Nathaniel Hawthorne revised.ppt

1、Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864),American Romanticism,1.Background: westward expansion, great immigration, burgeoning industrialism, the idea of democracy and equality, etc. an urge to have its own literature. 2. Distinct features: a. The wilderness of the west b. The desire to escape from society and

2、 return to nature c. local dialects d. puritan thoughts (moralize/original sin),3. New England Transcendentalism two representatives: Emerson and Thoreau. 4. American Romantic literature poets: Philip Freneau, William Cullen Bryant, Henry W. Longfellow, Walt Whitman, etc. fiction writers: Washington

3、 Irving: comic fables Edgar Allen Poe: Gothic tales James Fenimore Cooper: frontier adventures Herman Melville: narrative quests Nathaniel Hawthorne: psychological romances,5. Romanticists different understanding of human nature: Transcendentalists: man is divine in nature and therefore forever perf

4、ectible. puritan writers: (original sin) everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is indispensable for the improvement of human nature.,About the author,1. Life Born to a family with a long Puritan tradition, the family fortune declined gradually, read extensively and formed an amb

5、ition to be a writer. /Bowdoin College/ customs officer/ consul in Liverpool 2. Literary Career Twice-Told Tales (turning point) The Scarlet Letter The Blithedale Romance Mosses from an Old Manse The House of the Seven Gables,2020/8/3,American Puritanism 1) Puritanism is the religious belief of the

6、Puritans, who came to New England for the sake of religious freedom and intended to “purify” or simplify the religious rituals of the Church of England. 2) The Puritans accepted the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination 得救预定论（认为上帝已预先选定某些灵魂得救, 余者受咒诅）, original sin, total depravity and salvation of a

7、 selected few through a special infusion of grace from God (limited atonement). They believed in the original sin and the harsh Day of Doom, although some good peoplethe chosen people or “the Elect”may be saved.,2020/8/3,4) Being a group of seriously religious people, they had a strong sense of miss

8、ion and were very idealistic, for they thought they were the “chosen” people by God and sent to the New World to purify the beliefs and practices of the Church of England, from which they had separated themselves, and built in America a new church. The Puritans in New England practiced theocracy神权政治

9、, a form of government in which religion and government are combined into one.,2020/8/3,5) On the other hand, the Puritans were very practical, for the survival in the New World had taught them to work hard for profits and material success, which they believed as a sign of Gods benevolence仁慈. 6)Puri

10、tans in America were living a very disciplined and simple style of life, devoid of earthly joy and extravagancy奢侈; 挥霍. Their way of life were based on their somber religion and stressed hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety.,2020/8/3,7) A dominant factor in American life, as a philosophy of life and

11、 a culture heritage, American Puritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature. It has become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, rather than a set of tenets, so much a part of the national cultural atmosphere that the American breathes, th

12、at we may state with a degree of safety that, without some understanding of Puritanism, there can be no understanding of America and its culture.,3. “Black” vision of life and human beings: “ There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole life; but circumstan

13、ces may rouse it to activity.” A piece of literary work should “show how we are wronged and wrongers, and avenge one another.” -Hawthorne One source of evil is over-reaching intellect. (someone who is too proud, to sure of himself, e.g. Chillingworth in The Scarlet Letter) Hawthornes view of man and

14、 human history originates in Puritanism.,4. Themes: Hawthornes works suggest that guilt, sin, and evil are the most inherent natural qualities of humanity. Many of his works are inspired by Puritan New England, combining historical romance loaded with symbolism and deep psychological themes, borderi

15、ng on surrealism. His depictions of the past are a version of historical fiction used only as a vehicle to express common themes of ancestral sin, guilt and retribution. His later writings also reflect his negative view of the Transcendentalism movement.,5. Significant style: romance/ psychology of

16、characters/ allegory/ symbols/ ambiguity (multiple views),About The Scarlet Letter,Setting: The action inThe Scarlet Lettertakes place in Boston, a colony of the Massachusetts Bay Company, in the years not long after the towns settlement in 1630. Bostons residents were Puritans, members of a religio

17、us movement founded in England.,2. Main characters: Hester Prynne: Boston settler who commits adultery and bears a child while awaiting the arrival of her husband from Europe. Authorities require her to wear a piece of red cloth in the shape of anA(standing foradulteress) on the bodice of her dress

18、to identify her as a sinner. She refuses to identify her partner in sin. Rev. Arthur Dimmesdale: Respected minister who, unknown to townspeople, is the father of Hesters child. He is weak and cowardly but redeems himself in the end.,Mr. Prynne/Roger Chillingworth: Hesters husbanda man much older tha

19、n shewho dedicates himself to discovering and punishing Hesters lover. His descent into the darkness of a monomaniacal desire for revenge turns him into a devil figure. Pearl: Hesters child. As her name suggests, she is something good that came from sin. She is also a constant reminderto Hester and

20、to the townspeopleof Hesters sinfulness.,3. Themes: 1) Sin, Knowledge, and the Human Condition 2) The Nature of Evil 3) Identity and Society 4. Allegorical interpretation of The names 1) Chillingworth is cold and inhuman and thus brings a “chill” to Hesters and Dimmesdales lives. 2) Prynne rhymes wi

21、th “sin”.,3)Dimmesdale suggests “dimness”- weakness, indeterminacy, lack of insight, and lack of will, all of which characterize the young minister. 4)Pearl evokes a biblical allegorical devicethe “pearl of great price” that is salvation.,Symbols in The Scarlet Letter,1. Symbol: is a word or phrase

22、that signifies an object or event which in its turn signifies something, or has a range of reference, beyond itself. (Symbols are objects, characters, figures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.) 2. The Scarlet Letter A a symbol of shame(A stands for Adultery)-a symbol of ident

23、ity to Hester(A stands for Able),3. The Meteor To Dimmesdale, the meteor implies that he should wear a mark of shame just as Hester does.-To the community, it stands for “Angel” and marks Governor Winthrops entry into heaven. 4. Pearl Pearl is a sort of living version of her mothers scarlet letter(a

24、 reminder of Hesters “sin”)-a blessing(the vital spirit and passion),5. The Rosebush Growing outside the prison, this shrub seems to represent pity, hope and survival-The rosebush may also symbolize the mixture of goodness (the roses) and evil (the thorns) in and around each human being. 6. Blacknes

25、s, Darkness important images in the novel, symbolizing the sternness and rigidity of the Puritans, the somberness of life in colonial Boston, and sinfulness and secrecy.,1) Stern and black-browed Puritans (introductory chapter, The Custom-House)2) The black flower of civilised society, a prison. (Ch

26、apter I, The Prison Door)3) The door of the jail being flung open from within there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into.sunshine, the grim and gristly presence of the town-beadle (Chapter II, The Market-Place)4) Governor Bellingham . . . . wore a dark feather in his hat,

27、a border of embroidery on his cloak, and a black velvet tunic.beneath (Chapter III, The Recognition),5) There he stood, with a border of grizzled locks beneath his skull-cap, while his grey eyes, accustomed to the shaded.light of his study, were winking, like those of Hesters infant, in the unadulte

28、rated sunshine. He looked like the darkly.engraved portraits which we see prefixed to old volumes of sermons. . . . (Chapter III, The Recognition),6) Their immediate posterity, the generation next to the early emigrants, wore the blackest shade of Puritanism, and so.darkened the national visage with

29、 it, that all the subsequent years have not sufficed to clear it up. We have yet to learn.again the forgotten art of gaiety. (Chapter XXI, The New England Holiday) 7. Light and Color sunshine and shadows, noon and midnight red, gray, and black,8. Setting Puritan village with its market place and sca

30、ffold.(a place of rigid rules, concern with sin and punishment, and self-examination. Public humiliation and penance are symbolized by the scaffold) the forest (home of the Black Man but also a place of freedom)-a natural world, governed by natural laws, as opposed to the artificial, Puritan communi

31、ty with its man-made laws.,Chapter 2 The Market Place,Summary The Puritan women waiting outside the prison self-righteously and viciously discuss Hester Prynne and her sin. Hester, proud and beautiful, emerges from the prison. She wears an elaborately embroidered scarlet letterA standing for adulter

32、y on her breast, and she carries a three-month-old infant in her arms.,Hester is led through the unsympathetic crowd to the scaffold of the pillory. Standing alone on the scaffold as punishment for her adulterous behavior, she remembers her past life in England and on the European continent. Suddenly becoming aware of the stern faces looking up at her, Hester painfully realizes her present position of shame and punishment. 2. Glossary physiognomiesfacial