the summary of the Scalet Letter《红字》简介
《红字》：罪恶、道德束缚与内心挣扎的触动
红字：罪恶、道德束缚与内心挣扎的触动引言《红字》（The Scarlet Letter）是美国作家霍桑所著的一部经典文学作品，出版于1850年。
这部小说以17世纪新英格兰为背景，讲述了一个女性因通奸而被判处终身戴着红字"A"的耻辱标志，以及她与世俗道德规范之间冲突的故事。
罪恶与道德束缚在《红字》中，主人公海蒂·普林姆是一个受众人唾弃和指责的存在。
她的孩子生下来时，并没有告诉他们她丈夫已经死亡。
这个谎言及其随后揭露出来的真相使她落入了思想和情感上的深深挣扎。
整个社会将她视作罪人，因此她承受巨大压力和内疚感。
与此同时，道德规范和社会约束开始展现出压倒性的力量。
内心挣扎与自我救赎尽管受到外部压力和耻辱标记的束缚，海蒂并未完全屈服于社会的道德压力。
她展现了强大的内心力量和对自我的思考。
在整个故事中，她努力寻找解放和自我救赎的路径。
与此同时，霍桑通过刻画其他人物的故事线索来探讨罪恶和道德事务对他们的影响。
权威与宽容之间的冲突《红字》通过刻画当时严格守法、注重礼教、尊崇权威的新英格兰社会，揭示了道德约束和个人自由之间的冲突。
作者通过这一主题表达了对陈旧价值观、狭隘心态以及神职人员滥用权力的批判。
结论《红字》这部作品深入探讨了罪恶、道德束缚和内心挣扎等主题。
它通过主人公海蒂及其他角色塑造，展示出不同形式下个体与社会的关系、信仰与自由之间复杂而又微妙的冲突。
这部小说不仅使读者反思道德规范和社会压力对我们行为和内心状态产生的影响，同时也启示我们应该在道德的框架内寻求个体自由的平衡点。
丁梅斯代尔性格分析 《红字》中的人物丁梅斯代尔形象解读
《丁梅斯代尔性格分析《红字》中的人物丁梅斯代尔形象解读》摘要：丁梅斯代尔悲剧摘要：本文在简要介绍美国著名文学作品《红字》的基础上，分析作品中主要人物之一丁梅斯代尔的悲剧及其悲剧产生的原因，丁梅斯代尔这个受过良好的教育、文雅而持重的年轻牧师，在教区中担任至高的社会责任，是教区里德才出众的人物，认为自己是教区中最神圣的人，并笃信自己是“受上帝的召唤”、作为上帝的替身来从事牧师工作的，自然应该被仰慕、被爱戴，丁梅斯代尔是人的自然属性与社会属性冲突的焦点和集中体现关键词：《红字》丁梅斯代尔悲剧摘要：本文在简要介绍美国著名文学作品《红字》的基础上，分析作品中主要人物之一丁梅斯代尔的悲剧及其悲剧产生的原因。
一、《红字》作品简介《红字》（The Scarlet Letter）是美国19世纪浪漫主义作家霍桑（Nathaniel Hawthorne）最杰出的代表作，也是整个美国浪漫主义小说中最有声望的权威作品之一。
小说的故事发生在17世纪中期加尔文教派统治下的波士顿，作者从当时的社会现状入手，描写了海丝特与神职人员丁梅斯代尔的爱情悲剧，作品以严酷的清教政权统治下的北美洲殖民地时期为背景，女主人公海丝特由于犯了通奸罪，坚决不交待同犯，曾被清教徒政权关进监狱，终生戴上耻辱的红字A示众(Ａ字是英语通奸Adultery一词的第一个字母)，作为劝告世人的活标本，受到人们的鄙视和摒弃。
透过这两个人物的处境，让我们看到了两颗破碎的心灵怎样在痛苦中呻吟。
故事同时也揭露了宗教对人们精神、心灵和道德的摧残。
文中的四个人物性格与命运各不相同。
海丝特・白兰（Hester Prynne）佩带的是有形的红字。
她出身没落的世家，父母贫穷而正直。
她的不幸的婚姻，加之两年中丈夫音讯皆无。
谣传他已葬身海底，这个孤苦无依的少妇与才貌相当的牧师丁梅斯代尔的爱情便显得合情合理。
事情败露后，她被迫终身佩戴红字，为了爱人的名声，她独自承担了全部罪责与耻辱。
出于对他的眷恋之情，她不但在他生前不肯远离他所在的教区，就是在他死后，仍然放弃了与女儿共享天伦之乐的优越生活，重返埋有他尸骨的故地，重新戴上红字，直到死后葬在他身边，以便永远守护、偎依着他。
名著速览《红字》故事内容梗概简介
名著速览《红字》故事内容梗概简介(美国)霍桑著[故事梗概]海丝特·白兰是个年青漂亮的女子，出生于英格兰的一个古老的世家。
她有深黑的眼睛，浓密而乌亮的头发，端正而美丽的五官，身材细长，给人以深刻的印象。
她嫁给一个年老的学者罗格·齐灵窝斯。
当时正值英国向美国移民时期。
她的丈夫决定定居到美国波士顿。
他先把妻子送去，自己留在英格兰处理未了的事务。
可是，罗格过了两年才去美国。
这时白兰却和一个年青的牧师犯了通奸罪，并生下了一个女孩。
按当时清教徒的法律，犯了通奸罪，必须在胸前佩带红A字，处以示众的惩罚。
正当白兰从监狱被带到枷刑台示众那天，罗格来到美国。
他是个年纪衰老、矮小的男人，有着苍白瘠瘦的学者般的面孔，晦暗的眼睛；他的左肩比右肩高一些，穿着怪模怪样的衣服。
他一眼就认出了自己的妻子，一种辗转不安的恐怖，犹如毒蛇急剧地缠住了他的身子，他的脸色阴暗了。
但就在这一刹那间，他又以意志力抑制住了自己。
当他发觉白兰也认出他时，他缓慢而平静地举起他的一个手指，在空中作了一个手势，接着又把手指压在他的唇上，那意思是说叫她不要声张。
海丝特·白兰被带回监狱后，罗格以医生的身份去探狱。
他要白兰说出奸夫的姓名，她不肯说，却公开对罗格说，她不爱他，在他那里她感觉不到爱情。
罗格也承认说：“我们彼此害了对方……我把你含苞的青春和我的衰朽结成了一种错误而不自然的关系。
”他向白兰提出一项交换条件，即白兰可以保守她奸夫的秘密，但同样要保守他的秘密，在人前不能承认他们是夫妻，而要说她丈夫已死了，因为他不能“遭受一个不忠实女人的丈夫所要蒙受的耻辱”。
白兰同意了。
于是，罗格便以医生的身份定居下来，暗中他在察访白兰的奸夫，以便进行报复。
白兰的情人丁梅斯代尔是个年青的牧师。
他有洁白高耸而逼人的前额，棕色忧郁的大眼睛；他的嘴，除非是用力压抑着的时候，总是容易颤抖，这既表示出神经质的敏感，同时表示出自我抑制的巨大力量。
他毕业于英国牛津大学，学识渊博，既有炽热的宗教感情，又善于辞令。
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。
The_Scarlet_Letter《红字》作品分析
The Scarlet LetterHistorical ContextThe Transcendentalist MovementThe Scarlet Letter, which takes as its principal subject colonial seventeenth-century New England, was written and published in the middle of the nineteenth century. Hawthorne began writing the novel in 1849, after his dismissal from the Custom-House, and it was published in 1850. The discrepancy between the time represented in the novel and the time of its production has often been a point of confusion to students. Because Hawthorne took an earlier time as his subject, the novel is considered a historical romance written in the midst of the American literary movement called transcendentalism (c. 1836-60).The principle writers of transcendentalism included Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Margaret Fuller, and W. H. Channing. Transcendentalism was, broadly speaking, a reaction against the rationalism of the previous century and the religious orthodoxy of Calvinist New England. Transcendentalism stressed the romantic tenets of mysticism, idealism, and individualism. In religious terms it saw God not as a distant and harsh authority, but as an essential aspect of the individual and the natural world, which were themselves considered inseparable. Because of this profound unity of all matter, human and natural, knowledge of the world and its laws could be obtained through a kind of mystical rapture with the world. This type of experience was perhaps most famously explained in Emerson's Nature, where he wrote, "I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part and parcel of God." Even though Hawthorne was close to many transcendentalists, including Emerson, and even though he lived for a while at the transcendentalist experimental community of Brook Farm, he was rather peripheral to the movement. Hawthorne even pokes fun at Brook Farm and his transcendentalist contemporaries in "The Custom-House," referring to them as his "dreamy brethren indulging in fantastic speculation." Where they saw the possibilities of achieving knowledge through mystical experience, Hawthorne was far more skeptical. Abolitionism and RevolutionMore important to Hawthorne's literary productions, and particularly The Scarlet Letter, was abolitionism and European revolution. These, in Hawthorne's view, were episodes of threatening instability. Abolitionism was the nineteenth-century movement to end slavery in the United States. Though it varied in intensity, abolitionism contained a very radical strain that helped to form a climate for John Brown's capture of Harpers Ferry in 1859. (John Brown intended to establish a base for armed slave insurrection.) The rising intensity and violence of abolitionism was an important cause of the Civil War. Hawthorne's conservative position in relation to abolitionism did not necessarily mean that he was pro-slavery, but he did quite clearly oppose abolitionists, writing that slavery was "one of those evils which divine Providence does not leave to be remedied by human contrivances."What Hawthorne feared were violent disruptions of the social order like those that were happening in Europe at the time he wrote The Scarlet Letter. The bloody social upheaval that most interested Americans began in France in 1848. This, and other revolutions of the period, pitted the lower and middle classes against established power and authority. While the revolutions eventually failed, they were largely waged under the banner of socialism, and it was this fact that caused concern in America; as one journalist wrote, as quoted by Bercovitch, here there were "foreboding shadows" of "Communism, Socialism, Pillage, Murder, Anarchy, and the Guillotine vs. Law and Order, Family and Property." Critics have recently pointed to Hawthorne's guillotine imagery in "The Custom-House" (where he even suggests the tidle "The Posthumous Papers of a Decapitated Surveyor" for his tale) and metaphors of his own victimization as some evidence of his sympathies with regard to revolution and social order.The Puritan ColoniesThe novel was written in the mid-nineteenth century, but it takes the mid-seventeenth century for the events it describes (1642-49). The Massachusetts Bay Colony was established by John Winthorp (whose death is represented near the center of the novel) and other Puritans in 1630. They sought to establish an ideal community in America that could act as a model of influence for what they saw as a corrupt civil and religious order in England. This sense of mission was the center of their religious and social identity. Directed toward therealization of such an ideal, the Puritans required a strict moral regulation; anyone in the conmmunity who sinned threatened not only their soul, but the very possibility of civil and religious perfection in America and in England. Not coincidentally, the years Hawthorne chose to represent in The Scarlet Letter were the same as those of the English Civil War fought between King Charles I and the Puritan Parliament; the latter was naturally supported by the New England colonists.Plot 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 beckonsPearl 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 thefather 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 does not 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 veryscaffold!" 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 relievesDimmesdale 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 the local 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。
《红字》故事梗概
《红字》故事梗概故事发生在17世纪的某个小镇上，讲述了一个关于罪恶、欺骗和自我救赎的故事。
主要角色包括赛勒姆小镇的居民赫斯特·发维尔夫人、她的丈夫罗杰·发维尔先生、赫斯特的情人亚瑟·丹斯道尔医生以及他们的私生女小珠。
故事开始于赫斯特被发现怀孕的一天。
这一消息震惊了整个小镇，因为她的丈夫罗杰已经两年没有来到小镇，而亚瑟医生作为赫斯特的密友，成为了大家的猜测对象。
赫斯特为了保护亚瑟，不得不隐瞒了她的罪行，并承受了整个社区的唾弃和指责。
在故事的第二部分，我们看到赫斯特和小珠的生活逐渐变得孤立和辛苦。
小镇居民对她们的态度变得更加恶劣，甚至有人试图把小珠变成赫斯特不忠行为的代价。
但是，儿子哈奇博恩牧师却对母亲保持着坚定的支持。
在故事的高潮部分，一个大火肆虐了整个小镇。
赫斯特的房子也被烧毁了，在这场灾难中，她决定揭开身份的真相。
她带着小珠站在教堂的门口，公布了她们的罪恶和亚瑟的参与。
她戴着一个绣在胸前的红字“A”（代表她是通奸者）站在众人眼前，咬牙切齿地接受了镇民们的唾弃和责骂。
随着故事的进展，罗杰终于回到了小镇。
他是事件最大的受害者之一，因为他被亚瑟和赫斯特的背叛深深刺痛着。
他的内心充满了愤怒和痛苦，但当他看到赫斯特和小珠交替露出的红字后，他的愤怒消散了。
他意识到这件事对所有人来说已经是一个巨大的痛苦，他原谅了赫斯特，并打算与她开始新的生活。
故事的最后，赫斯特和小珠离开了赛勒姆小镇，开始了新的生活。
她们在一个遥远的地方找到了安身之地，展开新的篇章。
尽管红字仍然存在于她们的生命中，但她们学会了接受自己的过去，并以坚强的意志去面对未来。
通过《红字》这个故事，作者描绘了人性中的罪恶、宽恕和自我救赎的过程。
故事中的主人公赫斯特通过承受社会的唾弃和痛苦，最终找到了内心的平静。
这个故事向我们展示了将错误与罪行从心中拔除的艰难过程，以及接受自己过去的重要性。
无论我们的过去是怎样的，只要我们愿意面对并改变自己，我们都能够实现自我救赎，重新开始。
红字
The Scarlet
第九章
Leห้องสมุดไป่ตู้ter
原文对照
His form grew emaciated; his voice, though still rich and sweet, had a certain melancholy prophecy of decay in it; he was often observed, on any slight alarm or other sudden accident, to put his hand over his heart, with first a flush and then a paleness, indicative of pain. 他身体日见消损，他的嗓畜虽仍然丰润而甜美，却含有某 种预示衰颓的忧郁；人们时常观察到，每逢稍有惊恐或其 它突发事件，他就会用手捂住心口，脸上一红一自，说明 他很痛苦 。
小说分析
•
•丁梅斯代尔内心承受着巨大的痛苦， 内心很矛盾，一方面是受人敬仰的， 作为有学识的牧师而活动于波斯顿这 个镇子。正如原文所说，丁梅斯代尔 先生是一个地道的牧师，一个真正的 笃信宗教的人，他有高度发展的虔诚 的感情和有力地推动着自身沿着信仰 的道路前进的心境，而且会随着时间 的流逝面日渐深入。无论在何种社会 形态中，他都不会是那种所谓有自由 见解的人；他总要感到周围有一种信 仰的压力，才能心平气和，这信仰既 支撑着他，又将他禁闭在其铁笼之中。
第十章
The doctor and patient Mr. DimmYeesdale would perhaps have seen this individual's character more perfectly, if a certain morbidness, to which sick hearts are liable, had not rendered him suspicious of all mankind. Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared. 丁梅斯代尔先生如果没有病人常有的 某种病态，以致对整个人类抱着猜疑 的态度的话，他或许会对此人的品性 看得更充分些。由于他不把任何人视 为可信赖的朋友，故此当敌人实际上 已出现时，仍然辨认不出。
小说红字(英文版)
C7&C8:the government‘s hall & the elf-child
4
and the minister
Dimmesdale appeared to be wasting away and suffered from mysterious heart trouble. Chillingworth attached himself to Dimmesdale and lived with him so that he could provide his patient with round-the-clock care .Roger detected the minister as the lover and kept haunting his mind and soul.
C12:The minister’s vigil One night, Hester and Pearl encountered Dimmesdale at the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and Pearl joined him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refused Pearl’s request that he acknowledged her publicly the next day.
His four major romances or novels
written between 1850 and 1860
The Scarlet Letter《红字》 (1850)
The House of the Seven Gables 《七个尖角阁的房子》 (1851)
红字情节介绍
The end…
The day before the ship is to sail, the townspeople gather for a holiday in honor of an election and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever. Dimmesdale, leaving the church after his sermon, he mounts(爬上) the scaffold with his lover and his daughter, and confesses publicly, exposing the mark supposedly seared(烙印） into the flesh of his chest. He dies in Hester's arms after Pearl kisses him. .
The end…
Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies within the year. 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. 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(言行失检).
红字简介
作品简介19世纪美国浪漫主义作家霍桑的长篇小说。
发表于1850年。
小说以两百多年前的殖民地时代的美洲为题材，但揭露的却是19世纪资本主义发展时代美利坚合众国社会典法的残酷、宗教的欺骗和道德的虚伪。
主人公海丝特被写成了崇高道德的化身。
她不但感化了表里不一的丁梅斯代尔，同时也在感化着充满罪恶的社会。
至于她的丈夫奇林渥斯，小说则把他写成了一个一心只想窥秘复仇的影子式的人物。
他在小说中只起情节铺垫的作用。
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。
introductionThe nineteenth century American romantic writers hawthorne novel. Published in 1850.Novels by two hundred years ago of the colonial time America as subject matter, but revealed is the 19 th century development of capitalism of the United States of America DianFa society of the era of deceit and cruelty, religious moral hypocrisy. Master the high seas, silk is written for high moral incarnation. She not only influenced hypocritical dimmesdale, and also in the social reform of iniquity.As for her husband, Lin, ward, the novel he wrote an over-allocation peep the shadow of secret revenge the character of type. He in the novel only plays the role of the plot matting.Novel idiomatic symbolism, character, plot and language is a subjective imagine colour, in writing and often put people in the psychological activity and intuition in the first place. Therefore, it is not only the American romantic fiction masterpiece, also known as is the American psychological analysis of the creation of novel articles.英文简介The Scarlet Letter makes Hawthorne who is a famous American writer known all over the world. The story begins in 17th century, Boston, then a puritan settlement. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne used the scarlet letters to symbolize the harshness of Puritan society, showing how they branded sinners for life. Although Puritan society is unforgiving towards the sinful scarlet letter, their strictness improved the bearers of the sin. The scarlet letter was also an example of how Puritan society will always remember the sin. “When strangers looked curiously at the scarlet letter-and none failed to do so, they branded it afresh into Hester’s soul.” A letter “A” but freshly green, instead of scarlet was created by her, showing how Hawthorne made a jest at the punishment Puritans put upon Hester. And the scarlet letter was also a toy to Pearl, something that she enjoyed. Hawthorne uses the scarlet letter to depict his feelings of the exaggerated emotions of the puritans and their overly dramatThe Scarlet Letter英文简介the scarlet letter was declared a classic almost immediately after its publication in 1850, and it has stayed in print and in favor ever since. it has been hailed both as the first symbolic novel and as the first psychological novel(even though it was written before there was a science called psychology). but what really secures the place of the scarlet letter in the literary history is its treatment of human nature, sin, guilt, and pride--all timeless, universalthemes--from a uniquely american point of view.in the decades that followed the american revolution, the united states struggled to distinguish itself culturally from europe. there was a sense that if the united states were to become a great nation, it needed to have its own artistic traditions, not transplanted imitations of european models. hawthorne rose to this challenge. the scarlet letter is set in the mid-seventeenth century in a puritan colony on the edge of an untamed forest still inhabited by native americans. the landscape is wholly american. in the book, hawthorne manages to put his finger on several thematic elements that came to define the american national identity: the effects of the strict religious morality, the long struggle against a vast frontier, the troubled relationship between white settlers and native americans. these issues were just as relevant in hawthorne's dayas they were in puritan times, and the way americans and the united states government addressed these issues shaped the development of the nation. what is perhaps even more remarkable about this 150-year-old story if that its characters face the same moral struggles as readers in the twenty-first century. in puritan massachusetts, morality was strictly legislated and church and state were one and the same. although church and state have been separate legally since the bill of rights was ratified in 1791, issues of morality, personal freedom, and public life are still hot topics of national debate. should politicans be called to account for their personal lives? must public figures serve as role models？does our government have a right to make laws controlling, private behavior?in puritan colonies, sinners were often branded with a hot iron and put up on a scaffold for public mockery. we no longer use actual branding irons on the people whose moral failings we condemn. but modern media are far more effective than scaffolds for holding people up for public scrutiny, and the american public's readiness to judge the sins of others remains just as strong as it was 350 years ago. modern readers will see much of themselves in the characters of the scarlet letter.小说《红字》的作者纳塞尼尔·霍桑的英文简介Nathaniel Hawthorne (born Nathaniel Hathorne; July 4, 1804 – May 19, 1864) was an American novelist and short story writer.Nathaniel Hathorne was born in 1804 in the city of Salem, Massachusetts to Nathaniel Hathorne and Elizabeth Clarke Manning Hathorne. His ancestors include John Hathorne, a judge during the Salem Witch Trials. Nathaniel later added a "w" to make his name "Hawthorne". He entered Bowdoin College in 1821, was elected to Phi Beta Kappa in 1824,[1] and graduated in 1825. Hawthorne anonymously published his first work, a novel titled Fanshawe, in 1828. He published several short stories in various periodicals which he collected in 1837 as Twice-Told Tales. The next year, he became engaged to Sophia Peabody. He worked at a Custom House and joined Brook Farm, a transcendentalist community, before marrying Peabody in 1842. The couple moved to The Old Manse in Concord, Massachusetts, later moving to Salem, the Berkshires, then to The Wayside in Concord. The Scarlet Letter was published in 1850, followed by a succession of other novels. A political appointment took Hawthorne and family to Europe before their return to The Wayside in 1860. Hawthorne died on May 19, 1864, leaving behind his wife and their three children.Much of Hawthorne's writing centers on New England, many works featuring moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration. His fiction works are considered part of the Romantic movement and, more specifically, dark romanticism. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity, and his works often have moral messages and deep psychological complexity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce.。
The Scarlet Letter《红字》的内容梗概
The Scarlet Letter 《红字》An aging English scholar sends his beautiful young wife, Hester Prynne by name, to make their new home in New England. When he comes over two years later he is bewildered to see his wife in pillory, wearing a scarlet letter A on her breast, holding her illicit child in her arms. Determined to find out who her lover is, the old scholar disguises himself as a physician and changes his name to Roger Chillingworth. Gradually he discovers that the villain is no other than the much-admired brilliant young clergyman, Arthur Dimmesdale. Tormenting himself ruthlessly for his sin, Dimmesdale finds his conscience no less ruthlessly preyed by Chillingworth. He cuts himself off from community and withers spiritually as well as physically. Hester Prynne’s response to the scarlet letter A is a positive one. Though living on the fringe of the community, she does her best to reestablish her fellowship with her neighbors on a new, honest basis. She helps her fellow creatures as a sister of mercy of sorts or as a skilled embroiderer in an unobtrusive and undemanding manner, and finally wins their love and admiration. At one time she plans to leave America with Dimmesdale, but he refuses her help. He dies in the end in her arms while confessing his sin at a public gathering. Chillingworth withers. Pearl, Hester’s child, grows up to be married into a noble family of Europe.一位上了年纪的英国学者送他年轻貌美的妻子—海斯特•白兰去打理他们在新英格兰的新家。
the scarlet letter sumary红字英文简介
Not to be confused with The Scarlet Letters.This article is about the novel. For the films, see The Scarlet Letter (film).The Scarlet Letter is an 1850 romantic work of fiction in a historical setting, writtenby Nathaniel Hawthorne. It is considered to be his magnum opus.[1] Set in17th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new lifeof repentance and dignity. Throughout the book, Hawthorne explores themes of legalism, sin, and guilt.The story starts during the summer of 1642, near 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 is 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 is elderly and a stranger to the town, enters the crowd and asks another onlooker what's happening. The second man 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 reveals his true identity to Hester and medicates her daughter. They have a frank discussion where Chillingworth states that it was foolish and wrong for a cold, old intellectual like him to marry a young lively woman like Hester. He expressly states that he thinks that they have wronged each other and that he is even with her — her lover is a completely different matter. Hester refuses to divulge the name of her lover and Chillingworth does not press her stating that he will find out anyway. He does elicit a promise from her to keep his true identity as Hester's husband secret, though. He settles in Boston to practice medicine there. Several years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and her daughter,Pearl, grows into a willful, impish child, 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 , 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]As Hester walks through the forest, she is unable to feel the sunshine. Pearl, on the other hand, basks in it. They coincide with Dimmesdale, also on a stroll through the woods. Hester informs him of the true identity of Chillingworth. 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 toher 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.Nathaniel Hawthorne[edit]SinThe experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge—specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be immortal. For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as "her passport into regions where other women dared not tread", leading her to "speculate" about her society and herself more "boldly" than anyone else in New England.As for Dimmesdale, the "cheating minister", his sin gives him "sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his chest vibrate[s] in unison with theirs." His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy.[3] The narrative of the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principlesin Christian thought. His "Fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity but he ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister's belief is his own cheating, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved.[4]The rosebush, its beauty a striking contrast to all that surrounds it—as later the beautifully embroidered scarlet A will be–is held out in part as an invitation to find "some sweet moral blossom" in the ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that "the deep heart of nature" (perhaps God) may look more kind on the errant Hester and her child than her Puritan neighbors do. Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems.[5]Chillingworth's misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the anger in his soul, which builds as the novel progresses, similar to the way Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart; an observation thought to be inspired by the deterioration of Edgar Allan Poe, whom Hawthorne "much admired".[5]Although Pearl is a complex character, her primary function within the novel is as a symbol. Pearl herself is the embodiment of the scarlet letter, and Hester rightly clothes her in a beautiful dress of scarlet, embroidered with gold thread, just like the scarlet letter upon Hester's bosom.[3] Parallels can be drawn between Pearl and the character Beatricein Rappaccini's Daughter. Beatrice is nourished upon poisonous plants, until she herself becomes poisonous. Pearl, in the mysterious prenatal world, imbibes the poison of her parents' guilt.[edit]Past and presentThe clash of past and present is explored in various ways. For example, the character of the old General, whose heroic qualities include a distinguished name, perseverance, integrity, compassion, and moral inner strength, is said to be "the soul and spirit of NewEngland hardihood". Sometimes he presides over the Custom House run by corrupt public servants, who skip work to sleep, allow or overlook smuggling, and are supervised by an inspector with "no power of thought, nor depth of feeling, no troublesome sensibilities", who is honest enough but without a spiritual compass.[5]Hawthorne himself had ambivalent feelings about the role of his ancestors in his life. In his autobiographical sketch, Hawthorne described his ancestors as "dim and dusky", "grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and steel crowned", "bitter persecutors" whose "better deeds" would be diminished by their bad ones. There can be little doubt of Hawthorne's disdain for the stern morality and rigidity of the Puritans, and he imagined his predecessors' disdainful view of him: unsuccessful in their eyes, worthless and disgraceful. "A writer of story books!" But even as he disagrees with his ancestors' viewpoint, he also feels an instinctual connection to them and, more importantly, a "sense of place" in Salem. Their blood remains in his veins, but their intolerance and lack of humanity becomes the subject of his novel.[5][edit]Puritan LegalismAnother theme is the extreme legalism of the Puritans and how Hester chooses not to conform to their rules and beliefs. Hester was rejected by the villagers even though she spent her life helping the sick and the poor and doing what she could to help them. Because they rejected her, she spent her life mostly in solitude, and wouldn't go to church. As a result, she retreats into her own mind and her own thinking. Her thoughts begin to stretch and go beyond what would be considered by the Puritans as safe or even Christian. She still sees her sin, but begins to look on it differently than the villagers ever have. She begins to believe that a person's earthly sins don't necessarily condemn them. She even goes so far as to tell Dimmesdale that their sin has been paid for by their daily penance and that their sin won't keep them from getting to heaven, however, the Puritans believed that such a sin surely condemns. But Hester had been alienated from the Puritan society, both in her physical life and spiritual life. When Dimmesdale dies, she knows she has to move on because she can no longer conform to the Puritan's strictness. Her thinking is free from religious bounds and she has established her own, different moral standards and beliefs.[3]Engraved illustration from an 1878 edition.It was long thought that Hawthorne originally planned The Scarlet Letter to be ashorter novelette which was part of a collection to be named Old Time Legends and that his publisher, James Thomas Fields, convinced him to expand the work to a full-lengthnovel.[6] This is not true: Fields persuaded Hawthorne to publish The Scarlet Letter alone (along with the earlier-completed "Custom House" essay) but he had nothing to do with the length of the story.[7] Hawthorne's wife Sophia later challenged Fields' claims a little inexactly: "he has made the absurd boast that he was the sole cause of the Scarlet Letter being published!" She noted that her husband's friend Edwin Percy Whipple, a critic, approached Fields to consider its publication.[8] The manuscript was written at the Peter Edgerley Housein Salem, Massachusetts, still standing as a private residence at 14 Mall Street. It was the last Salem home where the Hawthorne family lived.[9]The Scarlet Letter was published as a novel in the spring of 1850 by Ticknor & Fields, beginning Hawthorne's most lucrative period.[10] When he delivered the final pages to Fields in February 1850, Hawthorne said that "some portions of the book are powerfully written" but doubted it would be popular.[11] In fact, the book was an instant best-seller[12] though, over fourteen years, it brought its author only $1,500.[10] Its initial publication brought wide protest from natives of Salem, who did not approve of how Hawthorne had depicted them in his introduction "The Custom-House". A 2,500-copy second edition of The Scarlet Letter included a preface by Hawthorne dated March 30, 1850, that stated he had decided to reprint his introduction "without the change of a word... The only remarkable features of the sketch are its frank and genuine good-humor... As to enmity, or ill-feeling of any kind, personal or political, he utterly disclaims such motives".[13]The Scarlet Letter was also one of the first mass-produced books in America. Into themid-nineteenth century, bookbinders of home-grown literature typically hand-made their books and sold them in small quantities. The first mechanized printing of The Scarlet Letter, 2,500 volumes, sold out within ten days,[10] and was widely read and discussed to an extent not much experienced in the young country up until that time. Copies of the first edition are often sought by collectors as rare books, and may fetch up to around $18,000 USD.On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck, a friend of Hawthorne's, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving-like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple, objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them".[14]Most literary critics praised the book but religious leaders took issue with the novel's subject matter.[15]Orestes Brownson complained that Hawthorne did not understand Christianity, confession, and remorse.[citation needed] A review in The Church Review and Ecclesiastical Register concluded the author "perpetrates bad morals."[16]On the other hand, 20th century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could be not be a more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter.[17]Henry James once said of the novel, "It is beautiful, admirable, extraordinary; it has in the highest degree that merit which I have spoken of as the mark of Hawthorne's best things--an indefinable purity and lightness of conception...One can often return to it; it supports familiarity and has the inexhaustible charm and mystery of great works of art."[18]The book's immediate and lasting success are due to the way it addresses spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint.[citation needed] In 1850, adultery was anextremely risqué subject, but because Hawthorne had the support of the New England literary establishment, it passed easily into the realm of appropriate reading. It has been said that this work represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius, dense with terse descriptions. It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.[19]The defeat of the revolutions of 1848 and 1849 in Europe appears to have unleashed a veritable epidemic of treatments of the theme of adultery. The rebellion of a wife against the fetters of her marriage may be seen as a code for the artist's rebellion against political and legal authority. In the same year in which The Scarlet Letter was published, forinstance Verdi's opera Stiffelio was premiered, in which the title character is also a minister; it is not he, but his wife who commits the act of adultery. From 1854 to 1859 RichardWagner portrayed adulteresses in Die Walküre and Tristan und Isolde; at the sametime, Gustave Flaubert was working on Madame Bovary.[20]The following are historical and Biblical references that appear in The Scarlet Letter.▪Anne Hutchinson, mentioned in Chapter 1, The Prison Door, was a religious dissenter (1591–1643). In the 1630s she was excommunicated by the Puritans and exiledfrom Boston and moved to Rhode Island.[5]▪Ann Hibbins, who historically was executed for witchcraft in Boston in 1656, is depicted in The Scarlet Letter as a witch who tries to tempt Prynne to the practice ofwitchcraft.[21][22]▪Richard Bellingham, who historically was the governor of Massachusetts and deputy governor at the time of Hibbins's execution, was depicted in The Scarlet Letter as the brother of Ann Hibbins.▪Martin Luther (1483–1545) was a leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany. ▪Sir Thomas Overbury and Dr. Forman were the subjects of an adultery scandal in 1615 in England. Dr. Forman was charged with trying to poison his adulterous wife and her lover. Overbury was a friend of the lover and was perhaps poisoned.▪John Winthrop (1588–1649), first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.▪King's Chapel Burying Ground, mentioned in the final paragraph, exists; the Elizabeth Pain gravestone is traditionally considered an inspiration for the protagonists' grave.▪Hester Prynne was loosely based on Hawthorne's wife, Sofia Peabody[citation needed].▪The story of King David and Bathsheba is depicted in the tapestry in Mr.Dimmesdale's room (chapter 9). (See II Samuel 11-12 for the Biblical story.) [edit]In popular cultureSee also: Film adaptations of the Scarlet Letter and The Scarlet Letter in popular cultureThe Scarlet Letter has been adapted to numerous films, plays and operas and remains frequently referenced in modern popular culture. The Scarlet Letter has been adapted in the recent movie Easy A (stylized as easy A), the story of Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) who experiences the same isolation Hester Prynne undergoes in the novel.。
《红字》主要情节theplotofscarletletter
The plot of the scarlet letter（《红字》主要情节）The story begins in seventeenth century’s boston, massachussetts colony.H ESTER P RYNNE, the novel’s heroin, is led out of a prison carrying an baby, named P EARL, the daughter of an unknowns man . A bright red “A” is embroidered on her chest. she is forced to climb up a scaffold to endure public shame for her adultery. Just then she notices her husband, now he is named chillingworth,who is thought has died in the sea. Hester refuse to tell the Reverend A RTHUR D IMMESDALE the man’s name and is sent back to her prison cell. Chillingworth gets inside the prison to speak with Hester, and there forces her to promise never to reveal that he’s her husband. Three years pass. Hester is let out of prison and moves to the outskirts of Boston as a seamstress.Meanwhile, Chillingworth is working in Boston as a physician. Dimmesdale has fallen ill with heart trouble. Chillingworth discovers that Dimmesdale has carved a mark over his heart that is like Hester’s scarlet letter, he realizes that Dimmesdale is Hester’s lover. He begins to torture him. One night meets hester and pearl. Heater tells him Chillingworth’s true identity. T hey decide to flee to Europe. However, herealizes he’s dying. He mounts the scaffo ld and confesses his sin to the crowd and revealing a scarlet letter carved into his breast.Hester and Pearl leave Boston. Chillingworth dies after dimmesdale. Many years later, Hester remains in Boston until her death and is buried alongside Dimmesdale. Their shared tombstone bears a letter “A.”。
霍桑_红字作者及作品简介
The symbol serves as a weapon to attack reality. It can be found everywhere in his writing
to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty – multiple point of view
纳撒尼尔〃霍桑(1804—1864）是美国19世纪影响最大的浪 漫主义小说家和心理小说家。霍桑对当时美国社会道德论 丧和资产阶级的伪善不满，但是他又不想从根本上改变不 合理的社会制度，只谋求社会道德的改进，宣扬上帝，主 张道德的自我完善。 霍桑由于社会、家庭及自身的因素，形成了既为清教主义等 旧观念所萦绕，又抱有人道主义等美好理想的复杂的世界 观。他一方面摆脱不掉“原罪”、“赎罪”、“内省”、 “命定”之类的宗教迷信，但又从家族的负罪感出发，反 过来对清教的专制统治痛心疾首；他一方面接受了超验主 义哲学观，相信客观的物质世界只是某种隐蔽的神秘力量 的象征，又对当时风靡的“招魂”之类的巫术活动和科学 技术的新发明同样感到不可思议；他一方面对新生的合众 国满怀希望，但对社会上形形色色的腐化堕落及不平不公 的原因又十分费解，便只好到人性的爱与恨、善与恶中去 寻找答案。
Comments and Criticizes
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote that "Nathaniel Hawthorne's reputation as a writer is a very pleasing fact, because his writing is not good for anything, and this is a tribute to the man” Henry James praised Hawthorne, saying, "The fine thing in Hawthorne is that he cared for the deeper psychology, and that, in his way, he tried to become familiar with it".
《红字》英文介绍
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Author
Characters Plot Themes
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Author
Nathaniel Hawthorne (纳撒尼尔·霍桑) An American novelist and short story writer His fiction works are . considered dark romanticism（黑色浪漫主义）
Able
As time goes by, Hester has added to the letter another meaning through her own efforts.
Angel
Gradually，it becomes indeterminate（模糊的）： people even regard it as angle.
The Ending
She
receives occasional letters from Pearl, who has married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Dimmesdale. The two share a single tombstone, which bears a scarlet “A.”
considereddarkromanticism黑色浪漫主义majorworks?shortstories?twicetoldtales故事重述1837?twicetoldtales故事重述1837?mossesfromanoldmanse古宅青苔1846?younggoodmanbrown?theministersblackveilmajorworks?novels红字?thescarletletter红字1850?thehouseofthesevengables带有七个尖角阁的房子1851?blithedaleromance福谷传奇1852?themarblefaun玉石雕像186022charactershesterdimmesdalechillingworthpearl22characters?old?ugly?scholarchillingworth?deformedshoulders畸形的肩膀?distortedsoul扭曲的灵魂?heisinterestedinrevenge
《红字》：罪与罚的心灵煎熬
红字：罪与罚的心灵煎熬介绍《红字》是美国作家纳撒尼尔·霍桑创作的一部经典小说，首次出版于1850年。
这本小说描绘了一个宗教极度严苛、道德观念束缚严重的社会中，女主角因婚外恋而遭受社会公众的唾弃和豪门夫妇的责难。
小说透过揭示人性弱点、探讨自由与道德之间的紧张关系，呈现出一个心灵深处煎熬挣扎的形象。
主要角色哈斯特·珀西（Hester Prynne）哈斯特是本书女主角，她因为出轨而被迫戴上一块代表罪恶的大红字“A”来示众，并被全社会唾弃。
然而，哈斯特不同寻常地坚忍、勇敢，她在压力下仍然保持着自尊和尊严。
阿瑟·迈勒·钱布利爵士（Arthur Dimmesdale）阿瑟是一个偕神父，与哈斯特有着一段秘密的婚外情。
他内心深感罪恶和痛苦，但却无法公开身份和回应社会对哈斯特的指责。
他在身体和心理上都备受折磨，最终将无法承受内藏的痛苦。
罗杰·切灵斯详情（Roger Chillingworth）罗杰是哈斯特的丈夫，原本因海外冒险失踪了七年。
他出现时发现了夫人与阿瑟之间的事情，并以医生身份隐秘治愈阿瑟的身体上的问题。
然而，罗杰实则滋养着心中满是复仇欲望。
小说主题罪与罚《红字》围绕着罪与罚这一主题展开。
哈斯特作为一个被定性为有罪之人，在社会上受尽唾弃和嘲讽。
阿瑟因为内心深感负罪而无法公开自己属于这个罪行，并将其带来的后果默默忍受。
小说通过揭示人性中隐藏的黑暗面和道德观念对个体心灵造成的压迫，引发读者对于罪与罚之间复杂关系的思考。
自由与道德在宗教极度严苛的社会中，个体追求自由和理性的愿望常被道德规范所束缚。
哈斯特和阿瑟在追求爱情自由时，却因违反道德规则而遭受社会谴责。
小说通过对比自由和道德之间的冲突，探讨了一个人如何在限制之中寻找个体价值和心灵解脱。
心灵煎熬在《红字》中，主角们都承受着内心的煎熬和挣扎。
哈斯特背负着外界给予她的耻辱标记，但她却能够从中找到力量去重新定义自己。