红字人物角度分析英文

Characters in The Scarlet Letter

Hester Prynne

The heroine in the novel. The story is all about her life. And she wore the scarlet letter on her breast. She was a heroine, because she lived bravely in the society with deep gender differences and confirmedly chose the true love which is suitable for her. She was a heroine, because she was a real individual and dare to challenge the gender concept in people’s mind with her own action. Moreover, she was not only the representative of independence but of kindness and happiness. She had kept her shirt on for several years and did good deeds, which won people’s forgiveness and respect. And the scarlet letter “A” stood for adultery on her breast finally became the symbol

of angel(A).

Dimmesdale

Dimmesdale was a minister but actually the lover of Hester and Pearl’s father. The key to understand the character Dimmesdale is not his piety but his excessive reliance on the impact from social ideas, which locked himself in a moral prison. He sank into a self-torture because of his sense of guilty. The scarlet letter stood for adultery brand both on his breast and his heart. In most of chapters he was the helpless victim for he was a sinner in his theology creed which led him to find a way out through religion spirit. He dared not to hold the opposite idea with society. On account of the loss of his statue, he was not brave enough to admit the relationship with Hester. He was divisive deep in his mind. Seriously speaking, he was the prey of Puritanism.

Chillingworth

He is Hester’s ex-husband and the real villain in the novel. He is the so-called represent of knowledge and the most determined supporter of a male ideology in the Puritan society. In other word, he could be seen as the maker of the scarlet letter. He was like the Satan since he spied and torment Dimmesdale’s heart. He was guilty because he violated the most beautiful and natural desire of humanity. As a result, his destiny was miserable that he died soon after Dimmesdale killed himself.

Pearl