（英语语言文学专业论文）霍桑美真善圣的伦理诉求《红字》的文学伦理学解读.pdf

iv 摘要摘要 霍桑被认为是最有影响力的美国浪漫主义小说家之一 其作品呈现了他的 伦理追求 包括他的代表作 红字 通过对生活在压抑的清教社区的主要人物 生活与心理的详细描述 作者试图反思清教社区的道德体系和展现自己的道德追 求 本文作者尝试从文学伦理学的视角来分析这部小说中所蕴含的伦理涵义 文学伦理学是在借鉴 吸收伦理学方法基础上融合文学研究方法而形成的一种文 学批评方法 通过从四个伦理层面解读 红字 中的伦理因素 我们发现霍桑为 自己的民族乃至全社会建立了道德模范及伦理准则 彰显了其对人类人文主义精 神建构作出的卓越贡献 本文共分七章 第一章简要概述了霍桑的生活与写作经历 红字的主要情 节及其所蕴含的伦理因素 然后回顾了国内外对小说 红字 的学术研究 第二章了回顾文学伦理学的发展背景 研究方法 研究意义以及与传统的 伦理与道德批评的比较 第三章从人与自然的关系层面来关注霍桑 求美 的伦理诉求 通过与阴沉 黑暗的清教场景形成鲜明对比的海丝特形体美的刻画 对珍珠的纯真的描述 霍 桑完成了对 美 的道德诉求 第四章从人与社会的关系层面详细分析霍桑 求真 的伦理主张与追求 人与社会的关系在红字中表现为个人与清教社区的关系 丁梅斯代尔的临终坦白 间接强调了 求真 的重要意义 海斯特的 求真 以及她最终得到社会的接受 和尊重再次彰显了 求真 的重要性 借此呈现出霍桑对个人必须与清教社区保 持一种和谐共进的关系这一永恒真理的诠释 第五章详细探讨了霍桑在人与他人的关系层面 求善 的伦理诉求 通过 海斯特对情人及孩子的爱和对其他人的仁慈 以及珍珠对他人的同情与救赎 彰 显出他对平等 独立尊重和互爱这些不同形式的 善 的推崇 惟有通过上述的 种种 善 人与他人之间才能形成一种健康和谐的关系 第六章探寻霍桑在人与自我这一最为内在 最复杂的关系层面 求圣 的 伦理追求 丁梅斯代尔 齐林沃斯和海斯特这三个小说人物的生活中集中蕴涵了 v 霍桑在人与自我关系层面的伦理道德原则 自我反省 自我实现 自我救赎和向 善求圣是霍桑所追求的 圣 的表现形式和实现之道 最后一章是本文的结论部分 霍桑在红字中重点关注清教社会的问题以及 人与人之间的关系 美 真 互爱 悔改 自我反省 以及求善向圣等道德观念 是霍桑在 红字 中的主要伦理诉求 关键词关键词 红字 文学伦理学 美 真 善 圣 红字 文学伦理学 美 真 善 圣 ii abstract hawthorne is regarded as one of the most influential american romantic novelists and his masterpiece the scarlet letter reveals his ethical pursuit in a tragic love story in the puritan new england through the detailed description of main characters life and psychology in the romance hawthorne tries to reflect the moral system of the puritan community and to demonstrate his ethical views in this paper the author intends to analyze the scarlet letter from the perspective of ethical literary theory on the basis of introduction of ethical methods as well as the assimilation of them into the texture of literary critical methods by exploring the ethical factors in the scarlet letter from the four layers of relationship in this paper it can be found that hawthorne sets up good examples and moral norms in the scarlet letter for people both of his own race and of the whole world thus contributing a lot to the significant project of constructing humanistic spirit in society this paper is divided into seven chapters chapter one includes a brief introduction to hawthorne s life and writing experiences and the plot of the scarlet letter then it presents a brief introduction and critical reviews on his works chapter two presents the background development and major principles and significance of ethical literary theory including representative theorists and writers as well as their contributions to the development of ethical literary theory chapter three pays attention to hawthorne s pursuit of beauty in human nature relationship through the description of hester s physical beauty which is in sharp contrast to the gloomy dark puritan society and the description of pearl s purity and innocence hawthorne conveys his ethical quest for beauty chapter four decodes hawthorne s pursuit of truth in the human society relationship by narrowing down its connotation to the relationship between individuals and puritan community firstly dimmesdale s final confession indirectly shows the significance of being true to the puritan community secondly hester s pursuit of truth and her final acceptance and respect by the community again show the importance of being true to the community we draw a conclusion that hawthorne iii brings forth a universal truth that the relationship between people and puritan community society in a small scope should be harmonious for each party s sake thus his unwearied pursuit of truth in terms of human society relationship is accomplished in this novel chapter five explores in detail the characters pursuit of virtue in self other relationship in the scarlet letter at first love is one kind of virtue pursued by hawthorne then kindness and sympathy are other virtues hester s love to her lover and her child and pearl s sympathy with dimmesdale and other people remind us of the significance of self other relationship through the scarlet letter hawthorne tells us that the reasonable self other relationship among people lies in love kindness and sympathy chapter six makes an analysis of the most intrinsic and complicated relationship one self relationship the relationship between a human being and his inner world we probe into the life stories of dimmesdale chillingworth and hester to dig out hawthorne s moral view of sublimation in terms of one self relationship self reflection self realization self redemption and the desire of being a better and nobler person are the concrete forms of his view of sublimation the last chapter is the conclusion of this paper in the scarlet letter hawthorne focuses on dealing with the problems of puritan community and relationships between human beings of his own time such moral notions as beauty truth mutual love kindness self reflection repentance and self sublimation are hawthorne s key ethical pursuits revealed in the scarlet letter key words the scarlet letter ethical literary theory beauty truth virtue sublimation 独独 创创 性性 声声 明明 本人声明所呈交的学位论文是本人在导师指导下进行的研究工作及取得的研究成果 据我所知 除了文中特别加以标志和致谢的地方外 论文中不包含其他人已经发表或撰 写过的研究成果 也不包含为获得 合肥工业大学 或其他教育机构的学位或证书而使 用过的材料 与我一同工作的同志对本研究所做的任何贡献均已在论文中作了明确的说 明并表示谢意 学位论文作者签字 梁其宝 签字日期 2011 年 4 月 30 日 学位论文版权使用授权书学位论文版权使用授权书 本学位论文作者完全了解 合肥工业大学 有关保留 使用学位论文的规定 有权 保留并向国家有关部门或机构送交论文的复印件和磁盘 允许论文被查阅或借阅 本人 授权 合肥工业大学 可以将学位论文的全部或部分论文内容编入有关数据库进行检 索 可以采用影印 缩印或扫描等复制手段保存 汇编学位论文 保密的学位论文在解密后适用本授权书 学位论文者签名 梁其宝 导师签名 林玉鹏 签字日期 2011 年 4 月 30 日 签字日期 2011 年 4 月 30 日 学位论文作者毕业后去向 工作单位 电话 通讯地址 邮编 1 chapter one introduction the author of this paper intends to analyze hawthorne s masterpiece the scarlet letter in terms of ethical literary criticism to reveal the moral factors embodied in the romance and hawthorne s ethical pursuit of beauty truth virtue and sublimation systematically the following two parts of this chapter offer a brief introduction to hawthorne and the scarlet letter and give a general literature review of the scarlet letter at home and abroad respectively 1 1 introduction to hawthorne and the scarlet letter nathaniel hawthorne a descendant of puritan ancestors including john hathorne a presiding magistrate in the salem witch trials is considered as the first greatest american novelist in the moralistic tradition in order to distance himself from his family s shameful involvement in the witch trials hawthorne added the w to his last name during his early twenties after his father a ship captain died of yellow fever at sea when nathaniel was only four his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward relatively isolated pursuit hawthorne s childhood left him overly shy which molded his life as a writer hawthorne turned to writing after his graduation from bowdoin college his first novel fanshawe was an unsuccessful one and hawthorne himself regarded it as amateur later he wrote several successful short stories including my kinsman major molineux roger malvin s burial and young goodman brown arguably hawthorne s most famous short story in 1839 hawthorne was forced to enter a career as a boston custom house measurer due to his insufficient earnings as a writer three years later hawthorne was dismissed from his job in the salem custom house by 1842 his writing finally gave hawthorne a sufficient income to marry sophia peabody and move to the manse in concord which was the center of the transcendental movement hawthorne returned to salem in 1845 where he was 2 appointed surveyor of the boston custom house by president james polk but he was dismissed from this post when zachary taylor became president hawthorne then devoted himself to his most famous novel the scarlet letter he zealously worked on the novel with a determination he had not known before his intense suffering infused the novel with imaginative energy leading him to describe it as a hell fired story on february 3 1850 hawthorne read the final pages to his wife he wrote it broke her heart and sent her to bed with a grievous headache which i look upon as a triumphant success person 2005 463 his works remain notable for their treatment of new england puritanism personal guilt and the complexities of moral choices though hawthorne was perpetually dissatisfied with his body of work throughout his life he remains lauded as one of the greatest american writers his fame has been on the increase since the publication of his masterpiece the scarlet letter the story of the scarlet letter published on march 16 1850 is set in a puritan village near boston massachusetts during the summer of 1642 a young woman known as hester prynne has been led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms wearing an a on the breast of her gown to the scaffold to bear the punishment the scarlet letter a represents the act of adultery that she has committed and it is to be a symbol of her sin a badge of shame for all to see a man who is elderly and a stranger to the town enters the crowd and asks another onlooker what s happening the second man responds by explaining that hester is being punished for adultery and she will not reveal her lover s identity so the scarlet letter along with her subsequent public shaming is the punishment for her sin and secrecy the elderly one is hester s missing husband who is now practicing medicine and calling himself roger chillingworth he reveals his true identity to hester and makes her keep his identity settling down in the town chillingworth is willing to find hester s secret accomplice who brings him shame and pity shunned by the community hester and her daughter live in a small cottage on the outskirts of boston within seven years hester supports herself by embroidery and her daughter pearl is 3 considered as both hester s love and her punishment grows into a willful impish child and her secret lover dimmesdale however appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious trouble seemingly caused by psychological ailment hester eventually decides to lay aside her own concern helping her lover to cast off his trouble they plan to flee away to europe unfortunately chillingworth knows of their plan and plans to follow them the day before the ship is to sail the townspeople gather for a holiday celebrating an election and dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever after the sermon dimmesdale impulsively mounts the scaffold with hester and pearl and confesses publicly then he clearly feels a release from the pretense of his former life and the laws and sins he has lived with and falls dead frustrated in his revenge chillingworth dies a year later and wills all his property to pearl even though he knows she is not his daughter hester and pearl leave boston and no one knows what has happened to them many years later hester returns alone still wearing the scarlet letter and resumes her charitable work and the townspeople especially the women have finally begun to forgive hester of her tragic indiscretion when hester dies she is buried in a new grave near an old and sunken one in that burial ground beside which king s chapel has since been built it was near that old and sunken grave yet with a space between as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle yet one tombstone served for both hawthorne 2006 299 the tombstone was decorated with a letter a whose meaning changes from adultery to angel now hester is respected and honored by the community and all her fellow townspeople eventually 1 2 literature review since the publication of the scarlet letter a large number of biographers and critics have written numerous literary papers on all aspects of his life and work the criticism of the scarlet letter is quite obviously diverse critics shift their attention to almost every aspect of the novel from the time when it was published some see it as an anatomy of puritanism some consider the work as a conflict of the individual versus society some others read the novel from the resources and context of the 4 scarlet letter for example michael j colacurcio s footsteps of ann hutchinson the context of the scarlet letter colacurcio 1972 frederick newberry s a red hot a and a lusting divine sources for the scarlet letter newberry 1987 etc which focus on the christian sources of the scarlet letter while professor thomas upham studied the work from the psychological perspective he thought that hawthorne adopted a threefold analysis of personality affections intellect and will upham 1869 darrel abel analyses the novel from the angle of symbolism in his article hawthorne s pearl symbol and character abel 1951 50 66 henry james regards the novel as the moral growth of mankind he contends that dimmesdale s internal struggle and his final confession of sin and acknowledgement of responsibility simultaneously produce purification and death james 1879 d h lawrence originally finds the cultural change in the scarlet letter he argues that the decline of chillingworth might suggest the downfall of the debilitated european intellectual tradition in the new world while hester and dimmesdale are moving to a higher american synthesis based upon puritanism democracy and nature he argued that such a reading would make the scarlet letter a prime exponent of the american myth lawrence 1953 e a duyckinck a prominent 19th century american editor and the co author of the cyclopedia of american literature labels the novel a psychological romance and concludes that there is no truer product of the american soil than hawthorne harris 1988 f o matthiessen richard chase roy r male and daniel hoffman focuses on hawthorne s use of imagery and symbolism in the scarlet letter roy male regards hawthorne as a humanist with a tragic vision in his hawthorne s tragic vision male 1957 the feminist theme of the novel was explored as early as in the 1930s by neal frank doubleday by nina baym in 1980s and recently by shari benstock in the 1990s because of the complexity of the novel itself and the application of different critical theories and methods different or even opposite conclusions are arrived at the two representatives of one main school person leland s and boudreau kristin think hawthorne is a strong supporter for patriarchal ideology while the representatives of another school nina baym and judith fryer agree that the protagonist hester is a rebel 5 against the social customs and in her we can find hawthorne s deny of androcentrism among all the feminist critics of the scarlet letter it seems none of them is dominating domestic studies on the scarlet letter are mostly scattered in students thesis and literary journals in regard to the criticisms on the scarlet letter most critics follow the overseas angles mentioned above su yuxiao explores the ethical value based on the christian scripture in sin and redemption hawthorne s the scarlet letter from a christian ethical perspective su 2007 114 119 an mei s analysis of the tendency of feminism in the scarlet letter studies the romance from the perspective of feminism an 2004 39 41 wang yan analyzes the work from the perspective of psychoanalysis in her pearl s structural psychoanalytic interpretation wang 2001 24 26 liu boxiang s explanation of feminism of hester prynne liu 2003 21 24 and gan wenping s the return of hester in the scarlet letter gan 2003 64 68 are several examples of this kind of reading the moral theme of the romance has been explored since it was published the western literary critics generally hold that what hawthorne advocates in the scarlet letter is the puritan doctrine that all men are born sinful and that the theme of the romance is sins among all of them darrel abel s the moral picturesque studies in hawthorne s fiction abel 1988 and boudreau kristin s hawthorne s model of christian charity kristin 2002 stands out at home li shiqiang s a moral thematic interpretation of the scarlet letter li 2000 77 81 and zhou jianping s praising truth virtue and beauty lasing falsehood vice and ugliness an exploratory analysis of the moral theme of the scarlet letter zhou 2002 90 94 are the influential ones however they all analyze the novel from the perspective of traditional moral criticism this paper designs to explore the scarlet letter from the new angle ethical literary criticism the ethical factors contained in the scarlet letter are profuse from the perspective of ethical literary criticism literary texts are almost all on account of human moral experience the author of this paper tries to analyze the ethical factors 6 in the scarlet letter from four layers of relationship i e human nature relationship human society relationship self other relationship one self relationship a conclusion can be drawn that hawthorne sets up good examples and moral norms in the romance for people in the whole world thus contributing a lot to the significant project of constructing humanistic spirit in society 7 chapter two theoretical basis 2 1 ethical literary criticism historically traditional ethical literary criticism suffered absent treatment for its image of being extreme dogmatic and formulaic the term of ethical literary criticism might remind people of plato s abjection of poets out of the unearthly realm and therefore ethical literary criticism was gradually replaced by formalistic criticism however ethical literary criticism is different from formalistic criticism ethical literary criticism is a research method to read analyze and interpret literary works from perspective of ethics the basic thought of this method is that literature is the art of ethics in nature as it is the special expressions of ethical ideas and moral life in a particular historical period literature is not only art of languages but of text consisting of characters instruction is the essential attribute and first function of literature while aesthetic appreciation is the second which serves the first ethical literary criticism reoccupies academia in 2000s after a long period of ignorance professor nie zhenzhao first put forward in china ethical literary criticism which has eventually developed into an important topic in the current aca