英语专业--试析《红字》的女主人公.doc

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1、AcknowledgementI would like to express my sincere gratitude to all those who helped me during the writing of the thesis.My deepest gratitude goes first and foremost to Ms. Zhang Fengwei, my supervisor, for her constant encouragement and guidance. Without her illuminating instruction, insightful crit

2、icism and guidance, the completion of this thesis would not have been possible.Second, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Ms. Han Ximiao, who led me into the world of literature. I am also greatly indebted to the professors and teachers at the Department of Foreign Languages, from who

3、se devoted teaching and enlightening lectures I have benefited a lot and academically prepared for the thesis.Last my thanks would go to my beloved family for their loving considerations and great confidence in me all through these years. I also owe my sincere gratitude to my friends and my fellow c

4、lassmates who gave me their help and helped me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis. AbstractNathaniel Hawthorne (18041864), a novelist and short story writer, is an important figure in the history of American literature. The scarlet letter, Hawthornes masterpiece, tells a

5、simple and dramatic story. It was very popular and widely read. It has been considered to be the most famous work of Hawthorne. As for the heroine Hester Prynne who suffered humiliation in this novel, some think that she possesses a courage which dares to rebel. Some hold that Hester is the weak who

6、 submits to fate. This paper attempts to analyze the compromise and rebellion of Hester Prynne and the reasons of dual character of Hester Prynne. This thesis mainly consists of four chapters. The first chapter is an introduction. The second chapter mainly focuses on the dual character of Hester Pry

7、nne which includes compromise and rebellion. The third chapter touches on the reasons of dual character of Hester Prynne from the perspectives of reasons of Hester Prynnes compromise and reasons of Hester Prynnes rebellion. The fourth chapter is a conclusion. Keywords: Hester Prynne, compromise, reb

8、ellion, reason 摘 要纳撒尼尔霍桑（1804-1864）作为美国小说家以及短篇小说作家，是美国文学史上的一个重要人物。他的代表作红字讲述了一个简单而又富有戏剧性的故事,但却是一部非常流行并被广泛阅读的小说，被认为是霍桑最著名的作品。对于小说中的这位饱受凌辱的女主人公海斯特白兰，一些人认为她具有一种敢于反抗的勇气；一些人则认为她是屈从命运的弱者。这篇论文主要分析海斯特的妥协性和反抗性这一双重性格以及它形成的原因。本文主要由四章构成。第一章是简介。第二章论述了海斯特妥协性与反抗性并存的双重性格。第三章从构成海斯特的妥协性和反抗性的两种性格的原因角度论述了海斯特双重性格形成的根源。第四

9、章是结论。关键词：海斯特白兰，妥协性，反抗性，原因Outline I Introduction 1 II Dual Character of Heroine Hester Prynne.22.1 Hester Prynnes Compromise.2 2.2 Hester Prynnes Rebellion.4 III Reasons of Dual Character of Hester Prynne.8 3.1 Reasons of Hester Prynnes Compromise.8 3.2 Reasons of Hester Prynnes Rebellion.9IV Conclus

10、ion.10Bibliography.12An Analysis of the Heroine of the Scarlet LetterI Introduction Nathaniel Hawthorne (18041864), a novelist and short story writer, is an important figure in the history of American literature. He attended Bowdoin College (18211824). In the school his friends included Longfellow a

11、nd Franklin Pierce, who became the 14th president of the United States. As is well known, whatever society it is, especially the class society, it is full of conflicts. Nathaniel Hawthorne who lived in the 19th century in America possessed a deeply Puritan consciousness and New England Transcendenta

12、lism. This kind of background determined that Hawthorne was a suspicious person. He realized that Puritanism had greatly suppressed the human nature and brought destruction to peoples life, but he could not get rid of such cultural traditions which influenced him imperceptibly. Hawthornes best-known

13、 works include The Scarlet Letter and The House of The Seven Gables. Of the two famous works, The Scarlet Letter was very popular and widely read. It has been considered to be the most famous work of Hawthorne. This novel tells the story of Hester Prynne who has a baby after adultery with a young pa

14、stor and leads a new life. The heroine Hester of The Scarlet Letter possesses a dual character of rebellion and compromise because of Hawthornes background and the Puritan community of the day. The Scarlet Letter arouses more and more interests and attentions from generation to generation because of

15、 its poetic language, its fluent words and its keen psychological analysis, etc. As for the heroine Hester Prynne who suffered humiliation in this novel, some think that she possesses a courage which dares to rebel. Some hold that Hester is the weak who submits to fate. This paper attempts to analyz

16、e the compromise and rebellion of Hester Prynne and the reasons of dual character of Hester Prynne. This thesis mainly consists of four chapters. The first chapter is an introduction. The second chapter mainly focuses on the dual character of Hester Prynne which includes compromise and rebellion. Th

17、e third chapter touches on the reasons of dual character of Hester Prynne from the perspectives of reasons of Hester Prynnes compromise and reasons of Hester Prynnes rebellion. The fourth chapter is a conclusion. II Dual Character of Heroine Hester Prynne2.1 Hester Prynnes Compromise.The heroine Hes

18、ter Prynne was a young and beautiful woman. She had an affair with someone unknown to the community she lived in. Because she had married to an old man Roger Chillingworth, Hesters behavior was considered to be adultery. Under the pressure of the Puritan community Hester presented her compromise on

19、one side. Firstly, it was such a community that compelled Hester Prynne to wear a scarlet letter as punishment for giving birth to an illegitimate child. The first and most obvious is that Hesters “A” stands for adultery which means womens frailty and sinful passion. At the beginning of the novel, e

20、veryone around Hester saw that she was pregnant and that she gave birth to a child who then lived by her side. The child was a reminder of what she was and had done in public eyes. Hester obeyed people living in the community and wore “A” on the breast of her gown. That means she had compromised wit

21、h the society on this matter. She felt ashamed of her behaviors. This can be seen in the way she wore “A” on her breast to show herself to the community. She dressed in gray and dark color: There seemed to be no longer anything in Hesters face for love to dwell upon; nothing in Hesters form, though

22、majestic and statue-like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace; nothing in Hesters bosom to make it ever again the pillow of Affection. (Hawthorne 158)Secondly, Hester shows her compromise by her failure to completely achieve her pursuit for happiness and love. The North America

23、colonial society in the 17th century, where Hester lived in, was dominated by the religious theocracy, gradually poisoning humans spirit like opium. Even though Hester had a strong desire to pursue a happy life, the restriction of the religious belief forced her compromise. Deep down her heart, Hest

24、er admitted the sacred love with Dimmesdale, at the same time she deemed herself to have violated the religious doctrines. The letter “A” she was always wearing showed that the others were all sinners if she was a sinner, but she tried to consider herself as the greatest sinner. The occasionally enc

25、ounter with Dimmesdale brought her momentary relief, but soon after that she was filled up with regrets and sins again. To break down the captivity of the ingrained religious doctrines, Hester had endeavored to change her life, however, eventually all her attempts had been proved to be in vain, trap

26、ping herself in the huge suffocating invisible net and struggling to death.Thirdly, now that she can not get rid of the sense of guilt, as well as she believes the existence of God, she has to fear the punishment of God upon her, especially upon her only babyPearl. Every day she anxiously watched he

27、r child who grew up gradually. And she was afraid of finding a gloomy or wild personality on Pearl. Hesters fear was consistent with the sin because of giving the birth of the baby. Although she dreamily realized the root of womens liberation that is to overthrow the whole social system, Hester mist

28、akenly believed that her misfortune was caused by her own behaviors. She did not fully believe in religion. And she even denied religious law. However, she hoped her daughter to become a devout Christian. It seems that as long as Pearl strictly acted in accordance with the Puritan laws, Pearl could

29、avoid the same fate as her own one.2.2 Hester Prynnes RebellionEven though she shows her compromise under the pressure of the Puritan community, Hester does not submit to fate and never shows regrets for what she has done. She shows her rebellion well. Firstly, Hester has a passionate and loyal love

30、 to her lover Dimmesdale. Hester as an abstract scarlet letter came from a humble background. Her parents were impoverished but honest. She heard no more of her husband after he stayed in England two years ago. So Hester chose to fall in love with Dimmesdale. And also Hester believed that her love f

31、or Dimmesdale was just and reasonable. Love was humanitys instinct. However, the Christian culture of the day denied this. According to Christ religious doctrine, a serpent tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. Then Adam and Eve started to understand the love and rep

32、roduced human beings by themselves without Gods creation. That itself was an original sin. So as for extramarital relationships between Hester and her lover, people thought it violated the seventh commandment of Christian. Therefore, almost all of people in the community considered her as a sinful w

33、oman because of her love for Dimmesdale. Thankfully, though, Hester was lonely in the community without anyone to rely on, she was spiritually strong and had the willpower. It is believed that Hester is really admirable because of her perseverance with love and unswerving loyalty to her lover. Even

34、though be considered guilty by the Puritan, she is innocent, pure, and guiltless. In a word, Hester loves Dimmesdale with all of her heart. Secondly, Hester always does the good things to the people besides her to shows her rebellion. She has changed the meaning of “A” gradually. Although she leads

35、an austere life and lives for nothing materially Hester embroiders her own “A” with her special ways and wild imagine. Since she wears rough-textured and dark and plain clothes Hester must wear the “A” of the scarlet letter. She regards “A” as a very valuable ornament instead of a sign of humiliatio

36、n. The scarlet letter “A” which is florid and bright maybe signify her lover Arthur. Maybe it symbolizes her ideal faithAmerica. Some think that Hester shows the greatest self-deception. They hold Hester believes that she can change her human nature and make up for what she is and has done through h

37、er charitable acts within the community. She has become an embodiment of mercy, but she has no charity in her heart. In fact, it is not so. Hester is a brave and admirable woman who shall eternize with her “A”. The inhabitant living in the community held that Hester should feel repentant when she wo

38、re “A” on her breast. But she did not. She held that change should come from society, not within herself. She gave birth to a child Pearl. She asserted that Pearl kept her in life. She made Pearl to be an uncontrollable child who was subjected to hyperactivity, bad temper. Even her behavior could be

39、 classified as wild. Pearl was always depicted as natures child. While the other children in the community played games taught by society and their parents, Pearl played in the forest and by the seashore with living flora and fauna. The letter “A” Pearl makes for herself is not red, but greennatures

40、 color. Ultimately, Hester begins to sense that many people besides herself wear scarlet letter on their dresses or breasts, even those with reputations for piety and purity: Could they be other than the insidious whispers of the bad angel, who would fain have persuaded the struggling woman, as yet

41、only half his victim, that the outward guise of purity was but a lie, and that, if truth were everywhere to be shown, a scarlet letter would blaze forth on many a bosom besides Hester Prynnes?.Sometimes the red infamy upon her breast would give a sympathetic throb, as she passed near a venerable min

42、ister or magistrate, the model of piety and justice, to whom that age of antique reverence looked up as to a moral man in fellowship with angels. (Hawthorne 90) Thirdly, Hester exhibits her self-reliance and independence instead of giving in when facing the Communitys accusation. Hester supported bo

43、th herself and her clever child Pearl with her skillful needlework. She felt free to pursue her own life in her own way. The author really admires her about her unremitting pursuit for life. She had always been struggled for her dream and her child. Her dream or aim was to make herself and Pearl liv

44、e a wonderful and free life. Only after a bitter struggle was the aim achieved. Though shamed in front of her people for adulterous act, Hester stood proud and unrepentant with her child whose arrival trumpeted her sin. Hester is a symbol of self-reliance because she stays loyal to herself by daring

45、 to live beyond the petty rules of Puritan society:She hath good skill at her needle, thats certain,” remarked one of her female spectators; “but did ever a woman, before this brazen hussy, contrive such a way of showing it! Why, gossips, what is it but to laugh in the faces of our godly magistrates

46、, and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?” “It were well,” muttered the most iron-visaged of the old dames, “if we stripped Madam she hash stitched so curiously, I will bestow a rag of mine own rheumatic flannel, to make a fitter one! (Hawthorne 61) Fourthly, Hes

47、ter is brave to face reality and struggles to create a new life of dignity. The community was angry that Hester had made a taunt of her punishment “A” by making this symbol of adultery into a gorgeous decoration. She immediately embroidered the scarlet letter with gold thread: On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appe