美国文学红字精讲.ppt

1、The Scarlet Letter,Nathaniel Hawthorne,Nathaniel Hawthorne,Life Experience Significance in American Literary History 1. Significant as a romantic writer 2. Significant for his themes 3. Significant for his style Important Works (4),Hawthornes Themes,the consequences of pride, selfishness, and secret

2、 guilt the conflict between lighthearted and somber attitudes toward life the impingement of past (esp. 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 uncons

3、cious fantasy and dream. at his best when dealing with sin, the New England past, and the supernatural.,Hawthornes Style,an anatomist of the heart: Psychological truth was more important than actual truth. He mingled the supernatural with the actual and developed analytic, psychological romanticism.

4、 using symbols and setting to reveal the psychology of the characters soft and flowing style; ambiguity (“or”),Important Works,Mosses From an Old Manse (1846,古屋青苔) House of the Seven Gables (1851,七个尖角阁的房子) The Blithedale Romance (1852,福谷传奇) The Marble Faun (1857,玉石雕像),The Five Elements of the Novel,

5、Setting Character Plot POV Theme,What is the setting of the story? What is special about the period in American history?,Setting -Time and Place,seventeenth century Boston, New England colony scaffold scenes are set in the market place meeting of Hester and Dimmesdale is set in the forest The novel

6、opens with a prison setting In short: seventeenth century, puritanical Boston What do Puritans believe?,Puritanism,Puritans believed good and evil were present in everyones soul. They were constantly fighting against each other. It was actually a battle between God and Satan. They searched external

7、events in life for moral meaning. They believed that the relationship of an individual to the community was an important concern.,What are the major and minor characters in the story?Can you say something about each of them? (What do they look like and What are their stories?),Major characters,Heste

8、r Prynne Arthur Dimmesdale Roger Chillingworth Pearl,Minor Characters,Governor Bellingham- the State John Wilson- the Church Mistress Hibbins- the supernatural What do they represent respectively?,Representations of Minor Characters,Governor Bellingham- the State John Wilson- the Church Mistress Hib

9、bins- the supernatural,Who is the protagonist(s) of the book? What is the antagonist? What is the conflict(s) between them?,Protagonists: Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, both bearers of the scarlet letter of adultery, one public and one private. Hester Prynne, the bearer of the scarlet letter i

10、n public, is the central character of the book. However, the suspense of the story revolves around Dimmesdale and his private mark of adultery. The antagonist is the effort to hide the identity of the male adulterer. The largest threat to Hester and Dimmesdales secret is Roger Chillingworth, Hesters

11、 husband. He wants to have his revenge on Hesters lover.,Can you find exposition, climax and denouement in the story?,Exposition: Chap 13 setting, characters and conflict Climax: The climax occurs at the second scaffold scene, when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, finally div

12、ulging his secret, but still in the darkness of night. Ironically, while standing there, Dimmesdale notices a large meteor in the sky that appears in the shape of the letter A. Chillingworth sees it as well, for he has been watching the three of them on the scaffold. Dimmesdales sin is a secret no m

13、ore; Chillingworth will have his revenge. Denouement: the third scaffold scene Is the ending a tragic one or a comic one?,Detailed Character Analysis -Hester,What words can you use to describe Hester and how are these qualities reflected? Explain the major changes that occur in Hesters life in the n

14、ovel. ( the changes in her way of life, her view of life, character and the representation of the scarlet letter) (as a sinner, as a mother, as a lover, as an ex-wife, as a member of the community),At the trial,Youthful, beautiful, passionate, spirited, proud and strong-willed, sinless motherhood Ch

15、ap2 P5.6: severity of the puritanical society and Hesters pride and beauty and sinless motherhood,After the trial: -As a SINNER,Penitent, no woman any more, social outcast, stronger, a thinker P90 91 echoing Chap1 P2 Ann Hutchinson,As a LOVER,Faithful and selfless,As an EX-WIFE,a woman who keeps her

16、 words never harbors any malice towards Chillingworth, whom she considers responsible for her defamation. If he had not deserted her, she would have remained his faithful wife. In the end, however, she even tells him that he has been wronged by her. Do Hester and Chillingworth have a loving relation

17、ship before H commits adultery? What makes H and D commit adultery?,As a MOTHER,loving and selfless mother dressing Pearl with the brightest colors suffering from the impishness of her daughter Chap8 P51 “She is my happiness. She is the torture. She is the scarlet letter. I will die first if you tak

18、e her.”,As a MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY,Sympathetic, charitable, a maternal figure to her community P88, 89, 90,The Changed Meaning of the Letter “A”,Adultery Able,What is the theme of the novel? Contrast Hesters scarlet letter with Dimmesdales scarlet letter.,Suggested Brief Answer,Unconfessed sin des

19、troys the soul. Hesters sin has been confessed. As its symbol, she wears the Scarlet Letter A. The sin does not destroy her inward spirit; instead, she gathers her strength and courage, and flourishes in spite of the Letter A. Dimmesdale does not confess his sin until it totally destroys him. He hid

20、es his adultery and fails to claim Pearl as his daughter; his punishment is guilt and self-condemnation, intensified by the torture of Chillingworth.,What was Hawthorne s attitude toward Dimmesdale? Do you think he sympathized with Dimmesdale in spite of his hypocrisy and cowardice?,Suggested Answer

21、,Though Dimmesdales weaknesses and faults are revealed, Hawthorne still paints a sympathetic picture of him. He makes Dimmesdale very human in his suffering; he also becomes pathetic in the hands of Chillingworth. As a result, the reader is made to feel sorry for him in spite of his sin and cowardic

22、e.,Hawthorne applied foreshadowing to indicate that Dimmesdale is Hesters fellow adulterer. Can you find any?,P23 Chillingworth He bears no letter of infamy wrought into his garment, as thou dost; I shall read it on his heart. Chap8 P 51 hand over his heart in the governors hall P52 Pearl claiming h

23、er father by laying her cheeks in his hand P57 health is failing P58 I need no medicine. And gesture of the hand has become a constant habit. P61 the tapestry in the room-David and Bathsheba (In the Old Testament, Bathsheba was the wife of Uriah, one o f King Davids warriors. While Uriah was at war,

24、 David saw Bathsheba bathing. Impressed by her beauty, he seduced her and she conceived a child. In order to make Bathsheba his wife, David successfully plotted to have Uriah killed in battle. David and Bathsheba were punished by the death of their first son. They had a second child Solomon who succ

25、eeded the throne to Judah and Israel.) P70 Cs discovery of sth. on Ds heart ChapXl P70 Interior of a Heart Chap12 The Ministers Vigil P78 standing on the scaffold, Mr. Dimmesdale was overcome with a great horror of mind, as if the universe were gazing at a scarlet token on his naked breast, right ov

26、er his heart. P82 Letter A in the sky pulling her hand away after D refuses to do so P84 “Thou are not bold. Thou are not true.”,Detailed Analysis 3,Chap19 P124-127 She forces her mother to put the letter back on her bosom.,Other Examples 1,How does she answer Wilsons question as to where she comes

27、from?,Key,Chap 8 P49 Answering Wilsons question “shes been plucked up by her mother off the wild rose bush that grew by the prison door” (Symbolism of rose P2),Other Examples 2,Chap 10 P67 throw prickly burrs at D who is greatly stirred; “come away, mother. Or yonder old Black Man will catch you! He

28、 hath got hold of the minister already!”,Other Examples 3,Chap15 green letter A P100 “It is the same reason that the minister keeps his hand over his heart” when asked by Hester if she knows why Hester wears the scarlet letter.,Other Examples 4,Chap16 P105 “The sunshine does not love you it runs awa

29、y and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on you bosom.” P106 “Didst thou ever meet the Black Man, mother?” P108 the Black Man sets its mark on the ministers heart,How is her childhood different from other childrens? (What incidences show that Pearl is a born outcast?),Display signs of w

30、ildness, rebellion, and freedom- impish daughter. (Chap6 35, 36) solitary life Happiest in nature-alienation from the world of humans only strengthens her union with Nature. (Chap6 P43 snatching up stones at the Puritan children; always creating enemy and playing battle games) Happy child, secure in

31、 her mothers love.,Explain Pearls nature as a child with tender feelings.,Chap 6 P36 “This rarely happened she would be convulsed with a rage of grief and sob out her love for her mother in broken words.showing she has a heart by breaking it. Yet Hester was hardly safe in confiding herself to that g

32、usty tenderness: it passed as suddenly as it came.” Chap8 P52 Pearl lays her cheeks against Ds hands, thanks him for speaking for her. Chapl9 after H put her letter back to her bosom, P kisses her and the scarlet letter.,Is Pearl transformed into a normal child at last? If yes, what marks her transf

33、ormation?,Pearl is transformed at the end of the novel when Dimmesdale stands with her on the scaffold and makes his confession. It is obvious the child has yearned for his love and acceptance in the open. When he asks her for a kiss this time, she willingly gives it. Her sense of human identity is established in her acceptance of Dimmesdales paternity. As a result, she cries with real human emotion for the first time in the book. (Ch