in New England Hesters social life is virtually eliminated as a result of her shameful past She has to live in such a community regardless of others ironical words and with great courage and ability It had been built by an earlier settler and abandoned because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation while its comparative remoteness put it out of the sphere of that social activity which already marked the habits of the emigrants Hester comes to have a part to perform in the world with her native energy of character and rare capacity Chase 1957 However there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it Every gesture every word and even the silence of those with whom she came to contact implied and often expressed that she was banished and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere or communicated with the common nature by other organs and senses than the rest of human kind She stood apart from moral interests seemed to be the sole portion that she retained in the universal heart Hester has no friends in the world and little Pearl is the only companion of her lonely life In other peoples eyes Hester is a criminal and most of them regard communicating with her as a shameful thing Therefore the scarlet letter A is also a symbol of alone and alienation113 Able Admirable and AngelThe letter was the symbol of her calling Such helpfulness is found in her so much power to do and power to sympathize - that many people refuses to interpret the scarlet letter A by its original signification Rubinstein 1988 We can see that the meaning of the scarlet letter A changes from adultery to being able angel and admirable At the beginning people living in the town looked down upon the woman because of her crime But later they find that Hester is so skillfully in needlework and she always help the poor and sick without expecting any return or thanks She is unselfish and always ready to help others considerately and patiently People in the town then realize her noble nature and change the view on her Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge It is our Hester the towns own Hester who is so kind to the poor so helpful to the sick so comforting to the afflicted Hawthorne 1994 The people in the town soon begin to regard the letter A as a badge served to ward off the evil This is a kind woman who should not shoulder the shame and be looked down upon by others Hester is an angel sent by God to the people in the town And she should win the respect and sympathy of others instead of being punished by having to show her crime to the public by wearing the scarlet letter People and the author of the novel really admire her pure nature and abilityThe three changes in the scarlet letter are significant they show the progressive presentation of her sin her lonely life and her ability Hester is an admirable woman who experiences more emotional torture than most people go through in a lifetime12 The Scarlet Letter and the Strictness of Puritan SocietyThe Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the scarlet letters to symbolize he harshness of Puritan society showing how they branded sinners for life Although Puritan society is unforgiving towards the sinful scarlet letter their strictness improved the bearers of the sin The scarlet letter was also an example of how Puritan society will always remember the sin When strangers looked curiously at the scarlet letter-and none failed to do so they branded it afresh into Hesters soul Hawthorne 1994 A letter A but freshly green instead of scarlet was created by her showing how Hawthorne made a jest at the punishment Puritans put upon Hester And the scarlet letter was also a toy to Pearl something that she enjoyed Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter to depict his feelings of the exaggerated emotions of the puritans and their dramatic punishments The author of the paper thinks that the symbolism in this novel is used quite skillfully The technique Hawthorne uses makes his novel more artistic2 The Symbolic Meaning of the Four Main Characters21 Hester PrynneHester Prynne is one of the most important characters in The Scarlet Letter Hester is the symbol of love beauty kindness and truth She was described by Hawthorne like this The young woman was tall a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale she had dark and abundant hair so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam and a face which besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes Harold 1990104 It is true that Hester is beautiful and attractive in appearance But the most precious part of the character lies not only in her kindness toward other people but also in her great courage of facing her love Her love for the minister Dimmesdale is pure and true This is the reason that she refuses to speak out the name of her partner in sin but takes over all the punishment by herself Instead of running from the hostile colonists Hester withstands peoples insolence and pursues a normal life She proves her worth with her uncommon sewing skills and provides community service Hesters sin gives her sympathetic knowledge of the sin in other hearts Even though the people she tries to help often reviled the hand that was stretched forth to succor them Xia199634 She continues her services because she actually cares At last the colonists come to think of the scarlet letter as the cross on a nuns bosom which is not small accomplishmentHester is the homophone of the word haste At first she gets married to Roger Prynne an ugly man who gives his best years to feed the hungry dream of knowledge Not having got the news about her husband who should have arrived by ship from England she falls love with Arthur hastily and gives birth to Pearl for which she is condemned to wear on the breast of her gown the scarlet letter A which stands for adultery However the author of the paper thinks that it is natural and understandable Hester has the freedom to pursue the true love of her deep heart and the happiness of the life The punishment of puritan society is somehow too harsh on a woman who is led by human instinct She doesnt love her husband and when she falls in love with Dimmesdale she is tortured physically and mentally for her sin The strictness of Puritan society accounts for Hesters sympathetic fate and Dimmesdales tragedy22 Arthur DimmesdaleArthur Dimmesdale is a young minister whose initials are AD which also stands for adultery Obviously he should take part in the punishment for Hester He loves Hester deeply and is the father of Pearl but he is not brave enough to admit their relationship Only in the forest or in darkness he can show his passion and love for Hester So the word Dimmesdale also has symbolic meanings Dim means dark and weak and dale means valley so the name here is actually a symbol of the dim-interior of the clergyman The scarlet letter A in his heart symbolizes his condemn to himself in his deep heart Meanwhile it is also the symbol of the mental control of the Puritanism If thou feel it to be for thy souls peace and that thy earthly punishment will thereby be made more effectual to salvation I charge thee to speak out the name of thy fellow-sinner and fellow-sufferer Fan200356 He feels that he will never been seen the same as before in front of God and that no amount of penitence can ever return him to Gods good graces He hates his hypocrisy to sin but dares not tell the truth that he is the fellow-sinner of Hester When he finally decides to expose the truth and tell his followers of how he deceives them his fixation on his sin has utterly corroded him to the point of death The only good that comes out of conceding his guilt is that he passes away without any secrets At the end of the story the writer put the morals that press upon the readers from the poor ministers miserable experience into one sentence Be true Be true Be true Show freely to the world if not your worst yet some trait whereby the worst may be inferred Hu1997 89 As a man Dimmesdale couldnt even relate to and shouldered the obligation He is not brave enough to admit the truth However his tragedy is also the result of the strict puritan society and the psychological tie of the local religion23 Roger ChillingworthAnother main character Roger Chillingworth is a man of complicated nature and abnormal psychology The words chilling and worth compose the surname Chillingworth