红字英文论文

13级

An Analysis of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The

Scarlet Letter

1.A Brief Information about Hawthorne.

Hawthorne explored an interesting human psychology through his exploration of the dark side of human consciousness.

—Richard Harter Fogle Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. He is one of the outstanding romantic novelists in the 19th century in the United States. His creation by American colonial New England as the background, reflect the reality of the society at that time.

To describe the dark side of society and human nature is the outstanding characteristic of work of Hawthorne, this because of the influence of Calvinism about man's “original sin” and the theory of “inner depravity”.

Hawthorne is the pioneer of psychological novel. He is good at analysis of “heart”. He focuses on the problem of moral and evil. He advocates through the goodness and confession to wash sin, purify the mind, and win salvation . However, Hawthorne does not write all the darkness. He is exposing social evils and the person's bad nature, at the same time, he shows a great sympathy for many kind hero.

Hawthorne's greatness is that he can use a pen which is mild on the surface ,but it is real sharp pen to expose the dark, satirize the evil, and reveal the truth.

The scarlet letter is Hawthorne's masterpiece. It focuses on the Hawthorne's thought and artistic features.

2.The Brief Introduction of The Scarlet Letter

The story begins in seventeenth-century in Boston. A young woman, Hester Prynne, stands fully revealed before the crowded with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter “A” on her breast. Hester is being punished because of adultery. Her husband who is an aging scholar sent her to America in the beginning because he has something to deal with and delayed for several years. Hester had an affair when she was waiting for her husband. And she has given birth to a child. She will not reveal her lover’s identity. As a result, she should wear a scarlet letter “A” on her breast and takes the public shaming as her punishment for her sin of adultery and her secrecy. The elderly onlooker is Hester’s husband who disguised himself as a doctor. In order to find out who her love is, he decides to settle down in Boston and intents on revenge and he changes his name to Roger Chillingworth. Gradually, he suspects that there is a connection between the minister’s torments and Hester’s secret. Finally, he convinces him that his suspicions are correct. He discovers that the culprit is Arthur Dimmesdale. He decides to punish them spiritually. Hester finds his