紅字中字母A的象征意義英文

1、-PAGE . z.Symbolism Of The Letter A Throughout The Scarlet Letter紅字中字母A的象征意義方蒂蒂農(nóng)業(yè)大學(xué)2004屆畢業(yè)生Fang didiClass 2004Jiang*i Agriculture UniversityAbstract:There have been a lot of arguments over the diversity of symbol over the past years. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne is successful in employing symbolic t

2、echniques and lays great emphasis on the diversity of symbol. The Scarlet letter written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is undoubtedly been considered as his masterpiece, is praised as one of the greatest novels and regarded as the firstsymbolic novel in American literature. This novel includes many profoun

3、d and important symbols, and the authors symbolic style has the rich flavors of emotion and conforms to no conventional pattern.Hawthorns symbolism, especially the symbolic letter A helps make the keynote of the story clearer and the characters to the life. The changing symbolic meanings throughout

4、the novel are the best e*pressed by the letter A. This paper attempts to discuss the diversity of symbolism in this novel, i.e. the changing symbolic meanings of the scarlet letter A, and their manifestations.Key words: Nathaniel Hawthorne; The Scarlet Letter; symbols; symbolism; the diversity 摘要:象征

5、的多義性曾引起過(guò)不少爭(zhēng)議,然而納撒尼爾霍桑卻出色地運(yùn)用了象征主義手法和成功地突出強(qiáng)調(diào)了象征的多義性.無(wú)庸質(zhì)疑地被認(rèn)為是霍桑最出色的作品,也被贊譽(yù)為美國(guó)文學(xué)上最出色小說(shuō),同時(shí)也是美國(guó)第一部象征小說(shuō).這部小說(shuō)包含了很多意味深遠(yuǎn)而且重要的象征, 作者的象征手法具有濃郁的感情色彩,不拘于傳統(tǒng)形式.作者通過(guò)象征手法,尤其是具有象征意義字母A使得文章主線清晰,并且給人物注入了生命力.字母 A作為最具代表的例子是其在小說(shuō)中含義的變化.本文試從紅字 A 象征意義的多義性，討論紅字中的字母 A 的象征手法.關(guān)鍵詞: 納撒尼爾霍桑; 紅字; 象征; 象征主義; 多義性The introduction to Nat

6、haniel Hawthorne and his intention of writingThe Scarlet Letter.Nathaniel Hawthorne was born in an impoverished noble New Englands family, the descendent of a long line of puritan ancestors. Among his ancestors, 2 generations were big wheels in organs of power of unite of religion and politics in co

7、lony areas. They persecuted heterodo*y by zealot of Puritan. Lonely childhood branded his personality with melancholy and taciturn. After his father was lost at sea when he was only four, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. His childhood left him overly

8、shy and bookish, and molded his life as a writer. Hawthorne turned to writing after his graduation from Bowdon College. Though Hawthorne attacked the harmful religious zealots and stifling religious doctrines of Garvin, he viewed on the world with religious sense of good and devil in his deep heart.

9、 He summed up the social contradiction, which he didnt understand and was caused by the development of capitalism as abstract evil. As he said, the source of social evils contradictions among individuals phenomenon of crime were not in the material social life, but were caused by intrinsic evil in i

10、nner world of man. So Hawthorne wrote that the resolution to social problems started with the omnipresent evil. He said that once the internal world was purified, many sin loafing about e*ternal world would disappear. His focusing on the abstract evil decided his writing trend mostly. He preferred d

11、escribing trans-natural, weird, horrible scenes or dark, unusual psychological activities in order to e*plore the roots of all kinds of social hidden evil. He said himself only loyal to the truth of heart, prising the heart to a winding and e*tending cave and the writing to driving actively in our m

12、on human nature. So he usually analyzed a persons psychology cutting off social conditions peeled off the evil e*isting in everyones heart layer off layer. Hawthorne focused on the problem of guilt cared for the deeper psychology and his major novels generally dealt with sensational material, like p

13、oisoning, murder, adultery, and crime, because he was ambitious to e*plore the result of sin, the effect on human conscience of guilt, pride, egotism, and isolation. His e*ploration of the soul resulted from his skeptical attitude toward the limited social reality that was characterized by a rapid c

14、hange in almost all aspects of social life, and from his seclusion of thinking.The central subject of Hawthornes major works was the human soul. According to him, There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole life; but circumstances may rouse it to activity.

15、 So in almost every book he writes, Hawthorne discusses sin and evil. For e*ample, in another his novel Endicott And The Red Cross, he describes a pretty woman also wears a scarlet letter on her cloth. Humans characters are ple* and elusive and difficult to see through. So its no right to define the

16、 humans character good or evil simply and cleanly. Just because of the ple*ity of the human character and the difference of the standards of good and evil, these literatures are so readable and fascinating magnetically.Just because he lived in an age when the dynamic influence of Puritanism was gone

17、 and the impact of romanticism and Transcendentalism was large felt among the intellectuals, and thus his view of man and human history originates, to a great e*tent, is Puritanism.The sensibility led to his understanding of evil being at the very core of human life, which is typical of the Calvinis

18、tic belief that human beings are basically depraved and corrupted, hence, they should obey God to atone for their sins. Just as I mention above, in many of his stories and novels, the Puritan concept of life is condemned, or the Puritan past is shown in an almost totally negative light, especially i

19、n his The Scarlet Letter. Hawthorne is attracted in every way to the Puritan world, even though he condemns its less humane manifestations. In this particular novel, Hawthorne does not intend to tell a love story nor a story of sin, but focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychologica

20、l effects or consequences of the sin on the people in general and those main characters in particular, so as to show us the tension between society and individuals. As a man of literary craftsmanship, Hawthorne is e*traordinary. The structure and the form writings are always carefully worked out to

21、cater for the thematic concern. With his special interest in the psychological aspect of human beings, there isnt much action or physical movement going on in his works and he is good at e*ploring the ple*ity of human psychology. So his drama is full of mental activities. Thought propels action and

22、grows organically out of the interaction of the characters, as we can find in this novel. The general introduction of symbolismJust as characterization and dialogue and plot work on the surface to move the story along, symbolism works under the surface to tie the storys e*ternal action to the theme.

23、 Early in the development of the fictional narrative, symbolism was often produced through allegory, giving the literal event and its allegorical counterpart a one-to-one correspondence. Symbolism operates on the level of the unconscious. This does not mean that the author himself is unconscious of

24、the process of creating symbolism - merely that we, as readers, accept its input without really understanding how it works. Symbolism, therefore, is an integral ponent of fiction, because it enriches the narrative by pulling its message down to the level of our unconsciousness and anchoring it there

25、.Developed in the late 19th century, symbolism is an art movement characterized by the representation of the inner life of people through spiritual symbols and ideas. It began as a rejection of the purely visual realism of the Impressionists, and the rationality of the Industrial Age, in order to de

26、pict the symbols of ideas. Traditionally modeled pictorial depictions are replaced or contrasted by flat mosaic-like surfaces decoratively embellished with figures and design elements.Symbolism in literature is the deepness and hidden meaning in a piece of work. It is often used to represent a moral

27、 or religious belief or value. Without symbolism literature is just a bunch of meaningless words on paper.N. Hawthorne successfully uses the symbolism device in his novel and makes his novel The Scarlet Letterbee an immortal famous work. In The Scarlet Letter he uses the concept of nature such as th

28、e jail, burdock, pig-weed, apple-peru, wild rose, scaffold, forest etc. and four major Characters Names: Hester Prynne, Asher Dingmeistale, Roger Chillingworth, Pearl to show symbolism. But the most significant symbol that is shown throughout the novel is the scarlet letter A. The letter A represent

29、s different things to each of the characters and the towns people. This paper will focus on the important role the letter A plays and how It changes its meanings throughout the story. The diversity of symbolSymbol and symbolism In dictionary, asymbolis a one-term parison. For e*ample,if we pare a ha

30、t to a cloud, the cloud is the symbol replacing the hat as its perfect substitute. As a result, symbols can be interpreted both those in dreams and those brought about by free associations or ing from cultural and spiritual representations.Symbolism is the systematic or creative use of arbitrary sym

31、bols as abstracted representations of concepts or objects and the distinct relationships inbetween, as they define both conte*t and the narrower definition of terms. In a narrow conte*t, symbolism is the applied use of any iconic representations. On the diversity of symbolFrom the content of The Sca

32、rlet LetterTheletter A totally appears about 150 times in this novel. In chapter 2: On the breast of her gown, in fine red cloth, surrounded with an elaborate embroidery and fantastic flourishes of gold thread, appeared the letter A. is the first time the letter appears. Then it es out more. Especia

33、lly in Chapters 5 and 8, the scarlet letter frequently appears. The letter is throughout the novel besides the Chapters 1,9 and 20. From this pinot, we can see why the novel is called The Scarlet Letter. In this novel, we can see the scarlet letter A is just like a magnet which connects with all the

34、 people and each setting, details. According to Puritanism,the scarlet letter symbolizes a shame, sin of Adultery. In addition, the description of the Characters makes the symbolic meanings of the letter A reflected to the full.Hester PrynneShe is a heroine in The Scarlet Letter.The writer gives her

35、 much symbolic meaning by giving her this name. Hester sounds like Hestier, a beautiful goddess in Greek mythology.This gives people a sense that Hester is a passionate beautiful woman.In the novel, she is the symbol of the truth and the beauty. She is the one who dares to love, to pursue her love.

36、Her own strong will helps her to e through all the difficulties.Arthur DimmesdaleHe is one major character in this novel. He is a revered minister. From the name of Arthur Dimmesdale, people can get AD as the first letters. In this way, we can see clearly that AD is stands for Adultery .The writer t

37、ells us he is the partner of Hester obviously. The word Dimmesdale also has symbolic meanings. Dim means dark and weak, and dale means valley, so the dimdale here is actually a symbol of the dim-interior of the poor clergyman. He is the partner but her dares not admit the fact. He was hypocritical a

38、nd coward.Chillingworth He is another major character in this novel. He is an ugly man who gives his best years to knowledge caring nothing for Hester. Not having any mon ideology with her. His name-chillingworth, is pound with chilling and worth. Chilling means cold, and indeed, he is cold in his m

39、ind. He shows no love to his wife, not to mention others. What is worth to him Have finding out the Arthur Dimmesdale is the father of Pearl, he begins to avenge on the former. To him, avenge is the only thing which is to doing in the world.PearlShe is an illegitimate child of Hester and Arthur, The

40、 writer describes Pearl as an effective and dynamic character; she is the living symbol of the scarlet letter, acting as a constant reminder of Hesters sin. From her name Pearl, people can see that a pearl is a beautiful object found inside an ugly oyster. She is her mothers treasure, the source of

41、her survival. She is just like the sunshine to her mother. Without her, Hester would have died.From the pattern of the structure of narrativeThe pattern of the structure of narrative novel itself is a symbol. In this novel, there are two main chains. AbleThe 1st: A (Adultery) AngelAdmirableThe 2 nd:

42、 Concealment Uncover At the beginning of the story, the Letter is a symbol of adultery. As the story goes, because of Hesters kindheartedness and her virtue, the letter A is being the symbol of able, angel, and admirable. Meanwhile, There is a scarlet letter inside of Arthur, when tortures him much.

43、 He is self-condemned from time to time. In the misery of 7 years, he decides not to conceal the secret anymore. The diversity of the letter AThe historical setting In 1920, a boat filled with more than one hundred people sailed across the Atlantic Ocean to settle in the New world, This religious gr

44、oup had began to question the belief of the Church of England and they wanted to separate from it. Those people are so called pilgrims. The pilgrims settled in what is the state of Massachusetts. There, they developed puritanical religion. Before the 18th century, Puritans had set up the Theocratic

45、Politics in MA. InThe Scarlet Letter, life was centered with a rigid, puritanistic-structured society in which one is unable to divulge his or her innermost thoughts and secrets. Every human being needed the opportunity to e*press how he truly felt, or the emotion is bottled up until it bees volatil

46、e. Unfortunately, Puritan society did not permit this e*pression, so people had to seek alternate means in order to relieve themselves. Luckily, at least for the four main characters, Hawthorne provides such a sanctuary in the form of the mysterious forest.The gist of The Scarlet LetterIn the early

47、1600s, in Boston, a young woman named Hester Prynne was found to be guilty of adultery. Because of this crime, she was forced to wear a scarlet letter A on the breast of her gown. She also had to stand on the stocks for three hours with her baby in her arms so all the people could see her shame.Some

48、 people said she would have been condemned to death if the kind Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale hadnt spoken on her behalf.As she stood on the platform, a strange-looking man came out of the nearby forest. Hester appeared upset, and the man put his finger to his lips as a sign of silence.Hester was known

49、 in the munity to be from a good family in Antwerp, Belgium. She had married an old scholar and had been sent by him to the New World. Her husband was to follow shortly, but his ship was lost at sea. She had lived quietly in Boston until the time of this disgrace. Now, standing on the stocks, the lo

50、cal dignitaries called on her to name the man who shared her guilt. Reverend Dimmesdale spoke to her the most about this. Nevertheless, she refused. She was taken back to prison.In prison, Hester became very disturbed. A call sent out for a doctor, and a man who called himself Roger Chillingworth ca

51、me forth. He told the jailer hed just arrived in town after living with Indians for a year. He was the one Hester had seen while she stood on the scaffold, and she found out the man was her missing husband.He wanted Hester to speak out the name of the childs father, but she refused. He swore hed fou

52、nd out something for himself, and he asked her not to reveal that he was her husband. She agreed.Hester finally settled down with her daughter in a small cottage near the town. She called the little girl Pearl, and she dressed her colorfully. She earned her living doing needlework, and always she wo

53、re the A on her breast. Pearl was a spry and lively child, and some church members wanted to take her away from Hester, whom they saw as an unfit mother. When Hester went to the governor to ask him to help her keep Pearl, Reverend Dimmesdale spoke on her behalf. The governor agreed to let them stay

54、together.Meanwhile, Roger Chillingworth and Arthur Dimmesdale were living in the same boarding house, and they became very close. As Chillingworth got to know the Reverend better, he discovered that the Reverend suffered greatly from guilt. Most people thought the Reverend was only being righteous,

55、but Chillingworth suspected that Dimmesdale himself might be Pearls father.One night Dimmesdale couldnt sleep, so he went for a walk. When he got to the stocks, he climbed up to find out what it felt like. Just then Hester and Pearl walked by, and the Reverend called them to join him. When all three

56、 stood there, Dimmesdale cried out in shame that he was indeed Pearls father. Chillingworth, in the shadows, watched the entire scene. Hester recognized that Dimmesdale was very sick, and she believed that Chillingworth was driving him ever deeper into ill health. When she encountered her former hus

57、band in the forest, she begged him to leave the Reverend alone. He refused, so she told him shed tell Dimmesdale of her relationship with Chillingworth. When she did this, Dimmesdale made plans with her to leave the colony together, with Pearl, in secret. They would leave in four days and would retu

58、rn to Europe.The day they were to sail, Hester learned that Chillingworth had also made plans to leave and would, in fact, be on the same ship. Hester was filled with despair.After the Reverend gave what would be his final sermon, he weakly left the church with others of his congregation. They proce

59、eded down the street until they approached Hester and Pearl, who were standing near the stocks. Dimmesdale then took them by the hands and climbed upon the scaffold. There he confessed all in front of the entire town, and he tore off his ministers band. He sank to the platform, dying. Some said they

60、 noticed a scarlet A on his e*posed breast.Chillingworth also died shortly afterward, and he left much money to Pearl. Hester left the colony for a while, but years later she returned. She moved back into her cottage and continued to wear the scarlet letter. Now, however, the letter was a symbol of