红字中的象征意义

The symbolism of the scarlet letter“A” on main characters in The Scarlet Letter 班级：英语123班姓名：方敏霞学号：201210010308 Abstract: Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the greatest writers in American literature history, and is a great novelist of romanticism and he is the forerunner of American symbolism, which is roundly shown in his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, Hawthorne uses lots of symbolism to declare how the characters’feelings shift from one to another and metaphor how their endings are, and furthermore he displays us a vivid microcosm of social reality through symbolism. Especially “the scarlet letter”that is sewed on the shoulder of Hester Prynne, it has different meanings on the different main characters. Author wants to look into the world of that time through analyzing the symbolism of “the scarlet letter” that is shown on the main characters.

Key word: symbolism; the scarlet letter; main characters;

Nathaniel Hawthorne is a great novelist of romanticism and symbolism in the 19th century of the United States. His novels always reveal unique thoughts and descriptions that truly show us readers the social reality and cruel, bloody condition to some extent.He connects solemn morality and history perfectly with skillful writing skills. Furthermore, his writing is a good combination of talented imagination and excellent language expression. He is a real author with such personality and creation so as to be outstanding in the literature field of the United States and the United Kingdom and even all over the world .

And in this paper, author is going to talk about one of his greatest works------The Scarlet Letter. And author will fix attention on the use of symbolism in this great novel. As is known to us all, The Scarlet Letter is one of Nathaniel Hawthorne’ s most great masterpieces. It tells the story about a tragic love which happened between the heroine Hester Prynne and the handsome reverend Arthur Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne, who thought her husband had dead after she came to New England and lost his message for a long time, committed adultery with her young reverend, Arthur Dimmesdale, and she born him a daughter, Pearl, which was unavoidably exposed to the local puritan people at last. Unluckily, according to the Puritan principles, she was in deep guilty

and shame. So she was forced to stand on the scaffold for three hours, wearing the scarlet letter”A” at the same time, which stood for adultery. They forced her to speak out her adulterous mate, but she refused. Mr Dimmesdale was not exposed, but he regretted and treated himself badly as a original sinner since that. And meanwhile Hester Prynne’s husband, Roger Chillingworth, turned up before the scaffold and he pretended as a stranger, because he wanted to find out her paramour, or rather her lover. And he wanted to have a revenge on the man who “insulted” his dignity. At last Mr Dimmesdale showed his sin of adultery------the scarlet letter“A”to all the people after his last and most successful, passionate sermon. And Roger Chillingworth also died one year later, and Pearl moved to Europe with her mother. In the end, Hester Prynne turned up again in New England after several years’ European life. And she was buried together with the reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, and there was one headstone and it read: “On a field,sable,the letter A, gules”. Indeed, this is a sad story, most of the main characters died at last. But except for the plot, there are many things on which we can have thorough researches. And author will focus on the symbolism of the special scarlet letter “A” on the main characters.

After reading this novel, author has feelings towards the symbolism in the novel, especially the scarlet letter “A”. Not only it is the name of title, but also it is often shown in the novel. Wherever it is, on the shoulder of Hester’s clothes, or on the shoulder of the reverend, or even appears on the sky when Hester and Mr Dimmesdale meet in the forest. Anyway, it appears at front of us quite often. So, author thinks the scarlet letter “A” doesn’t just mean adultery any more. It must have something else to stand for, and all the four main characters are tied closely with the scarlet letter “A”. Although the visible scarlet letter “A”only can be seen on the shoulder of Hester’s clothes, but invisible scarlet letter “A” can be shown on the four main characters.

Hester Prynne, the protagonist of the novel,comes to first place. She is a heroine when compared to other women at that time. To her, the scarlet letter“A” may stand for her shame and guilt------Adultery at the beginning of the story. And after she was punished for her adultery, she seemed to be deserted by others and the society. The place she and daughter lived was far away from others’. So , the letter“A” can mean”Alone” and “Abandoned” to Hester Prynne. And later Hester is no longer ashamed of her scarlet letter “A”, and so the letter “A”may also mean “Admit”to Hester Prynne. She admitted her sorrowful condition and her destiny after the punishment. However, even though the townpeople did and said something bad to her and her daughter, she was still kind and helpful to them, especially to those who need help. And she was excellent at sewing clothes and other decorations on the clothes. So, even after her punishment, there were still lots of people who asked for her sewing clothes. After a long time, the sign of adultery faded away from her, but instead, the letter “A” turned into “Able” and even “Angel”. She could depend on herself to raise her daughter and take care of her well enough. She dressed up her daughter well and prettily. What’s more, her attitude towards others and the coldness of the society made her “Admirable”. She was no longer self-shamed but self-respected.She was a