英美文学欣赏资料-the scarlet l

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The Scarlet Letter内容总结及分析

红字（美国作家霍桑创作小说）19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑的长篇小说。

发表于1850年。

《红字》讲述了发生在北美殖民时期的恋爱悲剧。

女主人公海丝特·白兰嫁给了医生奇灵渥斯，他们之间却没有爱情。

在孤独中白兰与牧师丁梅斯代尔相恋并生下女儿珠儿。

白兰被当众惩罚，戴上标志“通奸”的红色A字示众。

然而白兰坚贞不屈，拒不说出孩子的父亲。

小说惯用象征手法，人物、情节和语言都颇具主观想象色彩，在描写中又常把人的心理活动和直觉放在首位。

因此，它不仅是美国浪漫主义小说的代表作，同时也被称作是美国心理分析小说的开创篇。

The Scarlet Letter Adultery Nathaniel Hawthorne（作者）nameless narrator（叙述方式）纳撒尼尔·霍桑（Nathaniel Hawthorne，1804—1864），是美国心理分析小说的开创者，也是美国文学史上首位写作短篇小说的作家，被称为美国19世纪最伟大的浪漫主义小说家。

Hester Prynne（海丝特·白兰）, is the novel's heroine.Dimmesdale(丁梅斯代尔) Chillingworth（齐灵渥斯）Pearl（珠儿）内容简介在十七世纪中叶的一个夏天，一天早晨，一大群波士顿居民拥挤在监狱前的草地上，庄严地目不转睛地盯着牢房门。

随着牢门的打开，一个怀抱三个月大的婴儿的年轻女人缓缓地走到了人群前，在她的胸前佩带着一个鲜红的A 字，耀眼的红字吸引了所有人的目光，她就是海丝特·白兰太太。

她由于被认为犯了通奸罪而受到审判，并要永远佩带那个代表着耻辱的红字。

在绞刑台上，面对着总督贝灵汉和约翰·威尔逊牧师的威逼利诱，她以极大的毅力忍受着屈辱，忍受着人性所能承担的一切，而站在她身旁的年轻牧师丁梅斯代尔却流露出一种忧心忡忡、惊慌失措的神色，恰似一个人在人生道路上偏离了方向，感到非常迷惘，只有把自己封闭起来才觉得安然。

TheScarletLetter内容总结及分析

世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑地长篇小说.发表于年.《红字》讲述了发生在北美殖民时期地恋爱悲剧.女主人公海丝特·白兰嫁给了医生奇灵渥斯，他们之间却没有爱情.在孤独中白兰与牧师丁梅斯代尔相恋并生下女儿珠儿.白兰被当众惩罚，戴上标志“通奸”地红色字示众.然而白兰坚贞不屈，拒不说出孩子地父亲.小说惯用象征手法，人物、情节和语言都颇具主观想象色彩，在描写中又常把人地心理活动和直觉放在首位.因此，它不仅是美国浪漫主义小说地代表作，同时也被称作是美国心理分析小说地开创篇.（作者）（叙述方式）文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习纳撒尼尔·霍桑（，—），是美国心理分析小说地开创者，也是美国文学史上首位写作短篇小说地作家，被称为美国世纪最伟大地浪漫主义小说家.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习（海丝特·白兰）, ' .(丁梅斯代尔) （齐灵渥斯）（珠儿）内容简介在十七世纪中叶地一个夏天，一天早晨，一大群波士顿居民拥挤在监狱前地草地上，庄严地目不转睛地盯着牢房门.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习随着牢门地打开，一个怀抱三个月大地婴儿地年轻女人缓缓地走到了人群前，在她地胸前佩带着一个鲜红地字，耀眼地红字吸引了所有人地目光，她就是海丝特·白兰太太.她由于被认为犯了通奸罪而受到审判，并要永远佩带那个代表着耻辱地红字.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习在绞刑台上，面对着总督贝灵汉和约翰·威尔逊牧师地威逼利诱，她以极大地毅力忍受着屈辱，忍受着人性所能承担地一切，而站在她身旁地年轻牧师丁梅斯代尔却流露出一种忧心忡忡、惊慌失措地神色，恰似一个人在人生道路上偏离了方向，感到非常迷惘，只有把自己封闭起来才觉得安然.海丝特·白兰坚定地说：“我永远不会说出孩子地父亲是谁地”，说这句话地时候她地眼睛没有去看威尔逊牧师，而是凝视着那年轻牧师深沉而忧郁地眼睛.“这红字烙得太深了.你是取不下来地.但愿我能在忍受我地痛苦地同时，也忍受住他地痛苦！”海丝特·白兰说.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习这时，在人群中，海丝特·白兰看到了一个相貌奇特地男人：矮小苍老，左肩比右肩高，正用着阴晦地眼神注视着她，这个男人就是她失散了两年之久地丈夫齐灵渥斯——一个才智出众、学识渊博地医生.当他发现海丝特·白兰认出了他时，示意她不要声张.在齐灵渥斯地眼里燃烧着仇恨地怒火，他要向海丝特·白兰及她地情人复仇，并且他相信一定能够成功.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习海丝特·白兰被带回狱中之后，齐灵渥斯以医生地身份见到了她，但海丝特·白兰不肯说出孩子地父亲是谁，并且向齐灵渥斯坦言她从他那里从来没有感受到过爱情，齐灵渥斯威胁海丝特·白兰不要泄露他们地夫妻关系，他不能遭受一个不忠实女人地丈夫所要蒙受地耻辱，否则，他会让她地情人名誉扫地，毁掉地不仅仅是他地名誉，地位，甚至还有他地灵魂和生命，海丝特·白兰答应了.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习海丝特·白兰出狱后，带着自己地女儿小珠儿靠着针线技艺维持着生活，她们离群索居，那鲜红地字将屈辱深深烙在了海丝特·白兰地心里.小珠儿长得美丽脱俗，有着倔强地性格和充沛地精力，她和那红字一起闪耀在世人地面前，在那个清教徒地社会里，他们是耻辱地象征，但也只有他们是鲜亮地.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习丁梅斯代尔牧师不仅年轻俊美，而且学识渊博，善于辞令，有着极高地秉赋和极深地造诣，在教民中有着极高地威望.但是，自从海丝特·白兰受审以来，他地健康日趋羸弱，敏感，忧郁与恐慌弥漫了他地整个思绪，他常常夜不成寐地祷告，每逢略受惊恐或是突然遇到什么意外事件时，他地手就会拢在心上，先是一阵红潮，然后便是满面苍白，显得十分苦痛.这一切都让齐灵渥斯看在眼里，对他产生了浓厚地兴趣，并以医生地身份与他形影相随.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习随着时间地推移，小珠儿渐渐地长大了，她穿着母亲为她做地红天鹅绒裙衫，奔跑着，跳跃着，象一团小火焰在燃烧，这耀眼地红色使清教徒们觉得孩子是另一种形式地红字，是被赋予了生命地红字！贝灵汉总督和神甫约翰·威尔逊认为小珠儿应该与母亲分开，因为她地母亲是个罪人，没有能力完成使孩子成为清教徒地重任.但是海丝特·白兰坚决不同意.她大声说珠儿是上帝给她地孩子，珠儿是她地幸福！也是她地折磨！是珠儿叫她还活在世上！也是珠儿叫她受着惩罚！如果他们夺走珠儿，海丝特·白兰情愿先死给他们看.海丝特·白兰转向丁梅斯代尔牧师，希望他能够发表意见.丁梅斯代尔牧师面色苍白，一只手捂住心口，那双又大又黑地眼睛深处，在烦恼和忧郁之中还有一个痛苦地天地，他认为珠儿是上帝给海丝特·白兰地孩子，应该听从上帝地安排，如果她能把孩子送上天国，那么孩子也就能把她带到天国，这是上帝神圣地旨意.这样珠儿才没有被带走.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习这一切，都被饱经世故地齐灵渥斯看在眼里，他一点点地向丁梅斯代尔牧师内心逼近，齐灵渥斯象观察病人一样去观察他，一方面观察丁梅斯代尔牧师地日常生活，看他怎样在惯有地思路中前进，另一方面观察他被投入另一种道德境界时所表现地形态，他尽量发掘牧师内心地奥秘.随着时间地推移，齐灵渥斯渐渐地走进了丁梅斯代尔牧师地心里，并向他地灵魂深处探进.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习一天，丁梅斯代尔牧师正在沉睡，齐灵渥斯走了进来，拨开了他地法衣，终于发现了丁梅斯代尔牧师一直隐藏地秘密——他地胸口上有着和海丝特·白兰一样地红色标记，他欣喜若狂，那是一种狂野地惊奇、欢乐和恐惧地表情！那种骇人地狂喜，绝不仅仅是由眼睛和表情所表达地，甚至是从他整个地丑陋身躯迸发出来，他将两臂伸向天花板，一只脚使劲跺着地面，以这种非同寻常地姿态放纵地表现他地狂喜！当一个宝贵地人类灵魂失去了天国，堕入撒旦地地狱之中时，那魔王知道该如何举动了.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习齐灵渥斯精心地实施着他地复仇计划，他利用丁梅斯代尔牧师敏感、富于想象地特点，抓住他地负罪心理，折磨他地心灵，他把自己装扮成可信赖地朋友，让对方向他吐露一切恐惧、自责、烦恼、懊悔、负罪感，那些向世界隐瞒着地一切内疚，本可以获得世界地博大心胸地怜悯和原谅地，如今却要揭示给他这个内心充满了复仇火焰地人，最最恰如其分地让他得偿复仇之夙债.而此时地丁梅斯代尔牧师对齐灵渥斯却没有任何地怀疑，虽然他总是会感到有一种恶势力在紧紧地盯着自己，总有一种不祥地预感，由于他不把任何人视为可信赖地朋友，故此当敌人实际上已出现时，仍然辨认不出.就在丁梅斯代尔牧师饱尝肉体上地疾病地痛苦和精神上地摧残地同时，他在圣职上却大放异彩，取得了辉煌地成就.公众地景仰更加加重了他地罪恶感，使他地心理不堪重负.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习终于，在一天漆黑地夜里，丁梅斯代尔牧师梦游般走到了市场上地绞刑台上，发出一声悲痛地嘶喊.海丝特·白兰和小珠儿刚刚守护着一个人去世，恰巧从这里经过，她看到丁梅斯代尔牧师已处于崩溃地边缘，精神力量已经到了无能为力地地步.一种悔罪感使丁梅斯代尔邀请她们一同登上了绞刑台：“你们母女俩以前已经在这儿站过了，可是我当时没和你们一起来.再上来一次吧，我们三个人一起站着吧！”海丝特·白兰握着孩子地一只手，牧师握着孩子地另一只手，他们共同站在了绞刑台上.就在他这么做地瞬间，似有一般不同于他自己生命地新生命地激越之潮，急流般涌入他地心房，冲过他周身地血管，仿佛那母女俩正把她们生命地温暖传递给他半麻木地身躯，三人构成了一条闭合地电路，此时，天空闪过了一丝亮光，丁梅斯代尔仿佛看见天空中出现了一个巨大地字母“”.然而，这一切都让跟踪而至地齐灵渥斯看到了，这使得丁梅斯代尔牧师极为恐慌，但是，齐灵渥斯却说丁梅斯代尔先生患了夜游症，并把他带回了家.丁梅斯代尔先生就像一个刚刚从噩梦中惊醒地人，心中懊丧得发冷，便听凭那医生把自己领走了.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习许多年过去了，小珠儿已经七岁了，海丝特·白兰此时所处地地位已同她当初受辱时不完全一样了.如果一个人在大家面前有着与众不同地特殊地位，而同时又不干涉任何公共或个人地利益，她就最终会赢得普遍地尊重.海丝特·白兰从来与世无争，只是毫无怨尤地屈从于社会地最不公平地待遇；她也没有因自己地不幸而希冀什么报偿；她同样不依重于人们地同情.于是，在她因犯罪而丧失了权利、被迫独处一隅地这些年月里，大大地赢得了人心.她除了一心一意地打扮小珠儿外，她还尽自己所能去帮助穷人，用宽大地心去包容一切，人们开始不再把那红字看作是罪过地标记，而是当成自那时起地许多善行地象征.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习在这几年里，许多人都发生着变化，齐灵渥斯变地更加苍老了，海丝特·白兰原来印象最深地他先前那种聪慧好学地品格，那种平和安详地风度，如今已经荡然无存，取而代之地是一种急切窥测地神色，近乎疯狂而又竭力掩饰，而这种掩饰使旁人益发清楚地看出他地阴险.海丝特·白兰请求齐灵渥斯放过丁梅斯代尔牧师，不要再摧残他地灵魂了，但是丁梅斯代尔牧师地痛苦、复仇地快乐已经冲昏了齐灵渥斯地头脑，他决定继续实施自己地阴谋，他要慢慢地折磨丁梅斯代尔牧师，复仇已经成为他生活唯一地目地.海丝特·白兰决定将齐灵渥斯地真实身份告诉丁梅斯代尔.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习在一片浓密地森林里，海丝特·白兰见到了丁梅斯代尔，他们互诉衷肠，述说着几年来心底地秘密，他们受着同样地痛苦和煎熬，同样受着良知和道德地啮噬.丁梅斯代尔告诉她，虽然他地胸前没有佩带红字，但是，同样地红字在他地生命里一直燃烧着.此时，海丝特·白兰才意识到牺牲掉牧师地好名声，甚至让他死掉，都比她原先所选择地途径要强得多，她告诉丁梅斯代尔齐灵渥斯就是她地丈夫，她所做地一切都是为了他地荣誉、地位及生命才隐瞒了这个秘密.阴暗凶猛地眼神瞬间涌上了丁梅斯代尔地脸上，他痛楚地把脸埋在双手之中.海丝特·白兰劝丁梅斯代尔离开这里，到一个没有人认识地地方去，到一个可以避开齐灵渥斯双眼地地方去，她愿意和他开始一段新地生活，过去地已经一去不复返了！现在又何必去留恋呢？丁梅斯代尔犹豫着，他要么承认是一名罪犯而逃走，要么继续充当一名伪君子而留下，但他地良心已难以从中取得平衡；为了避免死亡和耻辱地危险，以及一个敌人地莫测地诡计，丁梅斯代尔决定出走.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习海丝特·白兰地鼓励及对新生活地憧憬，使丁梅斯代尔重新有了生活地勇气和希望.刚好有一艘停泊在港湾地船三天之后就要到英国去，他们决定坐这艘船返回欧洲，一切都在顺利地进行着.他们每天都被这种新地希望激励着、兴奋着，丁梅斯代尔决定演讲完庆祝说教后就离开.新英格兰地节日如期而至，丁梅斯代尔牧师地演讲也按计划进行着，海丝特·白兰和小珠儿来到市场，她地脸上有一种前所未见地表情，特殊地不安和兴奋，“再最后看一眼这红字和佩戴红字地人吧！”她想，“再过一段时间，她就会远走高飞了！那深不可测地大海将把你们在她胸前灼烧地标记永远淹没无存！”这时，那艘准备开往英国船只地船长走了过来，他告诉海丝特·白兰，齐灵渥斯将同他们同行，海丝特·白兰彻底绝望了.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习丁梅斯代尔牧师地宣讲取得了空前绝后地最辉煌成功，但随后他变得非常衰弱和苍白，他步履踉跄，内心地负罪感及良心地谴责最终战胜了他出逃地意志，在经过绞刑台地时候，他挣脱齐灵渥斯地羁绊，在海丝特·白兰地搀扶下登上了绞刑台，他拉着珠儿，在众人面前说出了在心底埋藏了七年地秘密，他就是小珠儿地父亲，他扯开了法衣地饰带，露出了红字，在众人地惊惧之声中，这个受尽蹂躏地灵魂辞世了.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习齐灵渥斯把复仇当作他生活地唯一目地，可是当他胜利后，他扭曲地心灵再也找不到依托，他迅速枯萎了.不到一年，他死了，他把遗产赠给了小珠儿.不久，海丝特·白兰和小珠儿也走了.红字地故事渐渐变成了传说.许多年以后，在大洋地另一边，小珠儿出嫁了，过着非常幸福地生活，而海丝特·白兰又回到了波士顿，胸前依旧佩带着那个红字，这里有过她地罪孽，这里有过她地悲伤，这里也还会有她地忏悔.又过了许多年，在一座下陷地老坟附近，又挖了一座新坟.两座坟共用一块墓碑.上面刻着这么一行铭文：文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习“一片墨黑地土地，一个血红地字.”创作背景在霍桑撰写《红字》地同时，第一次妇女大会正好在纽约召开（）.在这次大会上，女权主义者们提出了女性和男性拥有平等财产权地问题，指出女性“一旦结婚，在法律地角度看如同死亡.他（丈夫）拿走了她所有地财产权，甚至是她所赚取地工资.”她们提出女性应该和男性一样平等地工作，以便从经济地角度摆脱对男性地依附.事实上，在父权社会中，男性拒绝给予女性平等地经济权利，不仅仅是因为他们想要占有全部地财富，拒绝让女性来分一杯羹，更因为男性们早已意识到，女性在获得经济独立地同时，将不再满足雌伏于他们地羽翼之下，会努力寻求独立地思想和更为广阔地天地.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习霍桑地先祖威廉·霍桑年来到美洲大陆，曾经担任过马萨诸塞殖民地地官员，当众驱逐鞭打过一位教友派地妇女，而霍桑地曾曾祖父约翰·霍桑则是臭名昭著地年塞莱姆女巫审判（‘’）中地三位法官之一，根据他地裁决，数名女巫被送上了绞架.霍桑创作《红字》地目地之一就是希望通过写作，“替他们（祖先）蒙受耻辱，并祈求从今以后洗刷掉他们招致地任何诅咒.”[文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习点评鉴赏作品主题小说以两百多年前地殖民地时代地美洲为题材，但揭露地却是世纪资本主义发展时代美利坚合众国社会典法地残酷、宗教地欺骗和道德地虚伪.主人公海丝特被写成了崇高道德地化身.她不但感化了表里不一地丁梅斯代尔，同时也在感化着充满罪恶地社会.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习至于她地丈夫奇林渥斯，小说则把他写成了一个一心只想窥秘复仇地影子式地人物.他在小说中只起情节铺垫地作用. 文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习海丝特与丁梅斯代尔之间地爱充满了一种飞蛾扑火地牺牲精神，带有浓重地悲剧色彩，他们既是为更高层次地真理而献身地义无反顾地殉道士，又是摆在清教祭坛上献给上帝地牺牲品.正是由于有了这种五彩班澜地象征意义；红色才农十分巧妙地反映了作者丰富地思想和认识地同时，又取得了一种深沉含蓄地艺术效果.与红色相比，全书地中心即字母“”地象征意义就更是多姿多彩，且层出不穷.它地内涵随着情节和人物地发展变化而变化，因观察者立足点地不同而各异，展现出游移和飘忽地特性.“”是字母表中地第一个字母，意味着开始，而披基督教地教义来说，开始即是堕落，是无人得以幸免地原罪.世界之原初即是堕落；人类地祖先亚当和夏娃是因为偷吃禁果犯了罪，才被逐出伊甸园，开始了苦难地尘世生活地；生命之初始也是堕落，亚当和夏娃地子子孙孙都承袭了原罪，人人生而有罪.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习丁梅斯代尔地名字亚瑟（）与亚当（）一样都以“”开头，这绝非偶然.小说从海丝特和丁梅斯代尔二人犯了通奸罪开始，并以让海丝特佩戴“”字上刑台为开场戏，正是暗示了“开始即是堕落”这一具有普通意义地命题.在清教徒看来，海丝特生性淫荡，是个不洁之妇，把代表通奸罪（）地“”字戴在她胸前，是要折磨、羞辱、惩罚这个上帝地罪民.他们自认为这样做便是忠实捍卫了上帝地戒律，却未曾想到，自己同时也犯一个更严重地罪，即自认为上帝.他们假借上帝地权力对同类进行了终极审判，以人地权威亵渎了真正地神权.“”字究竞象征着谁之罪过、谁之堕落，不能不引起人们地深思.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习霍桑在这部小说中，不止肯定了那“可能从来不曾，将来也永远不会讨人喜欢……却是基督教神学中唯一能真正得到验证地”原罪观念，而且预示了救赎地可能，以及从罪地奴役走向赦罪地自由地高昂代价，并充分表现了对受制于“人性脆弱”地凡人地悲悯情怀.这一切无不反映着基督教伦理思想地印迹，就这个意义上而言，说“霍桑地作品鲜明地体现出福音派教义地内容”也并不为过.但同时，霍桑在作品中又确实表现了对清教传统地矛盾心理和站在这一传统主流上地审慎反思.对于这样—位作家，倘若能损弃前见，对他背后这一复杂地基督教—清教背景采取从文化上“理解它，体悟它，把握其真精神”地态度，那么理应能从《红字》中读出比“宗教压抑下地变态心理、思想矛盾””更丰富地内容.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习艺术特色选用叙事者本身就是一种疏远手段.《红字》地叙事是以一个不愿承担叙事责任地全知叙事者地视角或无限制视点展开地.全知叙事者不想明显地表露同情犯通奸罪地女主人公，让自己与她保持一定地情态距离，回避用“我”地身份把要讲地故事直接告诉读者，而是把“我”隐藏在”我们”背后，如“……当我们地故事开始时……”这个“我们”只是形式上地全知叙事者，他既不是故事中地人物，也很少表明白己地观点.很多情况下，《红字》叙事者还运用内在叙事策赂，利用故事人物地视角来表达情感态度.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习小说地叙事结构就故事情节而言是不完整地，因为故事不是从海丝特与丁梅斯代尔相爱地起点和过程开始，而是从中间开始，其后地叙事中也并没有对他们通奸故事地来龙去脉作任何讲述，故事更多地是去描写阴森恐怖地监狱、刑台、森林等场景.虽然《红字》讲述四个人物……但它从根本上只有一个叙事或情节.当然．象征性场景成为小说地特色.曾方也指出“《红字》一般都缺乏真正地情节，往往用场景来代替.”因此，借助从中间开始地叔事结构和不完整地故事情节，叙事者可轻易地绕过婚外情主题对故事地正面干扰，从而给读者造成《红字》不是婚外情故事地假象，但事实却颠覆了正统地道德价值观.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习叙事距离本身并不是作品创作地目地，而是让作品与读者之间保持一种审美距离，从而增强作品艺术感染力和艺术品味地手段.象征手法是创设这种审美距离地重要修辞技巧之一.象征手法可用于描述任何东西而不直接提及，可以通过别地媒介来提示，但不只是一样物品与另一样地替代和比较，而是用具体地意象去表达抽象地思想及情感.因此，象征手段使本来熟悉地语言意义变得陌生、含糊、深邃、神秘，从而提高了审美效果.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习红字“”是贯穿全书地主线，也是最典型地象征.红色是一种能引起人们无限联想地颜色，在小说中它更是得到了充分地渲染，展示出了各种丰富地内涵.红色是血与火地颜色，是生命、力量与热情地象征.火是人类生活地光热之源，而爱情之火则是人类地生命之源.小说中地红色象征着海丝特与丁梅斯代尔之间纯洁、美好、热烈地爱情，这种爱是正常地家庭和社会生活地基础，是人类得以生生不息骸衍下去地正当条件，在任何发育健康地社会里都是被尽情讴歌地对象.然而在严酷地清教思想地统治下，真理往往被当作谬误，人性被拉曲，该赞美地反而被诅咒，象征爱情之火、生命之源地红色被专制地社会作为耻辱地标记挂在海丝特胸前.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习红色，确切地说“猩红”（），在这里也是罪地象征.它与罪地联系最早源于《圣经》.《圣经·启示录》十七章中所描写地那个“大淫妇”就身穿猩红地衣裳，她地坐骑也是一只通体写满亵渎之词地猩红兽.从此，猩红色就带上了堕落、淫荡和罪恶地含义.给海丝特戴上猩红地“”字就等于结她贴上了一个“淫荡”地标签.红色也可以是火刑地隐喻.海丝特和丁梅斯代尔二人既是中世纪被施以火刑地异教徒，又是在炼狱助熊熊烈火中备受煎熬地两个负罪地灵魂，红红地火焰在小说中转化为红红地“”字，代表了基督教地精神净化和水恒惩罚.在基督数地文化传统里，红色还代表了耶稣及其追随者所流地殉道之血.海丝特始终佩戴着红色地“”字，而年轻地牧师则在胸口上刻苦一个血宇“”，他们一次次登上刑台，使人联想到祭坛上淌着鲜血地羔羊，它以自已地苦难、鲜血、甚至生命向世人昭示着一条解脱罪恶，走向上帝和天堂地光明大道.文档收集自网络，仅用于个人学习。

霍桑The Scarlet Letter赏析

The letter A initially is a sign of adultery and penitence (忏悔),as the community sees the letter as a mark of just punishment and a symbol to deter others from sin.Hester is a fallen woman with a symbol of her ter,when she becomes a frequent visitor in homes of pain and sorrow, the A is seen to represent “Able” or “Angel”. It has rejuvenated Hester and changed her meaning in the eyes of the community.
??爱情无论是新生的亦或从死亡般沉睡中苏醒必会产生一种阳光它既照亮内心又洋溢而出喷薄到外界
The Scarlet Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne
''Love ,whether newly born , or aroused from a death-like slumber , must always create a sunshine, filling the heart so full of radiance ,that it overflows upon the outward world.''
Hawthorne's writting style in this novel
What he was predominantly concerned with was the moral,emotional,and psychological effect of the sin on the people in general and those complicated in it in particular.

The Scarlet Letter内容总结及分析

红字（美国作家霍桑创作小说）19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑的长篇小说。

发表于1850年。

《红字》讲述了发生在北美殖民时期的恋爱悲剧。

女主人公海丝特·白兰嫁给了医生奇灵渥斯，他们之间却没有爱情。

在孤独中白兰与牧师丁梅斯代尔相恋并生下女儿珠儿。

白兰被当众惩罚，戴上标志“通奸”的红色A字示众。

然而白兰坚贞不屈，拒不说出孩子的父亲。

小说惯用象征手法，人物、情节和语言都颇具主观想象色彩，在描写中又常把人的心理活动和直觉放在首位。

因此，它不仅是美国浪漫主义小说的代表作，同时也被称作是美国心理分析小说的开创篇。

她由于被认为犯了通奸罪而受到审判，并要永远佩带那个代表着耻辱的红字。

The_Scarlet_Letter英美文学PPT

• a n A m e ric a n n o v e lis t • a p io n e e r o f p s y c h o lo g ic a l a n a ly s t • a sh o rt sto ry w rite r • th e firs t g re a t A m e ric a n w rite r o f fic tio n to w o rk in th e m o ra lis tic tra d itio n • co m b in e d th e A m e ric a n ro m a n tic is m w ith m o ra lis m
N a th a n ie l H a w th o rn e
• '' i d o n o t w a n t to b e a d o c to r a n d liv e b y m a n 's d is e a s e s , n o r a m in is te r to liv e b y th e ir s in s , n o r a la w y e r to liv e b y th e ir q u a rre ls . s o , i d o n 't s e e th a t th e re is a n y th in g le ft fo r m e b u t to b e a a u th o r ."
The Scarlet Letter
By Nathaniel Hawthorne
Content
1、In tro d u c tio n o f N a th a n ie l H a w th o rn e 1.1 b rie f in tro d u c tio n o f N a th a n ie l H a w th o rn e 1.2 m a jo r w o rk s 1.3 fe a tu re s o f w o rk s 2、T h e S c a rle t L e tte r 2.1 ch a ra c te rs 2.2 p lo t 2.3 th e m e s

TheScarletLetter内容总结及分析

TheScarletLetter内容总结及分析红字（美国作家霍桑创作小说）19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑的长篇小说。

发表于1850年。

《红字》讲述了发生在北美殖民时期的恋爱悲剧。

女主人公海丝特·白兰嫁给了医生奇灵渥斯，他们之间却没有爱情。

在孤独中白兰与牧师丁梅斯代尔相恋并生下女儿珠儿。

白兰被当众惩罚，戴上标志“通奸”的红色A字示众。

然而白兰坚贞不屈，拒不说出孩子的父亲。

小说惯用象征手法，人物、情节和语言都颇具主观想象色彩，在描写中又常把人的心理活动和直觉放在首位。

因此，它不仅是美国浪漫主义小说的代表作，同时也被称作是美国心理分析小说的开创篇。

Hester Prynne （海丝特·白兰）, is the novel's heroine.Dimmesdale(丁梅斯代尔) Chillingworth（齐灵渥斯）Pearl（珠儿）内容简介在十七世纪中叶的一个夏天，一天早晨，一大群波士顿居民拥挤在监狱前的草地上，庄严地目不转睛地盯着牢房门。

她由于被认为犯了通奸罪而受到审判，并要永远佩带那个代表着耻辱的红字。

英美文学欣赏资料-红字the scarlet letter-精选文档

Story Synopsis
Years later, the husband Chillingworth came to the town and found out the whole truth, and he operated an horror revenge on Dimmesdale, with hiding his own true name. Yet, as the story going, Hester and Dimmesdale became sympathetic figures, while Chillingworth was a devil at last.
The Scarlet Letter
-----Nathaniel Hawthorne
19th century American Romanticism Hawthorne's novel
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Novelist and short story writer, a central figure in the American Renaissance. Nathaniel Hawthorne's best-known works include The Scarlet Letter (1850) and The House of the Seven Gables (1851). Like Edgar Allan Poe, Hawthorne took a dark view of human nature.
Book review and summary
The Scarlet Letter represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius .It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.

《美国文学》课件The Scarlet letter1

The Scarlet letter
I. Plot Overview (p.200-204) II. Character introduction and Analysis Hester Prynne: A young woman sent to the
colonies by her husband, the book’s protagonist and the wearer of the scarlet letter that gives the book its title. She is a symbol of the acknowledged sinner; one whose transgression has been identified and who makes appropriate, socio-religious atonement.
The Scarlet letter
Hester Prynne:
1) her strength of character. 2)honesty 3)a figure of compassion
The Scarlet letter
Dimmesdale , Dimmesdale is the unmarried pastor of Hester's congregation; he is also the father of Hester's daughter, Pearl. He is a symbol of the secret sinner; one who recognizes his transgression but keeps it hidden and secret, even to his own downfall.

The_Scarlet_Letter《红字》作品分析

The Scarlet LetterPlot summaryThe novel takes place during the summer in 17th-century Boston, Massachusetts in a Puritan village. A young woman, named Hester Prynne, has been led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms and on the breast of her gown "a rag of scarlet cloth" that "assumed the shape of a letter." It was the uppercase letter "A". The Scarlet Letter "A" represents the act of adultery that she has committed and it is to be a symbol of her sin—a badge of shame—for all to see. A man, who was elderly and a stranger to the town, enters the crowd and asks another onlooker what's happening. He responds by explaining that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester's husband, who is much older than she, and whose real name is unknown, has sent her ahead to America whilst settling affairs in Europe. However, her husband does not arrive in Boston, and the consensus is that he has been lost at sea. It is apparent that, while waiting for her husband, Hester has had an affair, leading to the birth of her daughter. She will not reveal her lover's identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her subsequent public shaming, is the punishment for her sin and secrecy. On this day Hester is led to the town scaffold and harangued by the town fathers, but she again refuses to identify her child's father.[2]The elderly onlooker is Hester's missing husband, who is now practicing medicine and calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He settles in Boston, intent on revenge. He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester, whom he has sworn to secrecy. Several years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and her daughter Pearl grows into a willful, impish child—in Hawthorne's work, Pearl is more of a symbol than an actual character—and is said to be the scarlet letter come to life as both Hester's love and her punishment. Shunned by the community, they live in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston. Community officials attempt to take Pearl away from Hester, but with the help of Arthur Dimmesdale, an eloquent minister, the mother and daughter manage to stay together. Dimmesdale, however, appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious heart trouble, seemingly caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth attaches himself to the ailing minister and eventually moves in with him so that he can provide his patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth also suspects that there may be a connection between the minister's torments and Hester's secret, and he begins to test Dimmesdale to see what he can learn. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, Chillingworth discovers something undescribed to the reader, supposedly an "A" burned into Dimmesdale's chest, which convinces him that his suspicions are correct.[2]Dimmesdale's psychological anguish deepens, and he invents new tortures for himself. In the meantime, Hester's charitable deeds and quiet humility have earned her a reprieve from the scorn of the community. One night, when Pearl is about seven years old, she and her mother are returning home from a visit to the deathbed of John Winthrop when they encounter Dimmesdale atop the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and Pearl join him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refuses Pearl's request that he acknowledge her publicly the next day, and a meteor marks a dull red "A" in the night sky. It is interpreted by the townsfolk to mean Angel, as a prominent figure in the community had died that night, but Dimmesdale sees it as meaning adultery. Hester can see that the minister's condition is worsening, and she resolves to intervene. She goes to Chillingworth and asks him to stop adding to Dimmesdale's self-torment. Chillingworth refuses. She suggests that she may reveal his true identity to Dimmesdale.[2]Later in the story, while walking through the forest, the sun would not shine on Hester, although Pearl could bask in it. They then encounter Dimmesdale, as he is taking a walk in the woods that day. Hester informs Dimmesdale of the true identity of Chillingworth and the former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of release, and Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. The sun immediately breaks through the clouds and trees to illuminate her release and joy. Pearl, playing nearby, does not recognize her mother without the letter. She is unnerved and expels a shriek until her mother points out the letter on the ground. Hester beckons Pearl to come to her, but Pearl will not go to her mother until Hester buttons the letter back onto her dress. Pearl then goes to her mother. Dimmesdale gives Pearl a kiss on the forehead, which Pearl immediately tries to wash off in the brook, because he again refuses to make known publicly their relationship. However, he too clearly feels a release from the pretense of his former life, and the laws and sins he has lived with.The day before the ship is to sail, the townspeople gather for a holiday put on in honor of an election and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever. Meanwhile, Hester has learned that Chillingworth knows of their plan and has booked passage on the same ship. Dimmesdale, leaving the church after his sermon, sees Hester and Pearl standing before the town scaffold. He impulsively mounts the scaffold with his lover and his daughter, and confesses publicly, exposing the mark supposedly seared into the flesh of his chest. He falls dead just after Pearl kisses him.[2]Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resumes her charitable work. She receives occasional letters from Pearl, who was rumored to have married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. Pearl also inherits all of Chillingworth's money even though he knows she is not his daughter. There is a sense of liberation in her and the townspeople, especially the women, who had finally begun to forgive Hester of her tragic indiscretion. When Hester dies, she is buried in "a new grave near an old and sunken one, in that burial ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both." The tombstone was decorated with a letter "A", for Hester and Dimmesdale.Character ListHester Prynne A young woman sent to the colonies by her husband, who plans to join her later but is presumed lost at sea. She is a symbol of the acknowledged sinner; one whose transgression has been identified and who makes appropriate, socio-religious atonement.（Hester Prynne is the central and most important character in The Scarlet Letter. Hester was married to Roger Chillingworth while living in England and, later, Amsterdam — a city to which many English Puritans moved for religious freedom. Hester preceded her husband to New England, as he had business matters to settle in Amsterdam, and after approximately two years in America she committed adultery with the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale.The novel begins as Hester nears the end of her prison term for adultery. While adultery was considered a grave threat to the Puritan community, such that death was considered a just punishment, the Puritan authorities weighed the long absence and possible death of her husband in their sentence. Thus, they settled on the punishment of permanent public humiliation and moral example: Hester was to forever wear the scarlet letter A on the bodice of her clothing.While seemingly free to leave the community and even America at her will, Hester chooses to stay. As the narrator puts it, "Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment; and so, perchance, the torture of her daily shame would at length purge her soul." According to this reasoning, Hester assumes her residence in a small abandoned cottage on the outskirts of the community.While the novel is, in large part, a record of the torment Hester suffers under the burden of her symbol of shame, eventually, after the implied marriage of her daughter Pearl and the death of Chillingworth and Dimmesdale, Hester becomes an accepted and even a highly valued member of the community. Instead of being a symbol of scorn, Hester, and the letter A, according to the narrator, "became a type of something to be sorrowed over, and looked upon with awe, yet with reverence too." The people of the community even come to Hester for comfort and counsel in times of trouble and sorrow because they trust her to offer unselfish advice toward the resolution of upsetting conflict. Thus, in the end, Hester becomes an important figure in preserving the peace and stability of the community.）Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale Dimmesdale is the unmarried pastor of Hester's congregation; he is also the father of Hester's daughter, Pearl. He is a symbol of the secret sinner; one who recognizes his transgression but keeps it hidden and secret, even to his own downfall.（Arthur Dimmesdale is the young, charismatic minister with whom Hester commits adultery. Unlike Hester, who bears the child Pearl by their affair, Dimmesdale shows no outward evidence of his sin, and, as Hester doesnot expose him, he lives with the great anguish of his secret guilt until he confesses publicly and soon after dies near the end of the novel.Dimmesdale is presented as a figure of frailty and weakness in contrast to Hester's strength (both moral and physical), pride, and determination. He consistently refuses to confess his sin (until the end), even though he repeatedly states that it were better, less spiritually painful, if his great failing were known. Thus Dimmesdale struggles through the years and the narrative, enduring and faltering beneath his growing pain (with both the help and harm of Roger Chillingworth), until, after his failed plan to escape to Europe with Hester and Pearl, he confesses and dies.）Pearl Pearl is the illegitimate daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. She is the living manifestation of Hester's sin and a symbol of the product of the act of adultery and of an act of passion and love.（Pearl is the daughter of Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale. Necessarily marginal to Puritan society and scorned by other children, she grows up as an intimate of nature and the forest. Symbolically recreating the scarlet letter, Hester, in opposition to her own drab wardrobe, dresses Pearl in brilliant, decorative clothing such "that there was an absolute circle of radiance about her."Like most characters in The Scarlet Letter, Pearl is complex and contradictory. On the one hand, as the narrator describes, she "could not be made amenable to rules." At one moment in the novel, her disregard of authority takes the form of a violent game where she pretends to destroy the children of the Puritan elders: "the ugliest weeds of the garden [she imagined were the elders'] children, whom Pearl smote down and uprooted, most unmercifully." On the other hand, at a climactic point in the narrative, where Hester discards the scarlet letter on the floor of the forest, it is Pearl who dramatically insists that she resume the potent symbol. The form of her insistence is particularly important, for, against her mother's request, she does not bring the letter to Hester, but obstinately has Hester fetch the letter herself. This moment demonstrates one of the central conflicted themes of the novel about the authoritarian imposition of law and the willing subjection to it, or even embodiment of it. In this scene Pearl becomes the figure of authority to whom Hester willingly, if symbolically, obeys. Pearl eventually leaves with Hester for Europe (though Hester returns), where, it is implied, Pearl stays and, with the aid of Chillingworth's inheritance, is married to nobility.）Roger Chillingworth The pseudonym assumed by Hester Prynne's aged scholar-husband. He is a symbol of evil, of the "devil's handyman," of one consumed with revenge and devoid of compassion.（Roger Chillingworth is the alias of Hester's husband. The two were married in England and moved together to Amsterdam before Hester preceded Chillingworth to America. Chillingworth is a man devoted to knowledge. His outward physical deformity (a hunchback) is symbolic of his devotion to deep, as opposed to superficial, knowledge. His lifelong study of apothecary and the healing arts, first in Europe and later among the Indians of America, is a sincere benevolent exercise until he discovers his wife's infidelity, whereupon he turns his skills toward the evil of revenge.Chillingworth is introduced near the very start of the narrative, where he discovers Hester upon the scaffold with Pearl, the scarlet letter upon her chest, and displayed for public shame. After surviving a shipwreck on his voyage to America, he lived for some time among the Indians and slowly made his way to Boston and Hester. Upon discovering Hester's "ignominious" situation, Chilling-worth declines to announce his identity and instead chooses to reside in Boston to find and avenge himself on Hester's lover. When Dimmesdale becomes ill with the effects of his sin, Chillingworth comes to live with him under the same roof. Reneging on an earlier promise, Hester eventually discloses Chillingworth's identity to Dimmesdale. Soon after Dimmesdale publicly confesses his sin and, as Chillingworth puts it, "Hadst thou sought the whole earth over there was no one place so secret, —no high place nor lowly place, where thou couldst have escaped me, —save on this very scaffold!" Thus, his vengeful victory taken from him, Chillingworth soon dies, though not before leaving all of his substantial wealth to Pearl.）Governor Bellingham This actual historical figure, Richard Bellingham, was elected governor in 1641, 1654, and 1665. In The Scarlet Letter, he witnesses Hester's punishment and is a symbol of civil authority and,combined with John Wilson, of the Puritan Theocracy.Mistress Hibbins Another historical figure, Ann Hibbins, sister of Governor Bellingham, was executed for witchcraft in 1656. In the novel, she has insight into the sins of both Hester and Dimmesdale and is a symbol of super or preternatural knowledge and evil powers.John Wilson The historical figure on whom this character is based was an English-born minister who arrived in Boston in 1630. He is a symbol of religious authority and, combined with Governor Bellingham, of the Puritan Theocracy.Character Analysis1.Hester PrynneWhat is most remarkable about Hester Prynne is her strength of character. While Hawthorne does not give a great deal of information about her life before the book opens, he does show her remarkable character, revealed through her public humiliation and subsequent, isolated life in Puritan society. Her inner strength, her defiance of convention, her honesty, and her compassion may have been in her character all along, but the scarlet letter brings them to our attention. She is, in the end, a survivor.Hester is physically described in the first scaffold scene as a tall young woman with a "figure of perfect elegance on a large scale." Her most impressive feature is her "dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam." Her complexion is rich, her eyes are dark and deep, and her regular features give her a beautiful face. In fact, so physically stunning is she that "her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped."Contrast this with her appearance after seven years of punishment for her sin. Her beautiful hair is hidden under her cap, her beauty and warmth are gone, buried under the burden of the elaborate scarlet letter on her bosom. When she removes the letter and takes off her cap in Chapter 13, she once again becomes the radiant beauty of seven years earlier. Symbolically, when Hester removes the letter and takes off the cap, she is, in effect, removing the harsh, stark, unbending Puritan social and moral structure.Hester is only to have a brief respite, however, because Pearl angrily demands she resume wearing the scarlet A. With the scarlet letter and her hair back in place, "her beauty, the warmth and richness of her womanhood, departed, like fading sunshine; and a gray shadow seemed to fall across her." While her punishment changes her physical appearance, it has a far more profound effect on her character.What we know about Hester from the days prior to her punishment is that she came from a "genteel but impoverished English family" of notable lineage. She married the much older Roger Chillingworth, who spent long hours over his books and experiments; yet she convinced herself that she was happy. When they left Amsterdam for the New World, he sent her ahead, but he was reportedly lost at sea, leaving Hester alone among the Puritans of Boston. Officially, she is a widow. While not a Puritan herself, Hester looks to Arthur Dimmesdale for comfort and spiritual guidance. Somewhere during this period of time, their solace becomes passion and results in the birth of Pearl.The reader first meets the incredibly strong Hester on the scaffold with Pearl in her arms, beginning her punishment. On the scaffold, she displays a sense of irony and contempt. The irony is present in the elaborate needlework of the scarlet letter. There are "fantastic flourishes of gold-thread," and the letter is ornately decorative, significantly beyond the colony's laws that call for somber, unadorned attire. The first description of Hester notes her "natural dignity and force of character" and mentions specifically the haughty smile and strong glance that reveal no self-consciousness of her plight. While she might be feeling agony as if "her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon," her face reveals no such thought, and her demeanor is described as "haughty." She displays a dignity and grace that reveals a deep trust in herself.In this first scene, Dimmesdale implores her to name the father of the baby and her penance may be lightened. Hester says "Never!" When asked again, she says "I will not speak!" While this declaration relieves Dimmesdale and he praises her under his breath, it also shows Hester's determination to stand alone despite the opinion of society. Hester's self-reliance and inner strength are further revealed in her defiance of the law and in her iron will during her confrontation with the governor of the colony.Despite her lonely existence, Hester somehow finds an inner strength to defy both the townspeople and thelocal government. This defiance becomes stronger and will carry her through later interviews with both Chillingworth and Governor Bellingham. Her determination and lonely stand is repeated again when she confronts Governor Bellingham over the issue of Pearl's guardianship. When the governor determines to take Pearl away from her, Hester says, "God gave me the child! He gave her in requital of all things else, which he had taken from me . . . Ye shall not take her! I will die first!" When pressed further with assurances of Pearl's good care, Hester defiantly pleads with him, "God gave her into my keeping. I will not give her up!" Here Hester turns to Dimmesdale for help, the one time in the novel where she does not stand alone.Hester's strength is evident in her dealings with both her husband and her lover. Hester defies Chillingworth when he demands to know the name of her lover. In Chapter 4, when he interviews her in the jail, she firmly says, "Ask me not! That thou shalt never know!" In the forest scene, even Dimmesdale acknowledges that she has the strength he lacks. The minister calls on her to give him strength to overcome his indecisiveness twice in the forest and again as he faces his confession on Election Day.What is the source of this strength? As she walks out on the scaffold at the beginning of the novel, Hester determines that she must "sustain and carry" her burden forward "by the ordinary resources of her nature, or sink with it. She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present." Her loneliness is described in the Chapter 5 as she considers how she can support herself and Pearl, a problem that she solves with her needlework. Yet she continues to lack adult companionship throughout her life. She has nothing but her strength of spirit to sustain her. This inner calm is recognized in the changing attitude of the community when they acknowledge that the A is for "Able," "so strong was Hester Prynne, with a woman's strength."A second quality of Hester is that she is, above all, honest: She openly acknowledges her sin. In Chapter 17, she explains to Dimmesdale that she has been honest in all things except in disclosing his part in her pregnancy. "A lie is never good, even though death threaten on the other side!" She also explains to Chillingworth that, even in their sham of a marriage, "thou knowest that I was frank with thee. I felt no love, nor feigned any." She kept her word in carrying her husband's secret identity, and she tells the minister the truth only after she is released from her pledge. This life of public repentance, although bitter and difficult, helps her retain her sanity while Dimmesdale seems to be losing his.Finally, Hester becomes an angel of mercy who eventually lives out her life as a figure of compassion in the community. Hester becomes known for her charitable deeds. She offers comfort to the poor, the sick, and the downtrodden. When the governor is dying, she is at his side. "She came, not as a guest, but as a rightful inmate, into the household that was darkened by trouble." Yet Hester's presence is taken for granted, and those that she helps do not acknowledge her on the street.Hawthorne attributes this transformation to her lonely position in the world and her suffering. No friend, no companion, no foot crossed the threshold of her cottage. In her solitude, she had a great deal of time to think. Also, Hester has Pearl to raise, and she must do so amid a great number of difficulties. Her shame in the face of public opinion, her loneliness and suffering, and her quiet acceptance of her position make her respond to the calamities of others.In the end, Hester's strength, honesty, and compassion carry her through a life she had not imagined. While Dimmesdale dies after his public confession and Chillingworth dies consumed by his own hatred and revenge, Hester lives on, quietly, and becomes something of a legend in the colony of Boston. The scarlet letter made her what she became, and, in the end, she grew stronger and more at peace through her suffering.2.Arthur DimmesdaleDimmesdale, the personification of "human frailty and sorrow," is young, pale, and physically delicate. He has large, melancholy eyes and a tremulous mouth, suggesting great sensitivity. An ordained Puritan minister, he is well educated, and he has a philosophical turn of mind. There is no doubt that he is devoted to God, passionate in his religion, and effective in the pulpit. He also has the principal conflict in the novel, and his agonized suffering is the direct result of his inability to disclose his sin.Of the four major characters in this novel, which investigates the nature of evil and sin and is a criticism of Puritan rigidity and intolerance, Dimmesdale is the only Puritan. One really cannot understand Dimmesdale or his dilemma without at least a cursory understanding of the Puritans who inhabited Boston at this time (see theessay "The Puritan Community" in the Critical Essays) and Hawthorne's psychological perspective through which he presents this tragic character.In Puritan terms, Dimmesdale's predicament is that he is unsure of his soul's status: He is exemplary in performing his duties as a Puritan minister, an indicator that he is one of the elect; however, he knows he has sinned and considers himself a hypocrite, a sign he is not chosen. The vigils he keeps are representative of this inward struggle to ascertain his heavenly status, the status of his very soul. Note that Hawthorne says of Dimmesdale's nightly vigils, which are sometimes in darkness, sometimes in dim light, and sometimes by the most powerful light which he could throw upon it, "He thus typified the constant introspection wherewith he tortured . . ."Finally, to add to the Dimmesdale dilemma, the Puritans — therefore, Dimmesdale — did not believe that good works or moral living earned salvation for the individual. As Dimmesdale states, "There is no substance in it [good works]." (Hester, who is not Puritan, believes that Dimmesdale's good works should bring him peace.) The Puritan reasoning was that, if one could earn his/her way into heaven, God's sovereignty is diminished. Since God created the soul and infused it in the human body, salvation is predestined. They reasoned that the elect — that is, God's chosen people — would not or could not commit evil acts; they would act the role, as it were; thus, Dimmesdale's dilemma.As a minister, Dimmesdale has a voice that consoles and an ability to sway audiences. His congregation adores him and his parishioners seek his advice. As a minister, Dimmesdale must be above reproach, and there is no question that he excels at his profession and enjoys a reputation among his congregation and other ministers. His soul aside, he does do good works. His ministry aids people in leading good lives. If he publicly confesses, he loses his ability to be effective in this regard.For Dimmesdale, however, his effectiveness betrays his desire to confess. The more he suffers, the better his sermons become. The more he whips himself, the more eloquent he is on Sunday and the more his congregation worships his words. Nevertheless, Hawthorne states in Chapter 20, "No man, for any considerable period, can wear one face to himself, and another to the multitude, without finally getting bewildered as to which may be true."Dimmesdale's struggle is dark and his penance is horrifying as he tries to unravel his mystery. In Chapter 11, "The Interior of a Heart," Dimmesdale struggles with his knowledge of his sin, his inability to disclose it to Puritan society, and his desire for penance. He knows his actions have fallen short of both God's standards and his own, and he fears this represents his lack of salvation. In an attempt to seek salvation, he fasts until he faints and whips himself on the shoulders until he bleeds. But these punishments are done in private rather than in public and do not provide the cleansing Dimmesdale seeks and needs.As a sinner, he is weakened to temptation. As demonstrated later, his weakened condition makes it easier for him to associate himself with the Black Man in the forest. His congregation expects him to be above other mortals, and his life and thoughts must exist on a higher spiritual plane than others. Accordingly, his wonderful sermons are applauded by all for a reason his listeners don't understand: Sin and agony have enabled the intellectual scholar-minister to recognize and empathize with other sinners.In the forest scene, Dimmesdale evidently realizes that he is human and should ask forgiveness and do penance openly. On the way home, he sees how far his defenses have been breached by evil. These thoughts explain why he can so easily write his Election Day sermon, which is filled with the passion of his struggle and his humanity.Dimmesdale's confession in the third scaffold scene and the climax of the story is the action that ensures his salvation. The reader senses that whether chosen or earned, Dimmesdale's salvation is a reality. Having had several opportunities to confess, without success until this scene, true to his nature if not his ministry, he asks God's forgiveness not only for himself, but also for Chillingworth, who confirms the minister's triumph when he laments, "Thou hast escaped me! . . . Thou hast escaped me!" Dimmesdale's confession also brings about Pearl's humane metamorphosis.In the long run, Dimmesdale has not the strength of Hester Prynne or her honesty. He cannot stand alone to confess. In death, perhaps he will find a gentler judgment that his own or that of his fellow citizens of Boston.。

美国文学红字英文赏析 The+Scarlet+Letter

productive, as he wrote The House of the Seven Gables and The Blithedale Romance, along with A Wonder Book (1852) and Tanglewood Tales (1853).
Hawthorne Biography
They finally returned to the United States, after an absence of seven years, and took up residence in their first permanent home, The Wayside, at Concord.
Most of Hawthorne's early stories were published anonymously (without an author's name) in magazines and giftbooks.
In 1837, the publication of Twice-Told Tales
Hawthorne Biography
Years Abroad and Death Although he had always been an exceptionally active
man, Hawthorne's health began to fail him. Since he refused to submit to any thorough medical examination, the details of his declining health remain mysterious. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864.

TheScarletLetter内容总结及分析

红字（美国作家霍桑创作小说）19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑的长篇小说。

发表于1850年。

《红字》讲述了发生在北美殖民时期的恋爱悲剧。

女主人公海丝特·白兰嫁给了医生奇灵渥斯，他们之间却没有爱情。

在孤独中白兰与牧师丁梅斯代尔相恋并生下女儿珠儿。

白兰被当众惩罚，戴上标志“通奸”的红色A字示众。

然而白兰坚贞不屈，拒不说出孩子的父亲。

小说惯用象征手法，人物、情节和语言都颇具主观想象色彩，在描写中又常把人的心理活动和直觉放在首位。

因此，它不仅是美国浪漫主义小说的代表作，同时也被称作是美国心理分析小说的开创篇。

她由于被认为犯了通奸罪而受到审判，并要永远佩带那个代表着耻辱的红字。