TheSymbolicMeaningof“A”inscarletletter

1、The Symbolic Meaning of“ A” in scarlet letterThesis Statement:The scarlet letter “ A” as a main symbol, which has different symbolic meanings according to different people?s views and different periods, shows great significance in developing and elaborating the theme of the bookT, he Scarlet Letter.

2、I .A brief introduction to The Scarlet Letter1.Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864), the author, is a great writer in American literary history.2 .The main plot of The Scarlet Letter is a tragic live story in the colonial times in Boston.3 .The theme of the novel is the conflict of the human heart with i

3、tself and how to deal with the sin on one?s act and the sin on one?s soul.n .Symbols in The Scarlet letter1.The scarlet letter “ A” ,the main Tsyhme bSoclairnlet Letter ,was endowed with plentiful meanings.2.1 n The Scarlet Letter, there are many other symbols.A. The rusty prison-door means the dark

4、ness of that times.B. Rose-bush, fragrance and fragile beauty stand for the light of hope in America.A”.C A deformed man has abnormal soul.Different interpretations of the symbol1 .Different periods have different meanings.A. At the beginning, the letterA” stands foradultery” or “ adulteress ”.B. Af

5、ter many years of hard work, the letterA” means“Angel ”.C. For Hester?s kindness and honesty, the letterA”means“ Angel ”.A”.2 .Different people have their own ideas on the symbolA. To Hester, it is the moral sin in a public way.B. To Dimmensdale, it tortures his soul and his heart.C. To Chillingwort

6、h, it indicates his shame and he can get unlimited power for his revenge.D. Pearl is more of a symbol than a character. To a great extent, she is a living “ A”.A. To Hester, she is the fruit of human love and physical passion.B. To Dimmensdale, she is a reminder of his sin.C. To Chilingworth, she is

7、 an unforgettable shame and the motivation to take his revenge.IV. The symbol has its great significance.1. Symbolism is a literary device which is wed frequently to indicate the author?s opinion.2. The use of symbols can make the characters more lively and understandable.3. It can let the readers b

8、ecome imaginative and stimulate their interest.4. It is very helpful to develop the theme and give deep impression on readers? mind.V. Conclusion.Plentiful meanings of the scarlet“ A” expresses the intention of writing andgives readers more space to imagine.The Symbolic Meaning of “ A” inThe Scarlet

9、 Letterand Its FunctionI .IntroductionNathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864) is one of the most famous, interesting, ambivalent writers in American Literature of Romanticism period. He is also a productive novelist with an inquiring imagination, an intensely meditative mind. Some of his great works are fami

10、liar to us, such asThe House of the Seven Gable,sYoung Goodman Brown ,The Scarlet Letteretc. In most of his novels, they are full of the description of sin and evil. And in his eyes, “ Everyone?s heart has 1h“is Tshine”sin of heart and soul is more general than that of body2Therefore,when ”you read

11、his novels, you can feel his pessimistic life manner and his intention of preaching, especially in The Scarlet Letter.The Scarlet Letter, always regarded as the best of his works, was published in 1850.As the first symbolic novel in American Literary history, it has been influencing American Literat

12、ure deeply and significantly.The story took place in new England in 17th century. It told us a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a Puritan community were involved in and affected by the sin. Hester Prynne, the heroine, was found out to have committed adultery. She was punis

13、hed before the public and condemned to wear the scarlet letter “ A” in front of her bosom throughout her life time. When the mad throng roared to her to demand the name of the man with whom she committed adultery, she refused simply because she loved the man and cherished his life more than her own.

14、 The baby, Pearl, to whom she gave birth, was baptised by Arthur Dimmensdale, the parishioner who was actually the baby?s father. Different from Hester, Dimmensdale dared not admit openly the sin but was constantly tortured by a sense of guilt. Doctor Chillingworth, Hester?s husband, discovered who

15、was the adulterer and made up a cruel plan of revenge to torture the minister mentally till his death.In the end, Hester regained her dignity and even respect from the community. Dimmensdale was mentally tortured to death by his own sense of guilt plus Chillingworth?s vicious plan and only in the la

16、st minute of his life he revealed his sin.In this particular novel, Hawthorne explores into“ the conflict of the humanheart with itself 3 and ” deals with the theme of sin and guilt. Just through describing Hester?s sorrowful fate, it severely criticizes the injustice and cruelty of the Puritan way

17、of life. In order to get this point, he used many writing skills, especially the rhetoric device, symbolism.n .Symbols in The scarlet letterThe scarlet letter “ A” as the main symbol, it is endowed with plentiful meanings. According to different people?s views on the letter“ A” and differentperiods,

18、 Hawthorne have depicted a vivid picture of the Puritan community. In this novel, however, there are many other symbols except for the scarlet letter“ A”examples will be given first in the following two paragraphs.The rusty prison-door was the symbol of that time which was dark and cruel. In this en

19、vironment, there was no true love but hypocrisy of human beings. Because of this symbol, the whole novel was based on the tone of sadness. For the sake ofgiving readers little hope, the author had to have the aid of rose-bush and its fragance. Just a the author sai:d“ Let us hope, to symbolize some

20、sweet moral blossom, that may be found along the track, or relieve the darkening close of a tale of human frailty and 4 sorrow. ”Another one is Chillingworth, an old slightly deformed man with the left shoulder a trifle higher than the right, who was an unveiled devil in the novel. At the beginning,

21、 he was an innocent victim and liable to pity and sympathy. As a cold-natured physician, however, he designed an inhumane scheme of cold revenge and finally became the most hardened sinner, an embodiment of merciless revenge, vicious schemes and cold-blooded hatred. At last, his deformed body symbol

22、ized his abnormal soul which damaged himself.in .The Symbolic Meaning of"A”From beginning to end in the novel, the most typical symbol is the scarlet letter “ A” As a key to the whole novel, the letter“ A” takes on different layers ofsymbolic meanings as the plot develops and people come up wit

23、h different interpretations.1 .Different periods have different meaningsAt the beginning, the scarlet letter “ A” is a symbol of sin and guilt. It means“ adultery ” or “ adulteress ” . At that time, Hester had no choice but to wear the scarlet letter on her breast, which gradually became her special

24、 sign. And for this scarlet letter, she was sepaarted from her original community.s“caIrtl(etht eletter)had the effect of a spell, taking her out of the ordinary relations with humanity, and enclosing her in a sphere by herself5. From the da”y she wore the scarlet letter on, there was nothing to Hes

25、ter but ridiculous, hopeless and unbearable loneliness. At first, she was so frightened that she could not know how to do. But eventually, she began to realize: it was no use of worrying, evading. As brave and firm she was, she faced the fact and did what she could do to change this situation. In or

26、der to ameliorate the relation with community, she changed herself a lot and led a hard, insipid life. As time went on, she won back acceptance and respect from the villagers of various background through hard-working. “such helpfulness was found in her much power to do, and power to sympathize-that

27、 many people refused to interpret the scarlet,A?by its original signification .They said that it meant ,Able?. 6 Therefore, in”people?s minds, the scarlet letter had chnaged its original symbol to a new meaning-Able.With regard to the society which had deserted her and the villagers who had hurt her

28、 before, Hester had no hatred feeling but mercy, honesty and generosity. ”none so ready as she to give of her litseance to every demand of poverty. 7 ”“none so sedevoted as Hester, when pestilence stalked through thetown. ”8 Because of her persistenc、e endeavor and constancy, many people had been to

29、uched and began to accept the New Hester. Till this moment,“ The scarlet letter hadthe effect of the cross on a nun?s bosom9 Hester wa”. s not a sinner but an angel. The scarlet letter then was given another interpretation-the symbol of an Angel.2 .Different people have their own interpretations of

30、the symbol “ A”As far as Hester was concerned, the scarlet letter“ A” was an externalmanifestation of sin she had committed. Just for the sign of her shame, Hester had strong willing to overcome all the difficulties and tried to be kind to everyone. And also, it made Hester more bravery and faithful

31、. Hence, we can be sure it creates a New Hester while it tortures her. Meanwhile,“ The scarlet letterowrtainstoher passpregions where other women dare not tread1.0 Hester b” ecame a woman with full of the spirit of rebelling the reality which let her as a pioneer of a new era.To Dimmensdale, althoug

32、h he didn?t wear the scarlet letter openly, his heart had been withstanding great pain. He kept his guilt in secret and it made him sad, worried and disappointed. The scarlet letter in his heart like a bloody scourge tortured him until his last confession.”in order to purify the body and render it t

33、he fittermedium of celestial illumination, but rigorously, and until his knees trembled beneath him, as an act of penance1.1 But no ” matter how hard he was ,he could not receive a momentary calm of his guilty soul.“herein is the sinful mother happierthan the sinful father. 12So when he met with Hes

34、ter and told her“happy are you,Hester, that wear the scarlet letter openly worn your bosom! Mine burns in secret1!3Last but not the least, the scarlet letter like a shame sign warned Chillingworth to take revenge on the Minister. He became more and more cruel and got boundless power from the scarlet

35、 letter. The faster he revenged, the deeper he blundered. At last, he did become a real devil. When Dimmeasdale was dying, he swore: “ Thou, too, hast deeply sinne1d4 !”In this work, there is another important and striking character, Pearl. It is said more rightly and exactly that she is more of a s

36、ymbol than a character.On the one hand, Pearl, as the daughter of Hester and Dimmensdale, was a sign of disgrace. "TJWaeOhe scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life! 16 S”he had the same influence as the scarlet letter“ A” when Hesterstood on the gallow. She wanted t

37、o hide the scarlet letter with the baby(Pearl), moment, wisely hiding that one token of her shame would but poorly serve to hide another. 17”But on the other hand, Pearl was different from the scarlet letter“ A” .Shthe fruit of love and the only property Hester had.“see ye not, she is the scarletlet

38、ter only capableof being loved 18 J” ust because of the existence of Pearl, Hester gained plentiful power and courage to live better. Pearl was her only living hope.To Dimmensdale, she was a reminder of his sin. He loved her but much more frightened by her. “ I havbeeeevneanfraid of little pearl 19“

39、 That t” his dear child, tripping about always at thy side, hath caused me many an alarm2!0 Therefore, Pea” rl like a spirit, gave him happiness but more sadness and unforgiven guilt.To Chillingworth, she was an unforgettable shame. Every time he saw her, he thought of the adultery between Hester an

40、d Dimmensdale. And in order to save his face and “ dignity ” ,he took his revenge plan and got more and more power from the living letter“PeAa”rl.IV .Significance of”AMaybe someone will ask “ whyThhaedScarlet Letter been spread so widely and profoundly? ” It is because of not only his literary grace

41、 but of his style of writing, symbolism. Symbolism is a literary device with which the author deliberately make concrete objects evolved into some abstractions, usually moralistic or philosophical .It can make abstraction concrete, generality specific, ideology material. All of these features do con

42、tribute to the readers? comprehension and can let them accept to the characters easier.As regards using symbolism, there are at least three advantages. Firstly, symbolism can let the readers become imaginative and stimulate their interest.When Hester was forced to wear the scarlet letter“ A” ,some q

43、uestions may beraised in readers? minds. “ What does it stand for? ”“ Why must Hester wear the scarle letter? ”“ Who is the other sinner? ” ect. In order to find the answer, readers are willing to read further and become more and more carefully. And some of them will express their own ideas on thesy

44、mbol of “ A” . From then on, readers are attracted by this wonderful and moving love story.Secondly, the use of symbol can make the characters more lively and understandable. Let?s take Pearl for example. Pearl was a symbol of the living “ A” .She wnaosciennt, lovely, vigorous, but sometimes, she also had a few absurd ideas in her little mind ,like a spirit, especially her showing a great interesting in the meaning of “ A” .When the minister saw her, he was very glad at first and then frightened. In his eyes, she was a reminder