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1、题目 The Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter 说明 本表需在指导教师和有关领导审查批准的情况下，认真填写。 说明课题的来源 （自拟题目或指导教师承担的科研任务） 、课 题研究的目的和意义、课题在国内外研究现状和发展趋势。 若课题因故变动时，应向指导教师提出申请，提交题目变动 论证报告。 课题来源： 自拟题目 The Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter 课题研究的目的和意义： 目的： 红字是 19 世纪杰出浪漫主义小说家霍桑的代表作。小说以其思想性 艺术性近乎完美的谐和，在美国文学史上占有重要地位。在这部小说中，霍桑采用 象征主义手法使
2、作品蕴涵多重寓意和多元化的主题，并通过特殊命名法刻画人物以 突出作品主题。本课题研究希望能通过分析四位主人公名字及字母A的象征意义及 内涵，揭示出人们圣徒般的外表下潜藏着的罪恶心灵即揭露人性的恶，并且通过描 述主人公的悲惨遭遇，反映出清教殖民统治的黑暗残酷，教会的虚伪丑恶以及其 对人性的迫害。 意义：通过对红字的研究，获知霍桑综合运用了希腊神话圣经故事谐音 以及以词述义首字母暗含词形相近等方法来给主要人物命名，使字母 A以及人名 具有十分丰富的象征意义。 准确揭示人名和字母A的象征意义将十分有助于把握作 品的主题，从而更深刻体现出在清教统治这个大背景下，社会环境对一系列社会道 德规范准则和人的
3、思想形成的影响，使读者更清晰了解小说暗含的诸多社会意义。 国内外同类课题研究现状及发展趋势： 对于红字的研究一直是国内外文学评论家研究的重点之一。近年来，其研究更 是走向成熟和细致化，尤其是红字中象征主义的成功运用已引起相关学者的广 泛关注。已有诸多文学评论员撰写了一些研究论文作为课题的专项研究。美国评论 家尼娜贝姆教授认为红字是一部描写自然人与社会人分歧的小说。主人公的人物性 格象征着其具有的自然或社会属性，对于人物心理挣扎的描写象征着其自然属性 和社会属性的矛盾与冲突。在我国，越来越多的作家开始倾向于探索分析红字的 深层社会背景。张雅琳著有论红字的清教观，深刻的分析了当时的宗教存在的 弊端
4、以及其对人们思想的毒害和侵蚀，为小说中主人公的悲惨遭遇埋下了伏笔并且 提供了有力依据。总之，在对红字的研究中可以看出20 世纪批评史的缩影， 可以肯定今后还会有更多的阐释更多的评论研究此书。 题目The Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter Contents Abstract. 1 1. The Brief Introduction of the Novel. 1 2. Introduction About Symbolism 1 2.1 The Origin of Symbolism 1 2.2 The Definition of Symbolism 2 3. Th
5、e Symbolism in Scarlet Letter “A” . 2 3.1 The Changes of the Symbolic Meaning of The Scarlet Letter “A”: . 2 3.1.1 Adultery. 2 3.1.2 Alone and Alienation. 3 3.1.3 Able Admirable and Angel. 3 3.2 Biblical Archetype of “A” 4 4.The Symbolic Meaning of the Four Major Characters Names: 5 4.1 Hester Prynn
6、e 5 4.2 Arthur Dimmesdale 6 4.3 Roger Chillingworth 7 4.4 Pearl 8 5. The Symbolic Meanings of the Objects in the Novel 11 Conclusion 12 Bibliography 13 Acknowledgments . 14 Chinese Abstract 15 1 The Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter Zheng Xin Abstract: The Scarlet Letterthat is notable for its allegor
7、y and symbolism is regarded as the first symbolic novel in American literature. it is a novel of much symbolic. The novel revolves around one major symbol: the scarlet letter. Besides, some other objects that are described in the novel have their symbolic meanings. Moreover, the names of the four ma
8、jor characters also have their symbolic meanings. Hester Prynne contains the meaning of beauty， passion ， hasty ， desire and so on. Arthur Dimmesdale means weak ， coward .Roger Chillingworth means cold-blooded and dark .pearl contains the meaning of precious， glorious and some other good virtue .the
9、 paper analyzes the symbolic meaning of various characters and scenes in Scarlet Letter ,especially the scarlet letter itself .Hawthorne lies in implying the theme of the novel from different angles through the successful application of symbolism . Key words : scarlet letter name symbolism 1. The Br
10、ief Introduction of the Novel Hawthorne is an outstanding romantic writer in America .his masterpiece-Scarlet Letter begins in 17th-century puritan Boston , it tells the story of Hester Prynne ,who gives birth after committing adultery , refuses to name the father and struggles to creat a new life o
11、f repentance and dignity .the book is full of symbolism . 2 2. Introduction About Symbolism 2.1 The Origin of Symbolism Symbolism, as a kind of literary trend, begins in the late of 19 century and ends in 1930s . It is an offshoot of modern literature between Europe and America . 2.2 The Definition
12、of Symbolism Symbolism is a kind of literary creative means that indirectly expresses author s thought and emotion by means of specific images such as colors , sounds , animals and plants in real world . objective stuff is described through metaphor and implication to arouse the reader s association
13、 instead of being described directly and simply . it gives the commonplace great artistic power because symbolism can arouse reader s rich association and has multiple meanings , which may be its unique charm . Then how does Hawthorne open out the rich signification of the novel through the symbolis
14、m in Scarlet Letter? 3. The Symbolism in Scarlet Letter “A” 3.1 The Changes of the Symbolic Meaning of the Scarlet Letter “A”: In this novel, the scarlet letter “A“ changes its meaning many different times. This change is significant. It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which the
15、y live. Firstly, The letter “A“ begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a symbol of alone and alienation, and finally it becomes a symbol of able, angel and admirable. 3 3.1.1 Adultery The letter “A“, worn on Hesters bosom, is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. This is the puri
16、tan way of treating her as a criminal for the crime of adultery. The puritan treatment continues, because as Hester walks through the streets, she will be 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 H
17、ester feel unwanted. “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment,“ Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She commits this sin in the heat of passion, and fully admits it . although she is ashamed, she als
18、o receives her greatest treasure, Pearl. She is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well against what she must face. Many will have fled Boston, and seek a place where no one knows of her great sin. Hester chooses to stay here, which shows a lot of strength and integrity. Any woman with eno
19、ugh nerve to hold up against a town which despises her very existence, and to stay in a place where her daughter is referred to as a “devil child,“ either has some sort of psychological problem, or is a very tough woman. 3.1.2 Alone and Alienation The scarlet letter“A“ also stands for Hesters lonely
20、 life in New England. After she is released, Hester lives in a cottage near the outskirts of the city. “ 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 activit
21、y which already marked the habits of the emigrants. ” Hesters social life is virtually eliminated as a result of her shameful history. Hester comes to have a part to perform in the world with her native energy of character and rare capacity.“ However, there was nothing that made her feel as if she b
22、elonged to it. Every gesture, every word, and even the silence of those with whom she came to contact, implied, and often expressed, 4 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 rather than the rest o
23、f 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, so the scarlet letter“A” also is a symbol of the words “alone ” and “alienate ”.
24、 3.1.3 Able Admirable and Angel Later, the scarlet letter“A” changes its meaning into being able, angel and admirable. The townspeople who condemned her now believe the scarlet letter to stand for her beautiful needlework and for her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick. “The letter was the sym
25、bol of her calling. Such helpfulness is found in her so much power to sympathize , so many people gradually refuses to interpret the scarlet letterA by its original signification.” At this point, a lot of the townspeople realize what a noble character Hester possesses. “Do you see that woman with th
26、e embroidered badge? It is our Hester the town s own Hester who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted!” The townspeople soon begin to believe that the badge is served to ward off evil, and Hester grows to be quite admirable amongst the people of the town. Hes
27、ter overcomes the shame of her sin through the purity and goodness of her soul. Unselfishly offering her time and love to those who need her most proves that she is not worthy of the fate which has been dealt to her. The three changes in the scarlet letter are significant; they show the progressive
28、possession of her sin, her lonely life, and her ability. Hester is a strong admirable woman who goes through more emotional torture that most people go through in a lifetime. 3.2 Biblical Archetype of “A” The scarlet letter“A“ also can be seen the symbol of Adam. It tells us that 5 Hesters sin is th
29、e original sin of human being, it is forgivable. The writer shows his sympathy by describing the scarlet letter “A“ on Hesters clothing as an ornament and a decoration. Hesters making the scarlet letter “A“ into a thing of beauty offends many bystanders, who comment that, “ it were well if we stripp
30、ed Madame Hesters rich gown off her dainty shoulders.“ However, as a young woman observes, “not a stitch in that embroidered letter, but she has felt it in her heart.“ The feeling of sympathy, only expressed by one of the characters throughout this scene, is used by Hawthorne to criticize the purita
31、ns for their strictness. The society is too strict in its ways, and Hawthorne shows his contempt for the treatment of Hester by constantly reinforcing how cruelly the people talk about her. Hawthorne says at the end of Chapter One,“ Finding it (rosebush) so directly on the threshold of our narrative
32、, which is now about to issue from that inauspicious portal, we could hardly do other than pluck one of its flowers, and present it to the reader. It may serve, let us hope, to symbolize some sweat moral blossom, that may be found alone , or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and
33、 sorrow.“ This kind of sympathy can be seen in the novel everywhere. To Hester, the scarlet letter“A“ also stands for her lover, Pearls father, Arthur Dimmesdale. Her fantastically embroidering the scarlet letter “A“, which means adultery, is somehow a way she shows her passion for Arthur. Her refus
34、ing to tell the name of Pearls father is a way to protect him. Her choosing to remain in New England after she is released is because it is the place where her lover stays. “ There dwelt, there trod the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union, before the bar of final judgment,
35、and make that their marriage-alter, for a joint futurity of endless retribution.“ She wears the scarlet letter for seven years, and misses her lover in this way. Only when she meets Arthur again in the forest seven years later, deciding to flee to somewhere else, does she throw the scarlet letter aw
36、ay. After Dimmesdales death, Hester and Pearl disappear for several years. 6 Despite living with her daughter, Hester comes back to live the rest of her life in her cottage again, and picks up the scarlet letter for the third time. To Hester, there is a more real life in New England than in that unk
37、nown region where Pearl has founded a home. “Here had been her sin, here, her sorrow, and here was yet to be her penitence.“ Moreover, here is where her lover lies. Hester eventually dies and is buried in the Kings Chapel Cemetery. “ It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, a
38、s if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. 4.The Symbolic Meaning of the Four Major Characters Names: 4.1 Hester Prynne Hester Prynne is one of the major characters in The Scarlet Letter. The writer gives her much symbolic meaning by giving her this name. Hester sounds like Hestier, Z
39、eus sister in Greek mythology, who is a very beautiful goddess. This gives us a sense that Hester is a passionate beautiful woman. In this novel, she is the symbol of the truth, the goodness and the beauty. Nathaniel Hawthorne describes her in Chapter Two like this: “The young woman was tall, a figu
40、re 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,“ For
41、 so many years, Hester 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 their insolence and pursues a normal life. She proves her worth with her uncommon sewing skills and provides comm
42、unity service. Hesters own 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 7 to succor them,“ she continues her services because she actually cares. At last, the colonists come to think of the
43、 scarlet letteras “ the cross on a nuns bosom“, which is not small accomplishment. Also, Hester is the homophone of the word hastier. 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
44、should have arrived by ship from England, she falls in 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. But Hester s adultery haste is nothing but a very natural thing to do. In the Holy
45、 Bible, Adam and Eve, the very ancestors of human being, who live in the Garden of Eden, eat the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden tricked by the serpent. After that, they begin to know good and evil, and also they begin to know sex. Adultery is nothing but the original sin of hu
46、man being. Gods punishment to them is just sending them forth from the Garden of Eden. But in The Scarlet Letter, Hester is tortured physically and mentally for her sin. Hester says to Dimmesdale in the forest later, “we had a consecration of its own, we felt so!” In essence, their sin is no worse t
47、han Adam and Eve s. The punishment of puritan society is somehow too hard on a woman who is led by human instinct. 4.2 Arthur Dimmesdale Arthur Dimmesdale is a well-thought-of young minister, whose initials are AD, which also stands for adultery. The author obviously tells us Author Dimmesdale is th
48、e partner in sin of Hester Prynne by giving him this name. The word Dimmesdale also has many symbolic meanings. Dim means dark and weak, and dale means valley, so the dimdale here is actually a symbol of the “dim-interior“ of the clergyman. He loves Hester deeply, and he is the father of Pearl, but
49、he can only show his passion for her in the forest or in darkness. His response 8 to the sin is to lie. He stands before Hester and the rest of the town and proceeds to give a moving speech about how it would be in her and the fathers best interest for her to reveal the fathers name. Though he never actually says that he is not the other partner, he implies it by talking of the father in third person. Such as, “If you feel it to be your souls peace, and that your earthly punishment will thereby be m