《Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Duality of Puritanism Through Analysis of Hester从海丝特看霍桑的二重性清教观.doc》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Duality of Puritanism Through Analysis of Hester从海丝特看霍桑的二重性清教观.doc（28页珍藏版）》请在三一办公上搜索。
1、 从海丝特看霍桑的二重性清教观Nathaniel Hawthornes Duality of Puritanism Through Analysis of HesterAbstractThe Scarlet Letter is Hawthornes masterpiece. It is main about Hesters complicated feelings. Her love to the minister Arthur Dimmesdale, her love to her daughter Pearl, her happiness for the perseverance to t
2、he love, and at the same time, the sufferings of the love etc. The Scarlet Letter makes the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne known all around the world. Hawthorne used the symbolism so skillful to describe the experience of the protagonist Hester, which shows his identity and suspected to Puritan
3、ism. On the one hand, Hawthorne tries to search a road of good and evil of human to salvation. On the other hand, Hawthorne criticizes and exposes harsh and extreme of Puritanism. Hawthorne think people can get repentance through do good and erase evil, than purify the mind to receive salvation. Sim
4、ultaneously, he also doubts the oppression and the depredation of Puritanism to humanity. Therefore, from discussion of the positive and negative of Hester in The Scarlet Letter, we can see the contradictions and loss of religion of Hawthorne.Key words: Hester; Complicated feelings; Puritans; Religi
5、ous Origin 摘 要红字是霍桑的代表作，主要讲述的是海丝特的矛盾复杂情感心理，她对牧师丁梅斯代尔的爱，对女儿珠儿的爱，她感受到了对爱执着的幸福，同时又饱受爱的折磨。红字让美国作家纳撒尼尔霍桑闻名遐迩,霍桑高超地运用了象征手法描写了女主人公海丝特令人同情的生活经历，充分表现了他对清教的认同与怀疑：一方面对人性善恶与救赎之路进行深入挖掘；另一方面又对清教的严酷极端予以批评和揭露。霍桑既主张通过善行和忏悔洗刷罪恶，净化心灵，从而得到救赎。同时，他又质疑了清教徒对人性的压迫与摧残。因此，通过对红字中清教对海丝特的积极和消极影响的方面的讨论，我们可以看出霍桑矛盾和彷徨的清教观。关键词：海丝特；复
6、杂情感； 清教主义；宗教溯源ContentsIntroduction11.Hesters Contradiction.21.1 Hesters Perseverance and Confession to Love 31.1.1 Perseverance to True Love .31.1.2 Confession of Immoral Love.51.2 Mixture of Love and Hurt.61.2.1 Love and Hurt to Arthur Dimmesdale . .71.2.2 Love and Hurt to Pearl. .82. Nathaniel Haw
7、thornes Duality of Puritanism.102.1 Nathaniel Hawthornes Background.112.2 Acceptation and Deference to Puritanism .122.3 Doubt and Rebellion to Puritanism.133. Duality of Puritanism Embodied in the Description of Hester.143.1 Acceptation and Deference of Puritanism by Author and Hester153.1.1 Hawtho
8、rns Confession and Atonement to Sin.153.1.2 Hesters Confession and Atonement to Sin.163.2 Doubt and Rebellion to Puritanism by Hawthorne and Hester183.2.1 Oppression and Depredation to Humanity by Puritanism in Hawthornes View.183.2.2 Oppression and Depredation to Humanity by Puritanism in Hesters V
9、iew .20Conclusion.21Notes.23Bibliography.24Acknowledgments.25IntroductionNathaniel Hawthorne is considered to be the first greatest American fiction writer in the moralistic tradition. Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote the Scarlet letter in 1850, a novel based on the secret of sin. The story is about the ad
10、ulterous Puritan Hester Prynne, who loyally refuses to reveal the name of her partner. Regarded as his masterpiece and as one of the classics of American literature, The Scarlet Letter reveals both Hawthornes superb craftsmanship and the powerful psychological insight with which he probed guilt and
11、anxiety in the human soul. Nathaniel Hawthornes novel, The Scarlet Letter, revolves around the theme of sin and the effects it has on the mind, body, and soul.U.S. professor Nina Baym says that The Scarlet Letter is a novel that has described the differences between natural and social in 1978. Su Yu
12、xiao expresses her own opinion in sin and redemption: Analysis of Christian ethics through The Scarlet Letter in 2007. The Scarlet Letter is intended to reveal that, instead of assailing the Christian ethics, the novel expresses what is central to the ethical values based on the Christian Scripture:
13、 the universality of sin and guilt in spite of their various disguise, and the pity on and redemption of the human individuals as well as communities equally enslaved by sin. Harris Laurie Lanzen talks in Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism in 1985. She thinks that Hawthorne presented a highly c
14、omplex variation on his usual theme of human isolation and the human community in The Scarlet Letter.The Scarlet Letter, reflects the Calvinistic thought of Original Sin. Hawthorne is deeply influenced by Puritanism.His novel also expresses his pious attitude towards skepticism for ethics and morali
15、ty of Puritanism. On one hand, Hawthorne strongly criticizes Calvinism for constraining human nature, and on the other hand, regards some social problems as the sake of evil human nature. He thinks the believers should clear themselves of guilt and to purify their hearts by penitence and kindness.1.
16、 Hesters ContradictionHester Prynne a determined and mysterious female, who is condemned by the Puritan society and forced to wear a scarlet letter on her breast because of her sin of adultery. Hester is a new woman of both obedient and rebellious temperament. As a Puritan, Hester hopes to repent to
17、 receive Gods salvation. But the unreasonable and rigid Puritanism makes Hester have a feeling to some extent of Puritanism as being intolerant and cruel. Hester shows her inner feelings of ambivalent attitude to the Puritan beliefs.1.1 Hesters Perseverance and Confession Hester Prynne is a brave wo
18、men to pursuit love and freedom. She doesnt hide her own feeling and to love Dimmesdale bravely and commit a sin. Meanwhile, Hesters action to her husbands infidelity made her feel ashamed.1.1.1 Perseverance to True LoveHester Prynne is a pretty, brave, strong-will and good-hearted woman by the auth
19、ors depiction. Her perseverance to love gives us a deep impression. Hesters early marriage life lacks love. Chillingworth is a difficult husband incompetent husband, and ignored his wife for much of the time. He married Hester not because he loved her but because he wanted to light a house hold fire
20、 in his lonely and chilly heart, expected her to nourish his soul with affection when he did condescend to spend time with her, and deluded himself with the idea that his intellectual gifts might veil physical deformity in a young girl fantasy. Hester was sent ahead to America to live without his hu
21、sband Chillingworths companion, where she finds true love of her life. Because of her perseverance to love, she chooses to keep her baby to receive her greatest treasure Pearl, out of it. Otherwise, Hesters relationship with Arthur Dimmesdale maybe became a secret forever. She is punished to wear th
22、e scarlet letter for all her life, which stands for adultery, and walks through the streets to display on the scaffold to all citizens. Because of her perseverance to love, Hester refuses to confide the name of the lover. She is so strong that she earns a living by her excellent needle-skill to supp
23、ort her and her daughter. Because of her perseverance to love, she chooses to stay in Boston. And she is a very strong woman to be able to hold up so well against what she must face. She could have fled Boston, and seek a place where no one knows of her great sin. Hester chooses to stay though, whic
24、h shows her love to Dimmesdale.After Dimmesdales death, Hester and Pearl disappear for several years. Because of her perseverance to love, Hester comes back to live the rest of her life in her cottage again, and picks up the scarlet letter for the third time. To Hester, there is a more real life in
25、New England than in that unknown region where Pearl has founded a home. “Here had been her sin, here, her sorrow, and here was yet to be her penitence. Moreover, here is where her lover lies.”1 Hester eventually dies and is buried in the Kings Chapel Cemetery.” It was near that old and sunken grave,
26、 yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both. “On a field, sable, the letter, gules.”21.1.2 Confession of Immoral Love Hester is ashamed of her sin, but she chooses not to show it. She commits this sin in the heat of passion,
27、 and fully admits it. Because her confess for the immoral, prohibited love, she receives the letter A, which worn on Hesters bosom. And this is the puritan way of treating her as a criminal, for the crime of adultery. The puritan treatment continues, because as Hester walks through the streets, she
28、will be looked down upon as if she is some sort of demon from hell that commits a terrible crime. “Here, she said to herself, had been the scene of her guilt, and here should be the scene of her earthly punishment.”3After she is released, Hester lives in a cottage near the outskirts of the city as a
29、 way to atone for her sin and purify her soul. It had been built by an earlier settler, and abandoned, because the soil about it was too sterile for cultivation, while its comparative remoteness put it out of the sphere of that social activity which already marked the habits of the emigrants.4 She w
30、as banished and as much alone as if she inhabited another sphere, Hester has no friends in the world, and little Pearl is the only companion of her lonely life. However, there was nothing that made her feel as if she belonged to it. At one time Hester plans to leave America and flee to Europe, where
31、 the true lovers can live with Pearl as a family. In fact, she was still a Puritan. Finally, she chooses to stay there to confess the immoral love. Hester makes her life by her beautiful needlework, and she is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted. She has done
32、what she can and think, though the A stay there. “The letter was the symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness is found in her so much power to do and power to sympathize - that many people refuses to interpret the scarlet letter A by its original signification.” At this point, a lot of the townspeopl
33、e realize what a noble character Hester possesses. Do you see that woman with the embroidered badge? It is our Hester the towns own Hester who is so kind to the poor, so helpful to the sick, so comforting to the afflicted! A lot of the townspeople realize that Hester has done a lot of things to conf
34、ess the immoral love. Hester overcomes the shame of her sin through the purity and goodness of her soul. 1.2 Mixture of Love and Hurt Hester has a strong devotion to the love. And she has paid her heart treatment to the object of love. However, the minister Arthur Dimmesdale and her daughter Pearl s
35、 attitude and response let her feel hurt. In other word, her happiness for the perseverance to the love, and at the same time, the sufferings of the love.1.2.1 Love and Hurt to Arthur DimmesdaleDimmesdale is a young man who achieved fame in England as a theologian and then immigrated to America. In
36、a moment of weakness, he and Hester became lovers. Although he will not confess it publicly, he is the father of her child. He deals with his guilt by tormenting himself physically and psychologically, developing a heart condition as a result. Dimmesdale is an intelligent and emotional man, and his
37、sermons are thus masterpieces of eloquence and persuasiveness. His commitments to his congregation are in constant conflict with his feelings of sinfulness and need to confess. For Hester, the scarlet letter A also stands for her lover, Pearls father, Arthur Dimmesdale. Her fantastically embroiderin
38、g the scarlet letter A, which means adultery, is somehow a way she shows her passion for Arthur. Her refusing to tell the name of Pearls father is a way to protect him. Her choosing to remain in New England after she is released is because it is the place where her lover stays. “here dwelt, there tr
39、od the feet of one with whom she deemed herself connected in a union, before the bar of final judgment, and make that their marriage-alter, for a joint futurity of endless retribution. ” 5 She wears the scarlet letter for seven years, and misses her lover in this way. Only when she meets Arthur agai
40、n in the forest seven years later, deciding to flee to somewhere else, does she throw the scarlet letter away. After Dimmesdales death, Hester comes back to live the rest of her life in her cottage again, and picks up the scarlet letter for the third time where she could miss her lover better.The si
41、lence of Hester shows love of Hester to Dimmesdale, but also became a shapeless hurt to Dimmesdale which cant prevent him from the Gods punishment .He even doubles his suffering. Because “the health of Mr Dimmesdale had evidently began to fail.” He wants to atone for his sin secretly by “his too ear
42、nest devotion to study, his scrupulous fulfillment of parochial duty and by the fasts and vigils of which he made a frequent practice”. Everything he did win the respect from all other people, but made him more suffering, “his cheek was paler and thinner, his voice more tremulous than before” “He al
43、ways presses his hand over his heart”4 However, he refuses any medicine because he says, “I could be well content, that my pains should shortly end with me.” Whats worse, Hesters promise to keep the identity of “a secret enemy the doctor Roger Chillingworth” pushes his to the fringe of dying.1.2.2 L
44、ove and Hurt to PearlPearl, being a living scarlet letter, is a valuable thing with high price, then to the moral in this novel, is a kind of burden, yet love for Hester.Pearl is the living embodiment of the scarlet letter because she forces Hester and Dimmesdale to accept their sins. The Puritan so
45、ciety looks at Pearl as a child of the devil, and a black hearted girl because she is the result of sin. Hester and Dimmesdale are both in the same situation in Pearls eyes. Pearl wants Hester to realize that she is not the worst person in the world before she removes the scarlet letter. Pearl wants
46、 Dimmesdale to accept his sin, and be part of their life publicly. Because of love to Pearl, Hester chooses to give birth to Pearl. If Hester had not done that she would have never been found guilty of adultery, and thus never would have had to wear that burden upon her chest. Without that burden, H
47、ester would have led a much better life than the one she had throughout the novel. Although Hester has so much trouble with Pearl, she still feels that Pearl is her treasure. She had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination their full playing contriving Pearls garb.Pearl is really the only thing that Hester has in her life. Once and for a while, Pearl will bring joy to Hesters life, and that helps her to keep on living. If
