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Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864)（纳撒尼尔霍桑）,The Scarlet Letter（红字）,Portrait of Hawthorne,Cover of The Scarlet Letter,I. Life,1. Birthplace: Salem, Massachusetts 2. Family background: a family with a long Puritan tradition; father died when he was only 4 years old; mother relied on relatives in rearing her four children 3. Education: reading extensively by his mid-teens and aspired to be a writer; from 1821-1825, he studied at Bowdoin college in Maine.,Puritanism 清教主义,Puritans came from the Established Church of England in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They were so called because they wished to purify the forms and rituals of the Church. Though it was pilgrims that first came to New England, yet Puritanism soon became the dominant faith with its rather gloomy outlook on life. The Puritans held that man lived to suffer and he must toil mightily for the glory of God. Their doctrine was widely known for its extremely rigid and strict morality.,II. Literary Career,1837-1842: Twice-Told Tales 故事新编 1846: Mosses from an Old Manse 古屋青苔 1850: The Scarlet Letter红字 1851: The House of the Seven Gables 带七个尖角阁的房子 1852: The Blithedale Romance福谷传奇,III. Style,1. Hawthorne wrote romance which was to present the truth of the human heart by the writers own choice. 2. Psychological truth was more important than actual truth. 3. He used symbols and setting to reveal the psychology of the characters. 4. His language is soft, flowing, and almost feminine.,IV. Significance,Hawthorne is significant 1)as a romantic writer because he used the New England regional past as subject and setting for his stories and he showed great concern about the American past. 2) for his themes: the consequences of pride, selfishness, and secret guilt; the conflict between lighthearted and somber attitudes toward life; the impingement of past (especially the Puritan past) upon the present; the futility of comprehensive social reforms; the impossibility of eradicating sin from the human heart; alienation and solitude; nature and natural impulses; and unconscious fantasy and dream. 3) for his style,V. The Scarlet Letter,Plot,The story takes place in Puritan Boston during the mid-17th century. Young Hester Prynne, a “fallen woman,” is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter A, signifying “adultery,” because she has a lover when her aged husband is not with her. Consequently she is driven “out of the ordinary relations with humanity,” and is thus able to view critically the various aspects of society.,Hester is not overwhelmed by the harsh life imposed upon her. She encourages her lover to flee with her to Europe but in vain. She becomes sympathetic with other unfortunates, regains the trust of her neighbors and eventually redresses the shame from the Scarlet Letter.,While Hester is living in humiliation, her lover, whose name she refuses to tell, is suffering from a guilty conscience. He is the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a revered, seemingly saintly young minister. After years of hidden torture and struggle he makes a public confession on the scaffold, receives the kiss of his daughter Pearl and dies, in Hesters arms, his “death of triumphant ignominy.”,Hesters husband, assuming the name Roger Chillingworth as a physician, makes unremitting efforts in searching for her paramour and is haunted by the desire of revenge. He becomes cold-blooded, dehumanized, and finally withers up, shrivels away, and dies not over a year after Dimmesdales death.,Characters,Hester Prynne: a pretty young woman; embodiment of the American Dream; self-reliant; courageous; faithful to love; independent; strong-willed; capable; angellike,Arthur Dimmesdale,Roger Chillingworth,themes,It reveals the moral isolation with the individual isolated from the community. It examines the effect of hidden sin and secret guilt. It explores the tension between the head (intellect) and the heart (warmth and feeling), and the destructive impulses of the human mind uncontrolled by the emotions of the heart. It highlights the necessity of warm human relationship, the nature of sin, and a distrust of science and intellect,It shows that the moral growth of the individual comes through, or as a result of, sin and suffering. Marriage should be based on love. Loveless marriage leads to infidelity. Puritanism is against human nature. Self-reliance is a virtue,The guilt can be seen as a strategy for achieving the self and alienation can be interpreted not as the punishment for guilt but as the opportunity for achieving an independent self, one which can morally transcend society and culture. The journey from innocence to maturity requires a confrontation with evil. It attacks society for its persecution of those who violate mans conventions but none of Natures laws.,VI Topics for Discussion,1. Why does Hester have the courage to speak Dimmesdale vaguely hints at, but dares not speak? Analyze their characters respectively. 2. What effect does the Scarlet Letter have on Hester? Hester and Dimmesdale reassert their love for each other in the forest. How does Hawthorne view this?,4. Pearl is viewed as an elf-child. Why do you think Hawthorne views her so? 5. What symbols have you found in the selection? Explain. - the rose bush at the prison door - the sunshine in the forest 6. Discuss the themes of the novel.,
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