The Scarlet Letter红字分析鉴赏

1、徐千 2011521065 郑小莉 2011521046 周舒珊 2011521061 叶森培 2011521057,contents,The brief introduction of Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter The Scarlet Letter and Puritanism Biblical Prototypes in The Scarlet Letter Conclusion,r. Heideggers Experiments,(18041864),4,Born July 4, 1804,entered Bowdoin Col

2、lege in 1821,first work Fanshawe, in 1828,marrying Sophia Peabody in 1842,Scarlet Letter in 1850,Died May 19, 1864,Biography:,5,A family with a long Puritan tradition His father, a ship captain, died of yellow fever at sea when Nathaniel was only four. His mother became overly protective and pushed

3、him toward relatively isolated pursuits. Hawthornes childhood left him shy and bookish, which molded his life as a writer.,Family Background:,6,American novelist Short story writer A central figure in the American Renaissance Greatest Romance writer Pioneering psychological novelist Moral novelist,I

4、dentity :,7,Style typical romantic writer,a man of literary craftsmanship，extraordinary in,the use of symbol,the use of ambiguity,revelation of characters psychology,the use of supernatural,The symbol serves as a weapon to attack reality. It can be found everywhere in his writing,to keep the reader

5、in the world of uncertainty multiple point of view,Major Works :o f moral choices. 1. The Scarlet Letter红字 2. The House of the Seven Gables七个尖角阁的房子 3. The Blithedale Romance福谷传奇 4. The Marble Faun 玉石雕像 5. Twice-Told Tales 故事重述 6. Snow Image and Other Stories雪人及其他故事重述,Hawthornes influence,He was a ma

6、jor American writer and the greatest writer living in the 19th century. He was regarded as a pioneer of psychological novelist and a master of symbolism. With the publication of The Scarlet Letter, he secured his position in the literary history forever, and he influenced many writers in his time an

7、d later generations, such as Herman Melville, Henry James, William Dean Howells and William Faulkner etc.,Criticism,“Nathaniel Hawthornes reputation as a writer is very pleasing fact, because his writing is not good for anything, and this is a tribute to the man. ”-Ralph Waldo Emerson “The fine thin

8、g in Hawthorne is that he cared for the deeper psychology, and that, in his way, he tried to become familiar with it.”-Henry James,Puritanism influenced Hawthorne greatly. The spirit of Puritanism could be seen in nearly all his works, such as evil, Calvin system, and spiritualization and so on play

9、ed an important role in almost all his works.,Hawthornes points of view and subject (1),a. He seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil all his life. He had a black vision of life and human beings. In almost every book he wrote, he discussed sin and evil. Evil exists in the human heart (“Ear

10、ths Holocaust浩劫”) Everyone possesses some evil secret (“Young Goodman Brown”) Everyone seems to cover up his innermost evil (“The Ministers Black Veil”) Evil seems to be mans birthmark胎记. (The Birthmark),b. To Hawthorne sin will get punished. The House of the Seven Gables is an appalling fictional v

11、ersion of Hawthornes belief that the “wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive ones.” (一代的恶行会延续至后代） c. One source of evil that Hawthorne was concerned most is overreaching intellect. His intellectual characters are usually villains罪犯, dreadful because devoid缺乏 of fellow feeling.,Hawth

12、ornes points of view and subject (2),d. He complained about “the poverty of materials” in America. He took a great interest in history and antiquity. e. Because of “the poverty of materials” and his Puritan prudence节俭, he was convinced that romance was the predestined注定的 form of American Narratives.

13、 Many of his works are inspired by Puritan New England.,The Scarlet Letter,It is a full-length novel . The theme of the novel is the colonial times two hundred years ago. It exposes the cruelty of Social statute , the deception欺诈 of religious and the hypocrisy of moral in 19th century.,Main characte

14、rs,a. Hester Prynne 海丝特白兰 b. Arthur Dimmesdale 阿瑟丁梅斯代尔 c. Roger Chillingworth 罗杰奇灵沃斯 d. Pearl 珠儿,The Scarlet Letter and Puritanism,The Puritans were a group of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries, including, but not limited to, English Calvinists. Puritanism in this sense was founded

15、by John Calvin from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England.,Christianity,Catholics,Protestants,Calvinists,Methodists,Anglicans,Baptists,Puritans,Hawthome was born in a declining noble family in Salem, Massachuset

16、ts, New England. Salem, his hometown, has ever been the place where Puritanism forces were rampant and several generations of his ancestors were fanatic Puritans; therefore, the Puritanism thought has a deep-rooted effect on Hawthome.,The novel The Scarlet Letter by Hawthome reflects the Calvinistic

17、 thought of Original Sin. It also expresses Hawthomes devout and doubtful attitude to ethics and morality of Puritanism.,Hester Prynne was a woman who committed adultery, which is representation of the evil of human nature, and cannot be accepted by the society at that time and Puritans. Hester betr

18、ayed her husband and went against the principle of honesty on Puritan, so she must accept the severe punishment in the Puritan society at that time.,Hawthorne deeply gave the heroine infinite sympathy because she couldn t enjoy real love, happiness and normal life while he described the atonement of

19、 Hester, which represents Hawthome s resentment to the fact that Puritanism constrains the human nature .,“We have wronged each other, mine was the first wrong, when I betrayed thy budding youth into a false and unnatural relation with my decay .” “我们彼此都让对方受了委屈,是我先委屈了你，我把你含苞的青春同我这朽木错误地、不自然地嫁接在一起，从而断

20、送了你。“,Dimmesdale was selfish and false, and lived in the contradictory and misery state accompanying by the criminal psychology. He was straggling on the edge of the spirit and the flesh coming breakdown, and he was beat and lashed by the so called articles of religion“the gory whip at every moment,

21、 which caused him not to get peace even for a moment.,It must be considered that he continued to be engaged in the pure mission of a priest with the criminal body should be a great affront（冒犯） to God and a deception to the followers. Eventually, Dimmesdale told the secret in mind with divine courage

22、,henceforth, he obtains peaceful and the newborn of spirit. At the end of the novel, he died tragically in confession and atonement and became a victim in religious monasticism(修道院生活方式) .,Chillingworth, as a victim was turned into a mischief-maker, even a more severe sinner. He is calm on the surfac

23、e, but is wicked in mind, and when he knew his wifes unchastity（不贞）, he was filled with revengeful ideas in his mind.,He depended on wisdom to become a demon by himself for seven years; he stayed in the same room with Dimmesdale cunningly to ravage and wreck the pained heart, and he took this as the

24、 goal of the living, and then he tormented Dimmesdale by means of wicked and masterly measures to gobble up his soul and had reached the extremely ruthless degree.,May God forgive us both! We are not, Hester, the worst sinners in the world. There is one worse than even the polluted priest! That old

25、mans revenge has been blacker than my sin. He has violated, in cold blood, the sanctity of a human heart. Thou and I, Hester, never did so! ”愿上帝饶恕我们俩吧！海丝特，我们并不是世上最坏的罪人。还有一个人，甚至比受到玷污的教士还要坏！那老人的复仇比我的罪过更见不得人。他阴险地凌辱一颗神圣不可侵犯的心灵。你和我，海丝特，从来没干过这种事！”,For Pearl，likewise, this character hints Hawthomes skeptic

26、 feeling to Puritanism. Firstly，on the costumes（服装）, she disobeyed the requirements in Puritanisms homespun wearing, and worn the bright and glittering “Bizarre(奇异的) dress” by Hester. Secondly, for herself-willed and her inclinations in nature, she is secure from any restraint from the religious rit

27、uals, which made her mother to consider that she should be a girl from the other world.,She should be a flower, a sunlight, and is bright and with dazzling brightness in the gloomy and dark society ruled by Puritanism. Pearl herself should be a living witness of Hesters guilt and a living scarlet le

28、tter. But the fresh and free life of Pearl described by Hawthome became a kind of symbol to current Puritanism society. At the end of the novel, Pearl left England to Europe, which announced an affirmation from the author that Pearl would be unable to obtain happiness in the strict and severe Purita

29、nism society.,The painstaking description of the main characters in the work also reflects Hawthornes inner character,and is the reflection of his personal views in ethics and moral. Hawthome shows doubt to religions kindness and is unwilling to give up bondage of creed.,Biblical Prototypes in The S

30、carlet Letter Many scholars have pointed out that Adam and Eve were the hero and heroine, Dimmesdale and Hesters biblical prototypes. Human ancestors degenerate because of a longing for knowledge, while Dimmesdale and Hester fall because of the pursuit of love. They all commit original sins.,The Bib

31、le begins with the first book of Genesis. Before Eves created, everything goes easy in the Garden of Eden. After she shows up, the obedient Adam has started to stir and the embodiment of devil, the snake, appears. On this occasion, Eve is inconsistent with the Garden of Eden. But why did God create

32、her?,At that time, Adam was just the accessory of God or the object of the nature world, he could barely know himself, because there was nothing but deities and objects. There was no human being who could be his mirror. So Eve was sent to the Garden of Eden.,Eve ultimately failed to resist the tempt

33、ation from the snake and ate the forbidden fruit, and she persuaded Adam to do so. Adam did, and then he found out that he was not an object in nature and he had the ability to tell right from wrong.,This indicates that the state that the blending of human and nature in the Garden of Eden came to an

34、 end. If there was no betrayal of Eve, people may never have self-awareness. Eves degenerate gave Adam the power to tell right from wrong and made him a real human being. So Eve is the mother of degraded intelligent human, is the source of life.,Hester walked into Dimmesdales life with the same sacr

35、ed mission. Like Eve essentially doesnt belong to the Garden of Eden, Hester essentially doesnt belong to Boston where religious influence is significant to people. Shes passionate, bold and rebellious. Her arrival brakes the peace of the land and predicts the coming of sin. Before Dimmesdale met He

36、ster, his life was peaceful. Everyday he repeated preaching. He had no life goals. He couldnt know the real happiness of life. He was just a tool for the upper class of the religion to take control of the lower class. So we can see that, Dimmesdale seems like he only has a human body but doesnt have

37、 a heart. Hes just like Adam before eating the forbidden fruit.,With the arrival of Hester, Dimmesdales humanity begins to germinate. He finally experiences the happiness from love. He finally understands the meaning of life. Hester is the one who gives Dimmesdale vitality and helps him to be a man

38、who can be able to feel. In this case, Hester is the incarnation of Eve, the source of life. Here are some sentences that prove it. At chapter 18, A Flood of Sunshine, Hester persuades Dimmesdale to flee from Boston with her and little Pearl. After some thinking, he agrees. And he says,“ O Hester, t

39、hou art my better angel! I seem to have flung myself-sick, sin-strained, and sorrow-blackened-down upon these forest-leaves, and to have risen up all made anew, and with new powers to glorify Him that hath been merciful! This is already the better life! Why did we not find it sooner?” “啊！赫斯特你真是我的好天使

40、！我原来似乎已把自己的身子- 那多病、罪孽玷污以及由于悲伤而受到损害的身子- 抛在这林中的落叶上了，可再站起来时却焕然一新了，有了新的力量去赞美慈悲的上帝！这已经是更美好的生活了！为什么我们没有早发现呢？”,At chapter 23 The Revelation of the Scarlet Letter, when he stands upon the platform of the pillory, he tells people he is the one who commits adultery with Hester. “At last! At last! I stand upon

41、 the spot where, seven years since, I should have stood; here, with this woman, whose arm, more than the little strength wherewith I have crept hitherward, sustains me, at this dreadful moment, from groveling down upon my face!” “我终于- 终于站到七年前便应该站的地方来了。跟这个女人站在这里了，现在正是她以那比我爬到这里来的绵薄力量大一些的力量，在这可怕的时刻支撑着我

42、，使我不至于扑面摔倒在地。”,After eating the forbidden fruit, God asks Eve what she has done, Eve answered, “The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.” Like Eve, Hester admits what she has done directly and she would never tell people the name of Pearls father. Shes willing to protect Dimmesdale from being hurt. W

43、e can see her unyielding attitude towards life through this case.,As for Adam, when God asks him whether he has eaten of the tree, he says, “the woman who thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat.” It seems like Adam doesnt directly admit the mistake he made. Hes kind of bla

44、ming Eve for giving him the apple. Dimmesdales just like Adam, hes too cowardly to admit his sin.,Because Adam and Eve eat the apple of the tree of knowledge, God punishes them. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children;

45、 and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.,And onto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree of which I commanded thee, saying, thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of

46、it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field”,Like Adam and Eve, Dimmesdale and Hester also get punished. In both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering.,Hester is compelled to stand only a space of three hours on

47、 the platform of the pillory and thereafter to wear the mark of shame- the infamous letter A upon her bosom, to move to the edge of the community, and worst of all, to be alienated from the society. She was expelled to the outskirts of Boston. In this sense, Hester has been expelled from her paradis

48、e like Eve who is driven out of the Paradise God provides. She sins, and according to traditional Puritanism, this act shuts her off forever from Paradise.,Unlike Hester who is damned by society, Dimmesdale is damned by himself. He is too cowardly to stand with Hester and their daughter, openly admi

49、ts his sin, and accepts the punishment. Therefore, for the most part, he suffers from a spiritual ostracism because he remains fully a part of the society, continuing to preach sermons and maintaining his congregants respect. The more people show their respect, the more hes suffering. Furthermore, a

50、s a great servant of God, he is obligatory to tell the truth, but he doesnt. In addition, hes been tortured by the evil-minded revenger Chillingworth.,Once Hester asks him, “The people reverence thee, and surely thou wokest good among them! Doth this bring thee no comfort?” “人们尊敬你是你为他们做了好事！这一点不能给你安慰

51、吗？”,“More misery, Hester! -Only the more misery! As concerns the good which I may appear to do, I have no faith in it. It must needs to be a delusion. What can a ruined soul, like mine, effect towards the redemption of other souls? -or a polluted soul, towards their purification? And as for the peop

52、les reverence, would that it were turned to scorn an hatred! ” “赫斯特，这使我更痛苦- 只有更痛苦！至于说我似乎做了善事，我是不相信的，那肯定是欺骗。像我这样一个灵魂毁灭了的人还能在拯救别人的灵魂上起什么作用吗？或者说，一个污染了的灵魂还能使别人的灵魂精华吗？至于人们对我的尊敬，我但愿它变为轻蔑和憎恨！,Canst thou deem it, Hester, a consolation, that I must stand up in my pulpit, and meet so many eyes turned upward t

53、o my face, as if the light of heaven were beaming from it! -must see my flock hungry for the truth, and listening to my words as if a tongue of Pentecost were speaking. and then look inward, and discern the black reality of what they idolize? I have laughed, in bitterness and agony of heart, at the

54、contrast between what I seem and what I am! And Satan laughs at it!”,我必须站在我的布道坛上，接受那么多望着我脸孔的眼睛，似乎天国之光就是从那儿发出来的一样！我还必须看着我那渴求真理的教区会众，而他们倾听我的话，就像倾听五旬节火舌在说话一样-然后，我再看看自己的内心，看看他们所崇拜的偶像的丑恶真像，赫斯特，你能认为，这是一种安慰吗？我在内心痛苦和烦恼的时候，曾为我的表里不一而暗自发笑！撒旦也对此感到可笑！”,The interior remorse and the exterior torture along with the

55、 inability to confess his sinful act of passion lead to the psychological and physical destruction of the hypocritical minister.,According to Northrop Frye, theres a biblical U-Shaped circulation which starts from paradise to crimes to suffering to repentance to salvation. The bible stories always r

56、each a happy ending after those tragic suffering, so Frye calls Bible a divine comedy. This also happens in The Scarlet Letter. But the ending is mixed with happiness and pain.,Although Hester has suffered a lot, her sin doesnt lead her to degenerate. On the contrary, it leads her to a moral growth.

57、 She intends to do good for the colony that once banishes her, more for her clear conscience than for the purpose to return to the society. In sorrow and seclusion Hester grows stronger. Her charity to the poor, her comfort to the broken-hearted, her brave presence in times of trouble are the direct

58、 result of her search for salvation.,As for Dimmesdale, after 7-year psychological torture, he decides to tell people the truth, and let people see the scarlet letter A which is imprinted in his flesh. After doing so, hes relieved from the torture.,Why is the ending painful? Because, they have decid

59、ed to flee from Boston by ship after the Election Sermon. But what happened is that after Dimmesdale tells people the truth, he dies. And Hester will never live the life she has always wanted to.,Hawthornes contradictory perspective of religion and pessimistic attitude towards life make him doesnt put a happy ending between Dimmesdale and Hester. But in the book, he has already creates a Garden of Eden of their own in that city fulfilled with gloomy religious at