学士学位论文—-英语专业试析《红字》的女主人公

郑州大学西亚斯国际学院试析《红字》的女主人公An Analysis of the Heroine in The Scarlet Letter姓名学籍号专业英语级别系别国际教育学院指导教师填表日期：年 4 月20 日An Analysis of the Heroine in The Scarlet Letter试析《红字》的女主人公ID NO. 20061103137Yuan Tian (Jane Yuan)Submitted as a partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of EnglishSIAS International College of Zhengzhou UniversityApril 20, 2010Faculty Advisor: Zhang FengweiAcknowledgementI 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 criticism 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 whose 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 classmates who gave me their help and helped me work out my problems during the difficult course of the thesis.AbstractNathaniel Hawthorne (1804—1864), a novelist and short story writer, is an important figure in the history of American literature. The scarlet letter, Hawthorne’s masterpiece, tells a 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 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 Prynne which includes compromise and rebellion. The third chapter touches on the reasons of dual character of Hester Prynne from the perspectives of reaso ns of Hester Prynne’s compromise and reasons of Hester Prynne’s rebellion. The fourth chapter is a conclusion.Keywords: Hester Prynne, compromise, rebellion, 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。

第四章是结论。

关键词：海斯特·白兰，妥协性，反抗性，原因OutlineI Introduction (1)II Dual Character of Heroine Hester Prynne (2)2.1 Hester Prynne’s Compromise (2)2.2 Hester Prynne’s Rebellion (4)III Reasons of Dual Character of Hester Prynne (8)3.1 Reasons of Hester Prynne’s Compromise (8)3.2 Reasons of Hester Prynne’s Rebellion (9)IV Conclusion (10)Bibliography (12)An Analysis of the Heroine of the Scarlet LetterI IntroductionNathaniel Hawthorne (1804—1864), a novelist and short story writer, is an important figure in the history of American literature. He attended Bowdoin College (1821—1824). In the school his friends included Longfellow and 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 Transcendentalism. 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 people’s life, but he could not get rid of such cultural traditions which influenced him imperceptibly.Hawthorne’s best-known 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 pastor and leads a new life. The heroine Hester of The Scarlet Letter possesses a dual character of rebellion and compromise because of Hawthorne’s background and the Puritan community of the day. The Scarlet Letter arouses more and more interests and attentions from generation to generation because of 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 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 Prynne 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 Prynne’s compromise and reasons of Hester Prynne’s re bellion. The fourth chapter is a conclusion.II Dual Character of Heroine Hester Prynne2.1 Hester Prynne’s Compromise.The heroine Hester 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, Hester’s behavior was considered to be adultery. Under the pressure of the Puritan community Hester presented her compromise on 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 Hester’s “A” stands for adultery which means women’s frailty and sinful passion. At the beginning of the novel, everyone 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 with the society on this matter. She felt ashamedof 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 Heste r’s face for love to dwell upon;nothing in Hester’s form, though majestic and statue-like, that Passion would ever dream of clasping in its embrace; nothing in Hester’s 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 colonial society in the 17th century, where Hester lived in, was dominated by the religious theocracy, gradually poisoning human’s spirit like o pium. 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, Hester admitted the sacred love with Dimmesdale, at the same time she deemed herself to have violated t he 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 encounter 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, trapping 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 baby—Pearl. Every day she anxiously watched her child who grew up gradually. And she was afraid of finding a gloomy or wild personality on Pearl. Hester’s fear was consistentwith the sin because of giving the birth of the baby. Although she dreamily realized the roo t of women’s liberation that is to overthrow the whole social system, Hester mistakenly 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 avoid the same fate as her own one.2.2 Hester Prynne’s 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 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 for Dimmesdale was just and reasonable. L ove was humanity’s 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 reproduced human beings by themselves without God’s 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 woman 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 thewillpower. It is believed that Hester is really admirable because of her perseverance with love and unswerving loyalty to her lover. Even 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 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 humiliation. The scarlet letter “A” which is florid and bright maybe signify he r lover Arthur. Maybe it symbolizes her ideal faith—America. 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 her 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 wore “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 classified as wild. Pearl was always depicted as nature’s 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 green—nature’s 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 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 HesterPrynne’s?...Sometimes the red infamy upon her breast would give a sympathetic throb, as she passed near a venerable minister 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 Community’s accusation. Hester supported b oth 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 live 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 to live beyond the petty rules of Puritan society:She hath good skill at her needle, that’s certain,” remarked one of her female spectators; “but did ever a woman, b efore 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, and make a pride out of what they, worthy gentlemen, meant for a punishment?” “It were well,” muttered the most iron-vi saged of the old dames, “if we stripped Madam she hash stitched so curiously, I will bestow a rag of mine own rheumatic flannel, tomake a fitter one! (Hawthorne 61)Fourthly, Hester 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, appeared the letter “A”. It was so artistically done, and with so much fertility and gorgeous luxuriance of fancy, that it had all the effect of a last and fitting decoration to the apparel which she wore; and which was of a splendor in accordance with the taste of the age, but greatly beyond what was allowed by the sumptuary regulations of the colony. (Hawthorne 60) Nearly everyone in the community realized the impertinence of what she had done to contradict the awful meaning of the scarlet letter. The community revealed that it regarded human nature, especially passion, to be devilish when it forced Hester to wear “A” of scarlet as punishment. Hester was trying to change her reality, to make it prettier than it really is. Even though she did not take away the scarlet letter publicly when Chillingworth told her that the people in the town said she might seven years later. She did take it off privately in the forest. Her beh avior and her child Pearl’s violent reaction to the removal of “A” seem to suggest that she has not admitted the truth of her passionate nature even seven years later. As her art does, “Like all other joys, she rejected it as a sin.” (83) She always believes that change should come from society, not within herself. As the narrator tells, “The scarlet letter had not done its office.” (99) In other words, Hester has been at odds with her fate for her whole lifetime. She longs for peaceful and free life and is full of love and tenderness in her heart. These things make it possible for her to survive the isolationand humiliation given by the community and to have a happy and satisfactory life.Finally, Pearl is also a symbol of Hester’s rebellion because she is the result of Hester’s adultery. Pearl always asked her mother why her mother wore the letter and what it means. Then as a little girl, Pearl showed a fascination with the letter and continually touched it and threw wild flowers at it. In the forest when Hester took off the scarlet letter, Pearl would not quiet down until Hester had it back on her dress. Pearl even made herself an “A” from green seaweed:As the last touch to her mermaid’s garb, Pearl took some eelgrass, and imitated, as best she could, on her own bosom, the decoration with which she was so familiar on her mother’s. A letter-the letter “A”-but freshly green, instead of scarlet!(Hawthorne 171)III Reasons of Dual Character of Hester Prynne3.1 Reasons of Hester Prynne’s CompromiseHester Prynne shows her dual character in this novel. And what are the reasons for her compromise? In the first place, as is well known, Hawthorne possesses a quite complicated world outlook. He chose love tragedy as the theme of The Scarlet Letter. Thus he fell into puzzling inconsistency deeply. The reason why Hester shows her compromise on one side is Hawthorne’s background. Puritan New England is the setting for Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne was influenced deeply by the Puritan system of belief. The Puritan government and Puritan religion were virtually relevant. The pastors exercised the big political power to the government officials. The ministers held absolute authority. When Hester knew that her child had to be taken from her, Hester came to the g overnor’s hall to plead that her child should stay with her. The government told her thatthis was the result of authority and Puritan. The community’s leaders were the so-called authority. They were harsh and grim to the people. They had become the new dominator: In that old day, the English settler on these rude shores-having left kind, nobles, and all degrees of awful rank behind, while still the faculty and necessity of reverence were strong in him-bestowed it on the white hair and venerable brow of age…on endowments of that grave and weighty order which gives the idea of permanence and comes under the general definition of respectability. (Hawthorne 222)Secondly, Hester’s compromise is closely related to Hawthorne’s own ideology. Hawthorne was born in an impoverished noble family in New England. He lived in Salem Township when he was young. So he was influenced deeply by Calvinism and local religious and cultural ideology. When he faced the rapid economic development of capitalism and major changes of social structure in America, Hawthorne always presented a very complex ambivalence. On the one hand, he dared to attack Calvinism about its harmful religious fanaticism and stifling religious dogma. He wanted to pursue an abstract beauty in the United States by imagination. That was a kind of perfect spiritual realm which transcended worldliness and reached holiness. On the other hand, Hawthorne saw the world with the concept of good and evil which had a strong religious flavor. He believed that the root of all social problems and the conflict between people was the inherent evil in the world. Thus he strengthened the concepts on the original sin, and internal corruption in Calvinism. Therefore, he confirmed the seriousness of early Puritan and deconstructed Hester’s courage and sense of resistance based on the concept of original sin in Calvinism. Under his pen Hester also presented the compromise because of her deep-rooted religious belief. Hawthorne who embodied a dense Christian cultureportrayed Hester Prynne as a woman who frequently presented her compromise. That is, she did not rebel the society thoroughly because of Hawthorne’s ideology.In a word, the original sin is the beginning and end of Hester Prynne’s compromise. The Puritanism has an impact on Hester’s compromise. Nathaniel Hawthorne’ ideology has also a certain influence on Hester Prynne’s compromise.3.2 Reasons of Hester Prynne’s RebellionNext this thesis will expose the reason for Hester Prynne’s rebellion. Although she wore “A” on her brea st, Hester still believed that she had the right to pursue happiness. That was because she had always maintained a fresh idea of rebellion in her heart. Hawthorne stressed Hester’s character of bravery and rebellion based on the criticism of religious bigotry and destruction of humanity. Although she violated the ban, Hester still insisted that she possessed the right to pursue happiness and freedom. Hester held an optimistic outlook on life and dared to face reality. She realized the mistakes she had done, but she never regretted her mistakes. When she came from prison to begin bearing her public punishment, Hester who wore an “A” for adultery sewn on her dress refused to reveal the name of her lover Dimmesdale. Thus it can be seen that Hester had always thought that the love between her and Dimmesdale is reasonable. She possessed a strong spirit of rebellion and struggle. Although it was not enough for her to rebel the society with her personal power, she had shown the clear stance of anti-secularism and anti-religion. What made her so strong was her courage and optimism. She had a faith to survive the world. This belief was that the “A” cannot break. She dared to despite the authority and possessed a strong spirit of rebellion. Hester immediately and richly embroidered thescarlet letter with gold thread. This behavior suggests that she dares to challenge to the authority. The community was angry about her behavior.IV ConclusionIn conclusion, Hester is a brave rebellion woman, but she is not a firm rebel because of her compromise. This is not only because of the fetter and oppression from the Puritan community but also because of Hawthorne’s background and experience. It is her compromise within her bravery and rebellion that account for the influence of both romanticism and Puritan ideas on Hawthorne. That is the true reflection of Hawthorne’s ideal and reality. Hester carries on as a single parent with grace and fortitude, demonstrating an intellect and courage that one could argue is at least equal to the two men in her life, Chillingworth and Dimmesdale. She is the only winner in the triangle relationship they form; by her actions she wins back her place in society.Superficially, The Scarlet Letter is a legend about the adultery and other catastrophic consequences. But it reveals the complex social problems in American in 1990s. Hawthorne expresses his ideas in love, religious belief and female consciousness in The Scarlet Letter.As is shown, the nineteenth century was a time of great prudishness in America. New England had a political system of combining religious with political rule in 1950s. Religion had internalized into human’s nature. The whole novel of The Scarlet Lette r underlines the spirit of evil and the religious constraint. And Hester becomes a victim of the religious restrictions. The true nature of every human is both sinful and angelic, somber and joyful, selfish and loving.BibliographyBell, Millicent. New essays on Hawthorne’s major tales.New York: Cambridge UP, 1993.Claudia, Durst Johnson. Understanding The Scarlet Letter, A Student Casebook to Issue, Sources, and Historical Documents. New York: Oxford UP, 1989. Cushman, Stephen and Paul Newlin. Nation of Letters. New York: Brandywine Press, 1998.Hawthorne, Nathaniel. 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