The Use of Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter

1、论象征手法在红字中的应用the use of symbolism in the scarlet lettercontentsabstract.1key words.1i. introduction.21.1 the introduction to the story.21.1.1 the content of scarlet letter.21.1.2 the theme and characters .21.1.3 the feature of the novel.21.2 the introduction to the author.31.2.1 the authors growth an

2、d main works .31.2.2 the fame of the author.31.3 background.41.3.1 social atmosphere in the 17th century.41.3.2 the puritanism in america.41.4 the form of symbolism.41.4.1 the definition to symbolism.41.4.2 the form of symbolism.5ii. the use of symbolism in this novel.52.1. different meanings of the

3、 scarlet letter “a”.62.2 the symbolism of main characters.62.2.1 hester prynne.72.2.2 pearl.72.2.3 roger chillingworth92.2.4 reverend arthur dimmesdale92.3 the symbolic meanings of the objects described in the novel .102.3.1 light and darkness.102.3.2 rose bush.102.3.3 other objects.11iii. the influ

4、ence of symbolism on romantic period and its position in america literature.11iv. conclusion.12references.12摘要：红字是美国作家霍桑最出名的一部作品，作者的象征主义手法贯穿始终，无处不在，这也是霍桑的红字誉满全球的原因。红字中象征手法的运用独具匠心，因此它被称为美国文学史上第一部象征主义小说。本文从他运用象征的特征入手，研究红字的象征意义。本文从作者的象征意义的体现，即：象征意义的定义，象征在作品中的运用，从对人物的分析等方面入手，研究红字中的作者的象征手法的运用及体现。同时，对作者的生

5、平和主要作品，以及红字对浪漫主义文学的影响，作者宗教背景进行介绍，使我们能更好地了解作者的象征主义手法的运用。关键词：红字；象征主义；象征运用；霍桑；宗教abstract: the scarlet letter is american writer nathaniel hawthornes famous work; hawthornes symbolism usage was displayed so well, that it makes the scarlet letter known all around the world. it is regarded as the first sy

6、mbolic novel in american literature because of the ingenious using of symbolism. this paper researches the features of symbolism originally used in this novel to make the novel clear to the readers. this paper researches the authors use of symbolism use in this novel from the following aspects: the

7、definition of symbolism, the usage of symbolism in this novel, readers can have a clear view on the authors use of symbolism when the main characters are analyzed in the novel. at the same time, the instruction to the authors growth and his main works, the influence of this novel on the romance peri

8、od and the authors religious background can help readers have a better understanding of the authors use of symbolism use.key words: the scarlet letter; symbolism; the use of symbolism; nathaniel hawthorne; puritanism. i. introductionthis research mainly deals with the use of symbolism in the scarlet

9、 letter. i will introduce the novel and author to you.1.1 the introduction to the storythe scarlet letter is the most famous work of hawthorne. the scarlet letter is hawthornes representative works. it symbolized the significant breakthrough of american novel creation, because of the profound main t

10、hought the rich imagination and the unique writing technique. 1.1.1 the content of the scarlet letterthe story began in seventeenth-century boston, then a puritan settlement. an aping english scholar roger chillingworth sent his beautiful young wife, hester prynne, alone to new england to make their

11、 new home, but in midway chillingworth were captured by the indian. hester had arrived america alone and fallen in love with the pastor arthur dimmesdale. this matter, was regarded as the most bad thing by the local puritan societyand let her to wear the scarlet letter “a” on her dress as punishment

12、 for her adultery. in the end, chillingworth was morally degraded by his monomaniacal pursuit of revenge; dimmesdale was broken by his own sense of guilt, and he publicly confessed his adultery before dying in hesters arms. only hesters could face the future bravely, as she planed to take her daught

13、er pearl to europe to begin a new life.1.1.2 the theme and charactersfor the main thoughts, what morals and religion had hawthorne publicized in scarlet letter? hawthorne was going to publicize puritan, thats to say hawthorne believed it was god who created the world and human beings, every one was

14、born with original sin and should be punished, only gods mend can save us. (yao 1995)the main themes: forgiveness, sin. alienation appearance versus reality, breaking societys rules, maternal love, betrayal, faith and love, a womans place in society.the scarlet letter deeply expressed the characteri

15、stics of emotions and interpretations of each relationship. a story of betrayal, passion, and public persecution, nathanial hawthorne clearly expressed these themes throughout the scarlet letter.the main characters: hester prynne, reverend arthur, pearl and roger chillingworth.1.1.3 the feature of t

16、he novelthe scarlet letter is considered a masterpiece of american literature and a classic moral study. although commonly called a novel, the scarlet letter is actually a romance. it is set in a village in puritan new england. romances, on the other hand, were concerned with internal truths. the ge

17、nre of the romance also allowed hawthorne to embellish the relationship between humans and nature. the author excels to promulgate characters inner conflicts and the psychological description, he has the rich imagination. most of his work is based on the history of new england; most of his works sho

18、w hawthornes perplexing thinking and incompatible nature, the scarlet letter is the special one. he is a novelist and short story writer in the american renaissance. the style of the scarlet letter is precise, descriptive, and formal. hawthorne used formal diction and syntax throughout the book, eve

19、n in the dialogue. each word was carefully chosen for precise meaning.1.2 the introduction to the author1.2.1 the authors growth and main worksnathaniel hawthorne (1,8041,864) was one of the greatest romanticism fiction writer and psychological fiction writer in 19th century of american. hawthorne w

20、as born in new englands declined aristocratic family in 1804. after the death of his father, he moved along with the mother to his grandfathers home. entire family sincerely believed in the christianity puritanism. hawthornes thoughts and creation was enormously influenced by his grandfathers strong

21、 religious atmosphere and the intense religious sect struggle as well as the hawthorne familys traditional religion. he liked the literary arts since childhood, when he graduated from the university, he accepted a customs office position, latter affected by the french utopian socialism, making imple

22、mentation utopian socialism plan in bucker farm. hawthorne took a gloomy view of human nature.he did publish one novel, fanshawe (1828), beginning with what was generally considered his masterpiece, the scarlet letter (1850), he followed with the house of the seven gables (1851), in 1853 hawthorne w

23、ent to italy, which became the background for his last completed novel, the marble faun, written in 1860.on may 19th, 1846, he died in his sleep in plymouth, new hampshire.1.2.2 the fame of the authormost of his works were based on the history of new england where used to be colony; they show hawtho

24、rnes perplexing thinking and incompatible nature. on one hand, he believed the original sin; on the other hand, he experienced frantic, peremptoriness and hypocrisy of calvinism, he believed there were some super strong powers in the world while he was controlled by religious order. he was good at a

25、nalyzing the inner incompatible train. using symbolism, he often understood deeply about inner meaning than other writers. (cheng 1983)1.3 backgroundhawthornes views on man and human history originates, to a great extent, in puritanism. he is with the puritan world or society as a historical backgro

26、und.1.3.1 social atmosphere in the 17th centuryin 17th century boston every thing was very strict and everyone was expected to follow the laws.religion seemed to govern over all, people would look up to reverends and the community believed that fate was their destiny. puritans believed that there wa

27、s a stern god who had decreed in advance the fate of each person in gods eyes. therefore, there was not much people who felt they could do to become a better person in gods eyes but do his biding with their jobs. woman still did not have some rights. 1.3.2 the puritanism in americano matter in what

28、age or country , hawthornes characters are puritans. puritans were a group of religious reformers who arrived in massachusetts in the 1630s under the leadership of john winthrop. like the pilgrims, they were mostly middle-class folk, although some highborn gentlemen joined them. hawthorne felt asham

29、ed for his ancestors deeds, and that he saw them and the puritan society as a whole with critical eyes. so, both open and subtle sarcasm of the puritans practices was applied throughout the novel. the puritan setting also enabled him to portray the human soul under extreme-pressures. its very strict

30、, the women couldnt smile on the street, and children couldnt play.1.4 the form of symbolism1.4.1 the definition to symbolismthe symbolism is the use of symbols to represent things, esp. in art and literature; the symbols thus used. an art style developed in the late 19th century characterized by th

31、e incorporation of symbols and ideas, usually spiritual or mystical in nature, which represented the inner life of people. symbolism is a 19th-century movement in which art became infused with exaggerated sensitivity and a spooky mysticism. influenced by the connections between music and poetry, it

32、sought to achieve the effects of images and metaphors to symbolize the basic idea or emotion of each poem. symbolism is a relatively straightforward concept on its surface. an object or objects represents an idea or a concept. symbolism is traditionally a sign or token of something. in the matter of

33、 literature, the definition of the literary device, symbolism, is more complicated. symbols of literature are usually metaphysical.1.4.2 the form of symbolismsymbolist movement was a movement in literature and the visual arts that originated in france in the late 19th century. in literature, symboli

34、sm was an aesthetic movement that encouraged writers to express their ideas, feelings, and values by means of symbols or suggestions rather than by direct statements. symbolism writers, in reaction to earlier 19th-century trends,proclaimed that the imagination was the true interpreter of reality.the

35、y also discarded rigid rules of versification and the stereotyped poetic images of their predecessors, the so-called parnassians. important precursors of symbolist poetry were the american writer edgar allan poe and the french poet grard de nerval. the symbolist movement had its beginning in the poe

36、try of charles baudelaire, whose les fleurs du mal (flowers of evil, 1857) and le spleen de paris (1869) were judged as decadent by his contemporaries. the symbolist movement survived well into the 1890s, in the works of such french poets as jules laforgue and paul valry, as well as those of the wri

37、ter and critic rmy de gourmont. from france, symbolism spread worldwidenotably to russia, where it was evidenced in the work of the poet aleksandr blokand had great influence on the shaping of 20th-century literature. ii. the use of symbolism in the scarlet letterthe scarlet letter is pervaded with

38、symbolism. a religion can be described as a language of concepts related to human spiritualism. symbolism hence is an important aspect of most religions. the interpretation of abstract symbols has had an important role in religion and psychoanalysis.this novel is full of the religions, most christia

39、n religious symbolism are emblems, figures or ideas drawn from the cultures which christianity has superseded, so that symbols existing in those cultures have been adopted but imbued with christian meaning.2.1 different meanings of the scarlet letter “a”the most pervasive symbol is the scarlet a fro

40、m which the book gets its title. the main symbol of the scarlet letter is the red “a” that hester prynne was sentenced to wear on her chest. this is the most important symbol of the story, and symbolism is a major literary device of the story. in this novel, hawthorne didnt tell us what the scarlet

41、letter stood for. nathaniel hawthornes intention was to make the meaning of the crimson token worn on the bosom of hester prynne was highly ambiguous. the letter, a patch of fabric in the shape of an “a”, signifies that hester is an “adulterer.” in this novel, to the townspeople, author, and reader

42、clearly the original intention of the “a” was to stand for “adulteress”. when hester prynne became pregnant during the absence of her husband she was accused and convicted of adultery. she was sentenced to wear a scarlet letter “a” on her bosom to let everyone know that she was an adulteress, foreve

43、rmore. although the first intention of the “a” was to mark hester prynne as an adulteress, it also had other, more abstract meanings. the letter has a relation to the word, “american”. hester prynnes “a” reflects an “american” meaning in various ways. on the one hand, america is a melting pot of man

44、y peoples and ideas, as was hesters “a”. she earned that “a” under certain situations. she was in a loveless marriage. she had been separated from her husband for 2 years. she thought he might be at the bottom of the sea. she was in love with another man. on the other hand that hester prynnes “a” sy

45、mbolizes america, is that they were both shaped by past actions. no matter how hester had changed, since her act of adultery, at any point in her life, she was forever damned to be labeled as an adulteress with the “a”. the symbol of the scarlet letter shaped who hester was. america was shaped by ev

46、erything that happened in her past. but at last this word changed to “able”, hester prynne was a very capable woman. she was too strong of a woman for puritan boston right from the start. she was able to accept her punishment. hester was also an capable mother, nurse and seamstress. she was able to

47、bring up a strong daughter. later in the story, the letter “a” appears in the sky, signifying “angle”, but the other writers said that letter “a” symbolized amorous, art, advance. like the wild rose in front of the jail gate, stands erect becomes “the church annex” under the church eaves punishment

48、taiwan, and so on. these symbols fully exposed the use of the symbolic comparison of hawthorne is perfect, no qualms for the modern literature symbolism pioneer. the other prominent symbol of the book is hesters daughter, pearl. pearl symbolizes the shame of hesters public punishment for adultery. t

49、hen as pearl grows older, she symbolizes the punishment itself by continuing to torment hester about the scarlet “a” embroidered on her dress. the main symbol of nathaniel hawthornes the scarlet letter is the red letter “a” that hester prynne wore on her chest.2.2 the symbolism of main charactersthe

50、 scarlet letter is a novel in which lots of symbolism is used. throughout the novel several characters represent other ideas.2.2.1 hester prynneone of the most complex and misunderstood characters in the novel is hester prynne. the writer gives her much symbolic meaning by giving her this name. hest

51、er sounds like hestier, zeus 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. “the young woman was tall, a figure of perfect elegance on a large s

52、cale, 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”(hawthorne) society condemned her for he

53、r sin, without knowing anything else. hester was forced to live alone on the outskirts of the city. she was a seamstress, but got very little business. when she used her skills to decorate the “a”, things only got worse. people felt that she was trying to show off the fact that she was an adulteress

54、, or that she was proud to be. clearly it was the first intention of the symbol to reveal that hester prynne was an adulteress. hesters guilt, however, is derived from both chillingsworth and dimmesdale. chillingsworth married a woman who did not love him, which is one of the causes of hesters guilt

55、.also, hester is the homophone of the word haste. at first, she gets married to roger prynne. not having got the news about her husband who should have arrived by ship from england, she fell in love with arthur hastily and gave birth to pearl, for which she was condemned to wear on the breast of her

56、 gown the scarlet letter “a”, which stands for adultery. but hesters adultery haste is nothing but a very natural thing to do. 2.2.2 pearlpearl is the daughter of hester prynne. she is both a rose and indeed the scarlet letter. if she had not been born, hester would not have had to wear the letter.

57、she was a kind of burden, yet love for hester.she is also her mothers only treasure and her only source of survival.from being a living scarlet letter, to a valuable thing with high price, then to the moral in this novel.the most significant symbolic meaning of pearl in the novel is her association with the scarlet letter “a”. pearl, was consta