1、An AnalysisOn the Symbolism of The Scarlet Letter ByLEI LIA thesis presented to School of Continuing Studies of middle schoolIn partial fulfillment of the requirementsFor the degree ofBachelor ofArtsDEC.8th, 2015CHENG JIAO MIDDLE SCHOOLAbstractThis thesis is going to discuss the Hawthorne and his wo
2、rk the scarlet letter by analyses to the characters, and also tells us the deep exploration into the symbolism of “A” in The Scarlet Letter. It has different symbolic meanings to different characters.Table of ContentsI. Introduction.1II. Historical background of the scarlet.1III. Plot arrangement of
3、 The Scarlet Letter.2IV. Characterization of the main figurers in the novel3V. An exploration into the symbolic meanings of the letter “A” .55.1 “A” a monument to Hester Prynne.55.2 “A” a symbol of shame to Dimmesdale.85.3 “A” a stimulus of revenge to Chillingworth95.4 “A” a love fruit to Pearl105.5
4、 “A” a mirror to people around Hester Prynne.12VI. Hawthornes Motif and The Scarlet Letter “A” .12VII. Conclusion.14Reference.151I. IntroductionAnyone who has studied the history of American literature knows about Nathaniel Hawthorne, a great American romantic writer in the 19th century. His short s
5、tories and novels are among the best that America has produced. He is a pious christen, and is deeply influenced by the theology. He is so much indulged in the book. After reading the scarlet letter, one is mostly impressed by the spirit of The Bible the story depicted. This novel discusses sin and
6、how to a tone for it. So the Puritan punishment of sexual sin becomes the vehicle for his best novel The Scarlet Letter. This novel enjoys high prestige among the romantic novels and is generally looked on as Hawthornes masterpiece and the most representative work.（ ChangYaoxin，2003 ）In The Scarlet
7、Letter, Hawthorne develops a type of Romanticism through the use of symbols is the letter “A”, which is used to entitle the novel. The story begins with “A”, and ends with “A”. “A” is the main thread that links the whole story. It coexists with the rising and falling of their fate. In this novel, “A
8、” is not only a specific symbolic object but also the reflection of the authors thought. It shows the authors profound ideas towards the social morality and life. It is different symbols of different things to different characters.II. Historical background of The Scarlet LetterThe majority of Hawtho
9、rnes work takes Americans Puritan past as its subject, but The Scarlet Letter uses the material to greatest effect. The Puritans were a group of religious reformers who arrived in Massachusetts in the 1630s under the leadership of 2John Winthrop whose death is recounted in the novel. The religious s
10、ect was known for its intolerance of dissenting ideas and lifestyles.（ Qun Li，1990）Hawthorne wrote at a time when American sought to distinguish itself from centuries of European tradition by producing uniquely “American” writer-those who, like Hawthorne, would encourage patriotism by enlarging the
11、worlds sense of Americas comparatively brief history. But Hawthorne, like the narrator, had to balance the need to establish a weighty past with the equally compelling need to write and interesting and relevant story. Neither the narrator nor Hawthorne wants to see his work pigeonholedas “only” Amer
12、ican. The tale of The Scarlet Letter may add to the legitimacy of American history and culture, but in order to do so it must transcend its Americanness and establish a universal appeal: only then can American culture hold its own in world.（ Liang Huanqiang，2006）III. Plot arrangement of The Scarlet
13、LetterThe story begins in 17th century Boston. Then is a Puritan settlement. Hester Prynne was a woman who was led from the town prison with her illegal infant daughter, Pearl. Hester Prynne was found guilty of having been adulterous and was sentenced to wear a Scarlet Letter to show her sin. Hestre
14、rs husband is a scholar much older than her. She is sent her ahead to American, but he never arrived in Boston. The reason is that he has been lost in the sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester has a love affair with a young minister Arthur Dimmesdale. Hesters husband, who is now practicing medi
15、cine and calling himself Roger Chfillngworth, intended on revenge. For 3the reason why he wants to reveal the true criminal. By hiding his secret, he does not allow himself to be read by others. However, he appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious heart trouble, seemingly caused by psy
16、chological distress. This secret does not flee from the terrible perception of Hesters husband, Chillingworth making use of his profession. He destroys Dimmesdale step by step until death and in the story Chillingworth changes from a victim into a devil. In the meantime, Hester acquires a real signi
17、ficance when she reestablishes a meaningful relationship with her fellowmen. Symbolic of moral development is the gradual, imperceptible change which The Scarlet Letter undergoes in meaning.IV. Characterization of the main figuresThere are four main characters in the novel are Hester Prynne, Pearl,
18、Arthor Dimmesdale, and Roger Chillingworth.Hester Prynne: the young woman was tall, with a figure 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 rich
19、ness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. She was ladylike, too, after the manner of the feminine gentility of those days. Characterized by a certain state and dignity, she is also a kindness woman because of helping the poor and sick, when Mr. Wilsio
20、n demands Hester speak out that mans name, and may avail to take the scarlet letter off Hester breast. Hester Prynne thinks it is so deeply branded that nobody can not take it off, and would that Hester endures that mans, as well as her. We can see that she also a strong woman and 4kindhearted woman
21、. She would rather hurt herself than hurt her beloved. She is oppressed by the sin, at the same time creates a kind of revolt spirit.Arthur Dimmesdale: he is a young minister who is on the very proudest eminence of superiority, to which the gifts of intellect, rich lore, prevailing eloquence, and a
22、reputation of whitest sanctity, could exalt a clergyman in New Englands earliest days, when the professional character was of itself a lofty pedestal. But he was timid and over-cautious disposition. He is a pious follower in the high position of religious. He is also a slave to religious. When Heste
23、r Prynne wants to escape with Dimmesdale, at the beginning, Dimmesdale feels fear, to the end his mental disorder. In fact, he has no courage to face his truth love. That is to say, his character is full of humid.Chillingworth: he is Hester Prynnes husband. Hes a devil of puritan. The greatest chara
24、cter in Chillingworth is hypocrisy and cruel. He was small in stature, with a furrowed visage, which, as yet, could hardly be termed aged. There was a remarkable intelligence in his features, as of a person who had so cultivated his mental part that it could not fail to mould the physical to itself.
25、 Seemingly, HE IS HONEST TO Dimmesdale, but in fact, he likes a serpent to harass the minister. That is a shame which makes him crazy.Pearl: she is daughter of Hester and Dimmsdale. Hester gives a name price-purchased with all she had her mothers only treasure. Certainly, there was no physical defec
26、t. By its perfect shape, its vigor, and its natural dexterity. In the use of all its untried limbs, the infant was worth to have been brought forth in Eden; worthy to have been left there, to be the playing of the angels after the worlds first parents were 5driven out. She inherits her mothers chara
27、cter: the warfare of Hesters spirit, at that epoch, was perpetuated in Pearl. She could recognize her wild, desperate, defiant mood, the flightiness of her temper, and even some of the very cloud-shapes of gloom and despondency that had brooded in her heart. To some extent, she is also a pillar of h
28、er mothers alive. She he letter “A”, which is used to the novel, is the most important symbol throughout the novel. It acts as a red thread linking the four main characters together from beginning to the end.V. An exploration into the symbolic meanings of the letter “A”5.1 “A”, a Monument to Hester
29、PrynneThe most apparent meaning of the letter “A” is adultery; it is regarded as the symbol of the shame wore on the heroine Heater Prynnes bosom.The novel tells a story that happened in the seventeenth century Boston. In such an environment, peoples thought is dominated by Puritanism. Hester Prynne
30、, the young lady who was tall, with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale, is discovered of the sin of adultery. She does not reveal the of her childs father. In accordance with the current Puritan moral law, she is sentenced to an unusual punishment of wearing the scarlet letter “A”, which
31、stands for adultery on her bosom the rest of her life. So she is ridiculed and humiliated by the whole society for her sin.As it is described in chapter two, when Hester Prynne is brought from jail to the towns public square, all the people, men and woman, old and young are talking about her symbol
32、of shame, the scarlet letter and cursing her sin. She perchance undergoes an agony from every footstep of those thronged to see her, as if her heart has been flung 6into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon. Then she is punished to stand on the platform of the scaffold for three hours.
33、Can you imagine such a picture, a lonely woman standing on the scaffold, with a symbol of shame of the scarlet letter “A” on her bosom, with spectators all around her, with infamy threatens lingering to her ears? Even at that moment, the does not tell whom her lover is. “I might endure his agony, as
34、 well as mine.”From then on, Hester Prynne has to keep herself aloof from the society. She moves to a small cottage on the outskirt of the town and lives with her child alone. The treatment of Hester reaches a low point. She is tormented with the letter which she endures all the time. The torture co
35、mes not only from the outer society, but also from her daughter. Sometime the infant puts up her little hand grasping at the letter. Hester would grasp for breath, clutched the fatal token, and instinctively endeavors to tear it away, so infinite is the torture inflicted by the intelligent touch of
36、Pearls baby-hand. Hester has never felt a moments safety except when the child is asleep. When Pearl grows up , once she gathers handful of wild-flowers to fling them one by one at her mothers bosom. Flowers invariably hit the mark and covering the mothers breast with hurts for which she could find
37、no balm in this world, nor know how to seek it in another. Even after the get-together with Dimmesdale in the forest and even if the longing for the love and happy life cannot make her escape from the fate, she is forced to wear the scarlet letter again after she throws it away.Although Hester Prynn
38、e must be accompanied by the scarlet letter “A” and has to endure the sufferings all the time, she never yielded to the harsh society. She despises 7the token in her own way.She embroiders the letter “A” in fine red cloth and surrounds it with gold thread wearing it as a gorgeous decoration. Her ski
39、ll at needlework, shown in such a fine way that she displayed the scarlet letter, allows her to maintain a fairly stable lifestyle. She names her daughter, the consequence of adultery, Pearl, because she is her mothers only treasure. She lives simply with the sole exception being that she creates am
40、azing dresses of dine fabrics for Pearl. Hesters attitude towards the scarlet letter and her child show her strong resistance to the Puritan morality and the loyalty to genuine love.Hester spends her time working on the projects, which bring in her income, and devotes the remainder of her work to cr
41、eating garments for the poor. Although she is treated to poorly that often preachers will stop in the street and starts to deliver a lecture as she walks by, she still appears among them and devotes herself to helping the poor and the sick. Hesters nature showed itself warmness and richness, a well-
42、spring of human tenderness, unfailing to every real demand, and inexhaustible by the largest. Hesters reputation had changed over the seven years since she had Pearl. Her devotion to serving the sick and needy has given her access to almost every home. Through all the things she has done, Hesters ev
43、er guilty soul has been saved and sublimated.Her rare capacity and good nature extend the symbolism of the scarlet letter. Elsewhere the token of the sin, it is the taper of the sick-chamber. The letter is the symbol of her calling. The letter has the effect of the cross on a nuns bosom. Such helpfulness is found in her that many people refuse to interpret the scarlet letter “A” by
