On-the-Symbolism-in-the-Scarlet-Letter.doc

On the Symbolism in the Scarlet Letter Written by: Li YanweiSupervised by: Zheng GaohongEnglish DepartmentCollege of Adult EducationAnhui Normal UniversityOctober 2010AcknowledgementI would like to express my appreciation for my classmates, my teacher and my Lecturer Zheng .With their help, I achieved this essay. Thanks to my classmates who give encouragement and reference books for me. I also acknowledge my comprehensive English teacher who gives me available information and advices .And I want give my special gratefulness to Mr. Zheng, he provides a lot of effective suggestions for my thesis ,and suggests me how to perfect my essay. Finally, I genuinely offer my acknowledgement to them.AbstractAs a famous writer of romanticism, Nathaniel Hawthorne is skillful at the using of symbolism in his works. The various usage of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter makes the novel as a work of the world. The novel revolves around one major symbol: the Scarlet Letter. Besides, the four major characters: Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chillingworth and Pearl have their symbolic meanings, Moreover, some other objects that are described in the novel also have their symbolic meanings . In a word, The Scarlet Letter is a novel of much symbolism.Key words: the Scarlet Letter, symbolic, scaffold 摘要 作为一名浪漫主义作家，纳撒尼尔霍桑在他的作品中很巧妙的运用了象征主义。在红字这部小说中他广泛地运用象征主义，从而使这部小说成为了世界名著。红字中围绕着一个主要象征：红字。另外，还有四个主要人物：海斯特、丁梅斯代尔、齐灵渥斯以及珍珠都有他们各自的象征意义。而且，在文中描写的一些景物景色也有其深刻的象征意义。总之，红字是一部充满象征主义的小说。 关键词：红字、象征主义、刑台ContentsAcknowledgements 2Abstract .3摘 要.4Chapter1 Introduction . 6 1.1 Literature review.6 1.2 The significance.6Chapter2 The symbolism of the letter A .82.1 A for adultery shame and human nature.8 2.2 A for Able Angel and Arthur. .8Chapter3 The expression of symbolism in the character10 3.1 Pearl: A living scarlet letter.10 3.2 Hester Prynne: A symbol of strength and independence.11 3.3 Roger Chillingworth：A symbol of Revenge.12 3.4 Arthur Dimmesdale：A symbol of hypocrisy.14 Chapter4 The symbolism of the other objects which are described in the novel.16 4.1 The forest and the river.16 4.2 The prison.17 4.3 Scaffold.17Chapter5 Conclusion. .18 Works cited.19On the Symbolism in the Scarlet LetterChapter 1 Introduction1.1 Literature reviewNathaniel Hawthorne was born on July 4, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, the descendent of a long line of Puritan ancestors, including John Hawthorne, a presiding magistrate in the Salem witch trials. After his father lost at sea when he was only four years old, his mother became overly protective and pushed him toward more isolated pursuits. Hawthornes childhood left him overly shy and bookish, and molded his life as a writer. The Scarlet Letter which makes him known all around the world is one of his most famous works. The novel published in 1850s, which is notable for its allegory and symbolism and is regarded as the first symbolic novel in American literature. The Scarlet Letter recounts the story of Hester Prynne who is a young, recently married woman. She is sent to start a new life in America while her husband remains in England. In America she falls into love with another man and gives birth to a baby. This behavior is against for the puritan law, so she has been caught and asked to tell the truth. However, she does not reveal the name of her lover after a public trial, and she is forced to wear a scarlet letter A which is marking her as an adulteress. Unknown to her or her lover, her husband stands among the crowd who condemns her. Hesters husband a cold-hearted man who decides to find the father of the baby, and takes actions of his plan to revenge. When finding the truth, he begins to torment Dimmesdale. In this situation, he has to agree with Hesters escape plan. But it fails. Finally, Dimmesdale, with Hester and Pearl, go to the scaffold. He admits that he is the father of the Pearl and dies. Later, Chinngworth also passes away. While Hester is acknowledged through her intergrity and attic faith of the life. 1.2 The significanceAs a great romantic novelist in America in 19th century, Hawthorne is outstanding in handling the application of symbolism. The Scarlet Letter is Hawthornes the most important symbolic novel, which stands as the best work of Hawthorne and one of the indubitable masterpieces of American literature. This essay aims at the exploration of the usage of the symbolism in the novel. It mainly discusses the deep symbolic significance of the scarlet letter A, the four major characters, and the objects. The scarlet letter is the central symbol of the novel. It is symbolic meaning changes from adultery to able, even angel in the novel. It also examines the symbolic meanings of little Pearl and some typical natural surroundings such as the jail, the forest, the scaffold and so on. This novel has a very important symbolic significance. Meanwhile, the Scarlet Letter depicts three kinds of criminals in the puritan society; they are Hester who makes a sin of adultery, Dimmesdale who makes a sin of cheating, and Chillingworth who makes a sin of vengeance. It probes deeply into the essence of the puritan community, reveals the cruelty of law in the Capitalist society, the religious cheating and hypocritical morality.Chapter2 The Symbolism of the Letter A2.1 A for Adultery shame and human natureThe novel opens with Hester being led to the scaffold. The letter A which is worn in Hesters chest is a symbol of her adultery against Roger Chillingworth. As a puritan punishment way of the adultery, it is her punishment to wear the letter A. And she is forced to wear the scarlet letter on her bosom all the time. And the purpose of this letter is a shame to wear for Hester, and makes her unset. Here, she said to herself, has been the scene of her guilt there should be a scene of her earthly punishment. . Hester is ashamed at her sin, but she chooses not to display it. She admits this crime in the heart of passion and fully recognizes. Though she feels compunction, she also accepts her most valuable treasure-Pearl. With this situation, many people will leave Boston to find a place where is remote and no one knows her sin, and hide her character and identity under a new exterior, or she can emerge into another state where she could aloof from the law that condemns her. However, Hester chooses to stay which indicates that she has a lot of strength and integrity. Whats more, the letter A is natural rather than being exotic and lurid as the community sees, and those things associated with them-passion and sexuality in particular -are natural to human nature. if we see the letter A as a symbol of human nature, then Hester sees the letter A as punishment and shame , the community shows it as human nature especially passion ,to be devilish.2.2 A for Able Angel ArthurThen, The letter A stands for Able, Angel, and Arthur. The villagers now change their minds to believe that the scarlet letter stands for Hesters ability and her beautiful needlework. The letter was a symbol of her calling. Such helpfulness is found in her so much power to do and power to sympathize -that many people refused to interpret the scarlet letter A. (P148). So there are many people realized that Hester has a noble character .then the letter A symbolizes angel rather than adultery. Hester provides time and love for the person who needs her most, which proves that she has not defeated when she encounters many suffers. In Hesters eyes, the letter A also represents her lover Arthur. So the scarlet letter can be regarded as the badge of the ardent love between Hester and Arthur. This is shown by Hesters appearance at the scaffold with a proud smile at the beginning of the story. Hester does not feel shamed for the letter but thinks of it as a symbol of their great love. These changes in scarlet letter are very significant .They show her sin, her ability and her beauty. Hester is a powerful woman who is more admirable to go through the emotional torture, as most people go through life.Chapter3 The expression of symbolism in the character3.1 Pearl: A living scarlet letterPearl is one of the most complex and misunderstood symbols in the novel. She is the daughter of Hester and Arthur. Pearl was a source of many different kinds of symbolism.The most significant symbolic meaning of Pearl in the novel is her association with the scarlet letter A . When Hester realizes this in the first scaffold scene, she resists the temptation to hold Pearl in front of the scarlet letter A , and indeed, of the childs whole appearance, that it irresistibly reminded the beholder of the token which Hester Prynne was doomed to wear upon her bosom. (P93) Pearl really is the scarlet letter which is in another form and endows the scarlet letter with life.As a symbol, Pearl always keeps Hester aware of her sin. Pearl always keeps Hester aware that there is no escape from her passionate nature. The puritans would call that natural sinful, In chapter 6, Hawthorne employs an often-used technique for that passion .Hawthorne handles mirror images, Hester looks into the black mirror of Pearls eyes and she sees a face ,fiend-like , full of smiling malice ,yet bearing the semblance of features that she had known full well ,though seldom with a smile ,and never with malice in them , Is this her own face ,never with malice ,but is contorted by evil ? If so, Pearl is the embodiment of that passion.Moreover ,Pearl is the person who eventually makes Dimmesdale admit his crime, she constantly asks why the minister keeps putting his hand over his heart and figures out it is the same reason that her mother wears the scarlet letter , Her role as a living scarlet letter is to announce to the whole world who the guilt parents are ,when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold where Hester suffered her public humiliation several years before, he meets Hester and Pearl who have been at Governor Winthrops deathbed, taking a measurements for a roe . He invites them to join him on the stand. Then when they later meet in the forest, Hester says to Pearl, He loves thee, my little Pearl, and loves thy mother too. Wilt thou love him? Pearl says, Doth he love us? then asks, wilt he go back with us, hand in hand, we three together, into the town? The answer is not now. So when Dimmesdale impresses a kiss on her brow before they leave the forest, Pearl broke away from her mother, and, running to the brook, stooped over it, and bathed her forehead, until the unwelcome kiss was quite washed off (P194) At this time, Pearl does not accept this father. At the end of the novel, when the minister climbs up the scaffold with the help of Hester and Pearl and confesses his sin to his followers, Pearl kisses his lips. She accepts her father finally. So Pearls role as the living Scarlet Letter is over, and eventually Dimmesdale takes responsibility for his sin.3.2 Hester Prynne : A symbol of strength and independenceWhat most remarkable about Hester Prynne is her strength and independence of character. While Hawthorne does not give a great deal of information about her life before the book opens, he does show her remarkable character, reveals them through her public humiliation and subsequent isolated life in Puritan society. Her inner strength, her defiance of convention, her honesty, and her compassion may have been in her character all along.Nathaniel Hawthorne describes her in Chapter Two like this: The young woman was tall, a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale, she had dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam, and a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes(P50)The people first meets the incredibly strong woman on the scaffold with Pearl in her arms to begin her punishment. On the scaffold, she displays a sense of irony and contempt. The irony is presented in the elaborate needlework of the scarlet letter. there are fantastic flourishes of gold thread and the letter is ornately decorative , significantly beyond the colonys laws that call for somber and unadorned attire .while she might be feeling agony as if her heart had been flung into the street for them all to spurn and trample upon , her face reveals no thought ,and her demeanor is described as haughty, she displays a dignity and grace that reveals a deep trust in herself when Dimmesdale implores her to name the father of the baby and tells her that penance may be lightened. Hester says : Never！, when asked again, she says, I will not speak! It shows Hesters self-reliance and inner strength which are further revealed in her defiance of the law and in her confrontation with the governor of the colony.Hesters strength and independence is evident in her dealing with both her husband and her lover. Hester defies chillingworth when he demands to know the name of her lover. In the forests scene, Dimmesdale ever acknowledges that she has the strength that he lacks. The minister calls on her to give him strength to overcome his indecisiveness twice in the forest and again when he faces his confession on Election Day. Whats more, during these years, Hester refuses to speak out his lover and overcomes all the punishment by herself. She proves her worth with her uncommon sewing skills and provides community services. Finally, Hester becomes an angel of mercy who eventually lives out her life as a figure of compassion in the community. She becomes known for her charity. In the end, Hesters strength, honesty, and compassion carry her through a life she had never imagined. While Dimmesdale dies after his public confession and Chillingworth dies by his own hatred and revenge, Hester lives on quietly, and becomes something of a legend in the colony of Boston. The scarlet letter makes her what she becomes, and in the end, she grows stronger and more peaceful through her rest life3.3 Roger Chillingworth, a symbol of revenge Roger Chillingworths character is not like Hesters and Dimmesdales character. He is complex and difficult to see though. While he changes from a kind scholar into an obsessed fiend, he is less of a character and more of a symbol that doing the devils bidding. Once he comes to Boston, we see him only in the situation that involves his obsession with vengeance where we learn a great deal about him. The words chilling and worth compose the surname Chillingworth. Chilling comes from the word Chilly, which means this man is a merciless avenger. Hawthorne begins building this symbol of evil vengeance with Chillingworths first appearance in the novel by associating him with deformity, wildness and mysterious power. We feel a bit sorry for Roger Chillingworth during the first scaffold scene when he arrives in Massachusetts Bay colony and finds his wife suffering public punishment for an adulterous act. At that time, he chooses revenge. Chillingworth is a man of science. His love of learning and intellectual pursuit attracts Dimmesdale. In the New World, A learned man is rare. This love of wisdom is what will draw the two men go together, It also facilitates Chillingworths plans. When Chillingworth decides to trace Hesters lover and enact revenge. He pursues this purpose with the technique and motives. As a scientific investigator, his cold-hearted and intellectual knowledge give him a lot of help. Hawthorne says, Few secret can escape an investigator, who has opportunity and license to under take such a quest and skill to follow it up.When Chillingworth begins his investigation, he does so as a scientist. He uses his cold-hearted and intellectual to revenge the minister.This is what makes Chillingworth diabolical in the end. He violates Dimmesdales heart and soul to see how he will react. Eventually when Hester talks with him about whether Dimmesdales debt has been paid. Chillingworth says that it would have been better endure seven years of vengeance. In seeking vengeance, he has taken on the devils Job. His obsession with revenge is what makes him in Hawthornes eyesthe worst sinner, and therefore, he is a pawn of the evil .When he finally found the scarlet letter A on the bosom of the minister, he busted out a ghastly rapture. He is turning from a victim to a sinner. When he finds his wife betrays him, He delicates all his time to seek revenge. He gives up his identity. Living with the minister and being by his side all day, every day, Chillingworth forgets that he still has a change to lead a life of his own. After Dimmedale climbs the scaffold to reveal him secret to the world, CHillingworth knows the minister is about to escape him. Chillingworth dies less a year later because his purpose to make minister encounter mental torture is his only reason for living, when his object is completed, Chillingworth does indeed cease to exist. In the conclusion, Chillingworth is also means that the avengers life is worthless.3.4 Arthur Dimmesdale: A sy