3。4 Pearl’s character is well explained 8

4。 Conclusion 10

References 11

    1。 Introduction

    1。1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Work

Nathaniel Hawthorne was an American novelist, a Dark Romantic, and a short story writer。 He was born in 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts。 His ancestor is related with a case called “Salem witch trials”, that Hawthorne was ashamed of。 And in order to hide their relationship, Hawthorne added a W in his name。 His father died at an early age, leaving little Hawthorne alone。 Many of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works are inspired by Puritan New England, fusing historical romance with the symbolism and deep psychological concepts, bordering on surrealism。 What’s more, Hawthorne’s works feat moral allegories with a Puritan inspiration。 His novels can be regarded as an integral part of the development of Romantic Movement, more particularly, Dark romanticism。 The theme of his novel often lies on people’s inherent evil and sin。 Among all Nathaniel Hawthorne’s works, the most famous one is the Scarlet Letter。 When talking about this novel, a comment is often quoted from D。 H。 Lawrence, “No other book is so deep, so dual, so complete” (Male, 1957)。论文网

The story of the Scarlet Letter took place in Boston, setting in Puritan society。 Hester Prynne which is the pretty heroin of the story had a crush on a young minister Dimmesdale who has a promising future, and gave birth to her daughter, Pearl。 Because of premarital pregnancy, she committed adultery and was deported from the mainland of the country。 And she is required to wear a scarlet "A" ("A" standing for adulteress) on her dress to shame her。 However, her secret lover, Dimmesdale, who had not has been punished became more and more admired by the masses of the people。 Hester’s origin husband Chillingworth discovered the truth and use it as a chips to torture Dimmesdale mentally a lot。 Hester does not give up but continually served the public, so she was forgiven and accepted by common people again after seven years。 Though Dimmesdale lives a short life, however, finally he got the courage to stand out and admit his fault and sin。 

    1。2 Symbolism and Background

Symbolism is a traditional artistic mode that uses concrete things to express an abstract idea。 Hawthorne uses symbolism a lot in this novel。 The use of symbolism in this novel is mysterious。 And this kind of writing way leaves readers deep impression and enriches the theme of this story。 And what’s more, it can give the reader more space to chew and appreciate。

“The Scarlet Letter” is on the background of 17th century New England, and Hawthorne successfully depicts the Puritanism that was found there。 During that time, the church was the centre of people’s life in many towns in New England。 The church provided not only religions guidance but, was a place for social gathering and a chance for neighbors to keep in touch。 This is shown in depth in Boston by Nathaniel Hawthorne。 In each town the church became a leading force in the local government。 The church 

could influence the courts to impose legal penalties on crimes against the Ten Commandments。 Boston even held special Election Day sermons。 These were then followed by a special procession given by the town for the “minister whom they so loved。” Crimes such as adultery were violations of the commandments and carried significant civil penalties。

The Scarlet Letter can be regarded as the master piece of symbolism。 And according to the data, what scholars discuss the most about the Scarlet Letter is its writing technique---symbolism 。Huijuan, Liu talked about the symbolism in this novel in her work On the Symbolic Meaning in Hawthorne’s Work the Scarlet Letter。(2013) She mainly focus on the symbolic meaning of the scarlet letter ”A” ,the characters in this novel and the name of the character’s name。 She pointed out that Pearl is the symbol of sin and evil but also the symbol of love and hope。 (Liu Hui-juan, 2013)