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The Symbolic Meanings of “A” as Reflected in the Main Characters in The Scarlet Letter Abstract The Scarlet Letter is a novel that often lingers on the library shelf like a collection of sermons: forbidding, leather-bound, perhaps embossed with gold. The book provides its readers more challenge and duty than pleasure for the letter “A” has too rich meanings which are often open to too many interpretations. The proper understanding of the letter is crucial to the understanding of the whole novel, that age and even personality traits of human beings. This paper aims to analyze the letter “A” reflected by four main characters in the novel. Firstly, this paper provides some information about this work, such as the author, the work itself, some meanings of the letter “A” and so on. Secondly, this paper mainly analyzes the symbolic meaning of “A” as reflected by main characters: Pearl, Hester, Dimmesdale and Chillingworth. Finally, a conclusion is drawn from the analysis. It is argued that we all wear a scarlet letter.47100
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Keywords: The Scarlet Letter; the letter “A”; Pearl; Hester; Dimmesdale; Chillingworth
《红字》中主要人物所表现出的“A”的象征含义
摘要《红字》这本小说一直存在于图书馆的书架上，就像是讲道的收集一样：令人生畏的，用皮革包边儿的，也可能是镶着金的。由于字母“A”有太多丰富的意思和不同的解读，这本书给读者带来更多的不是娱乐，而是一种挑战和一份责任。字母“A”的合适解读对于《红字》的理解至关重要。它可以帮助读者理解那个年代甚至人物的性格特征。该论文旨在分析小说中四个主要人物体现出来的红字。首先，该论文提供了《红字》的一些基本信息，比如作者，作品本身及红字的含义等等。其次，该论文重点研究了该书主要人物所表现出来“A”的象征含义。主要人物包括：珠儿，海丝特，丁梅斯代尔和罗灵沃斯。最后，由分析得出结论：我们所有人都佩戴着红字。
关键词：《红字》；字母“A”；珠儿；海丝特；丁梅斯代尔；罗灵沃斯
Contents
1. Introduction 1
1.1 About the author--Nathaniel Hawthorne 1
1.2 About the work--The Scarlet Letter 2
1.3 The significance of The Scarlet Letter 2
1.4 Researches at home and abroad 3
2. “A” reflected by main characters 4
2.1 Pearl 4
2.2 Hester 6
2.3 Dimmesdale 7
2.4 Chillingworth 9
2.5 Summary 11
3. Conclusion 11
References 12
1. Introduction
The background of The Scarlet Letter is set in Salem, Massachusetts. In this strictly controlled Puritan town, the inhabitants live by harsh laws and fierce prejudices. Hester Prynne, a young and beautiful woman, bound by marriage to an old man supposedly somewhere far away or perhaps even dead, has an illicit affair with an unknown member of the small frontier village to which she has gone. It is impossible for Hester to conceal her sin--adultery, for she is going to be a mother. Therefore, she is punished for the sin, without question. The first scene of The Scarlet Letter begins when Hester comes out from prison and gets ready for her public punishment, with her another alive symbol of sin--her child Pearl. The aging husband Chillingworth comes out of the forest into town on this very day--to see his lovely and lonely wife standing on the public scaffold with an “A” for adultery sewn on her dress and a baby in her arms. When he discovers her relations with the minister Dimmesdale, he is determined to punish the lovers spiritually. When Dimmesdale cannot endure Chillingworth’s humiliation and inner torment any longer, he confesses his sin on the public scaffold before his death. Hester sustains all humiliation and proves to be a strong-minded and capable woman. As she is ready to offer help and advice to other women in trouble, she is loved and respected by people in the town. She continues her life of penance and becomes a model of endurance, goodness, courage, and victory over sin.