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摘 要

《红字》一向被视为19世纪美国文学中的浪漫主义杰作，而《傲慢与偏见》则是现实主义与浪漫主义结合的典范，两者都具有明显的浪漫主义色彩。国内外的学者对两部作品的创作思想以及写作手法的研究都抱有极大热情，然而却很少有学者结合这两部作品的浪漫主义特征进行深入研究，因此本文就其浪漫主义特征进行了对比分析。

一方面，《红字》和《傲慢与偏见》浪漫主义特征的相同点主要体现在三个方面：追求理想爱情、回归自然以及追求个人价值。《红字》的女主人公海斯特一心只想保护自己恋人的安全，而《傲慢与偏见》的主角伊丽莎白则坚持要嫁给自己真正喜欢的人。哪怕是面对宗教的藩篱和世俗的眼光，她们都奋力追求理想爱情。对海斯特和珍珠而言，自然是保护她们免受世俗社会伤害的避难所，而对伊丽莎白夫妇和简夫妇而言，自然则充当着媒人的角色，为他们的爱情带来了一次次的改变。通过不遗余力地描述大自然不可思议的神奇魔力，霍桑和奥斯丁成功地向读者传递了渴望回归自然的强烈意愿。另外，两部作品主角们对个人主义的追求，毫无疑问号召人们去勇敢实现个人价值。

另一方面，两部作品在浪漫主义特征上的差异主要体现在对讽刺和象征手法的大量运用上。《红字》通过象征手法赋予字母A多重含义，给读者带来无限想象空间，而讽刺手法的则更偏向批判清教主义思想。《傲慢与偏见》中讽刺手法营造出一种幽默风格，使得人物形象更加栩栩如生，而采用象征手法描写两对夫妇的物质婚姻以及代表着地位和财富的彭伯里庄园则反映了一定的现实性。总之，作者希望通过本文能够帮助读者更好地理解浪漫主义特征，并为今后的研究提供新视角。

关键词：浪漫主义特征 《红字》 《傲慢与偏见》 相同点 不同点

1. Introduction

1.1 Research background

1.1.1 Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter

Considered “American Shakespeare” by Herman Melville (1870), Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) produced prodigious amounts of excellent short stories as well as monumental novels, and has been recognized as one of the most important figurers in writing moral and romantic stories in the history of American literature. His works always reflect a touch of Puritanism due to the social background at his time, as well as the life experience. As a matter of fact, Puritanism has branded Hawthorne’s inner consciousness for life, and the marks of invisible sin, guilt and religion, as well as the conflicts of the characters’ inner world can be found in almost all his works such as The Scarlet Letter and The Blithedale Romance. For good measure, Hawthorne was also the first romantic master who initialed a new form of writing in American literature called Symbolic Romance, deeply affected by three systems of thoughts: Puritanism, Transcendentalism and Mysticism. His representative works include four Romances: The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Marble Faun, and The Blithedale Romance.

Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, a monumental work in the history of American Romantic literature, has often been considered to build a bridge between Romanticism and Transcendentalism. It can be described as both a psychological romance as well as a historical novel. This story takes place on a puritan settlement in 17th-century Boston. At that time, most people believed God can save their guilty soul from evil and resisted the charming of nature. Conversely, Romantic and Transcendentalist refuted the view of Puritanism, they insisted on pursuing freedom and returning to nature. Given Hawthorne’s skepticism over Puritanism, his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter reflects a distinct sense of transcendentalism. On its successfully publication in 1850, The Scarlet Letter received a huge amount of attention and made Hawthorne soon scaled the heights of literature’s hall.

1.1.2 Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice

Jane Austen (1755-1817) is one of the greatest novelists in English literature. During her short life, she only composed six complete novels: Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Northanger Abbey, Mansfield Park, Emma, and Persuasion, and left behind three fragmentary books, Lady Susan, The Watsons and Sanditon. All her novels describe a narrow range of social stratum: a very peaceful and cozy bourgeoisie life in the English countryside which Austen is quite familiar with owing to her own experience. As Eric C. Walker (1980) states that Austen is appears to write nothing else but marriage in her novels. But no matter how limited Austen’s subject is, her vividly and picturesque descriptions perk up the trifling daily life. Even Austen lived a equable and placid life, her novels convey a spirit of decisive and brave determination which is dare to break through the traditional barriers and pursue the self-nature. For that reason, Austen is recognized as the one of the most important pioneers in the English realistic novel.

Among Jane Austen’s six works, Pride and Prejudice is the most widely read. Since it began to known by public in 1813, it still stayed on top in English literature. Austen praised this excellent novel as “her own darling child”. The story happened in a scenic English manor in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, mainly talk about Elizabeth, Jane, Charlotte and Lydia, the four young ladies' marriages. In the story, three kinds of motivations of or attitudes towards marriage are presented: Charlotte and Mr. Collins's combination is for money and material conditions; Lydia and Wickham's is for the superficial appearance; Elizabeth and Darcy’s and Jane and Mr. Bingley’s are for the true love and inner beauty. Their relationship is a mirror reflects three different kind of viewpoints of marriage at that time as well as Austen’s feeling to marriage.

1.2 Need for the study

The romantic period, a period of most significance in both America and England, witnessed an out-burst of literature creations of talent and passion. This thesis, by comparing The Scarlet Letter with Pride and Prejudice, aims to show their romantic features, and tries to explore how romanticism influences literary creation.

Theoretically speaking, the present study can give scholars more enlightenments for the study of The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice from a new research perspective, for they may pay attention to the romantic correlations of different works. Practically, the interpretation can help readers have a profound understanding of The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice in addition to the literary achievements the two authors have made as language masters.

2. Literature Review

2.1 Previous studies on The Scarlet Letter

Almost all aspects of The Scarlet Letter have been studied with great concern. Reviews on it can be separated into two sections, i.e. themes such as Puritan thoughts and the writing skills like symbolism and romantic features.

Puritan thoughts constitute a high proportion of the study of The Scarlet Letter. James R. Mellow (1980) devoted himself to Hawthorne’s letters and notes, as well as the novel in simulating Hawthorne’s daily life, trying to discover the influences of Hawthorne’s changes in his puritan thoughts as well as his literary creation. Frederic C. Crews (1989) study Hawthorne’s works from the perspective of Freudian’s term and conception. For him Hawthorne’s works are belong to the dark part of psychological realism. D. H. Lawrence (1990) finds The Scarlet Letter puritanical and moral. In his view, the novel is an excellent work in revealing the degenerate of American. Chang Yaoxin (2008), an expert from Nankai University who is famous for his comprehensive study of American literature, analyzes Hawthorne’s puritan thoughts and writing techniques in his book A Survey of American Literature, highlighting the dark side of Hawthorne’s view on human nature and his contradictory attitude towards American Puritanism.

Symbolism and Romanticism is another field of study devoted exclusively to this novel. Luo lanlan (2011) analyzes the changes in the implications of the letter “A” in The Scarlet Letter while Li Shiqiang (2008) discusses the application of symbolic meanings of characters, settings and the things in nature. Tong Yuxing (2013) makes a comparative study of the symbols in The Scarlet Letter and A Dream of Red Mansions from the perspective of the inner meanings, hidden images and techniques of the symbols.

Gabriela Serrano (2010) praises The Scarlet Letter as a unique romance in fiction by finding complete artistic expression in this novel. According to Doren (1957), The Scarlet Letter is one of the excellent literature creation about love. It’s a tragedy story more than a story of crime. Wang Yi (2009) and Wang Junying (2014) offer some observations on Hawthorne’s romantic spirit by analyzing his view on feminism.

Materials about The Scarlet Letter are numerous, but available studies mentioning the romantic features like the puritan thoughts, feminism and symbolism fail to make in-depth connections.

2.2 Previous studies on Pride and Prejudice

Reviews on Pride and Prejudice can be roughly divided into two major groups: views on marriage and writing techniques.

Barntia Bagchi (2005) describes marriage as the only way for Jane Austen to perfect life. This is also the universal recognition to theme of Pride and Prejudice, for a great number of researches are concerned with this issue. James Syrie (2010) analyzes Austen’s attitude toward marriage by comparing five different types of marriage in the novel. In China, research on Pride and Prejudice also with great care on marriage. Huang Jing (2002) and Meng Xia (2011) do researches on Austen's view of marriage by comparing Pride and Prejudice with Sense and Sensibility. Based on a close reading of the novel and feminist theory, Huang Xiaoli (2013) tries to analyze Austen’s view on marriage and points out its influence on today’s society.

Many academicians were interested in Austen's writing style in Pride and Prejudice (Chen and Li 2010). Judith Lowder Newton (2007) describes the humorous language in Pride and Prejudice as one of the most remarkable point to be observed. While Sara Wootton(2007) talks about the well-knit structure of Pride and Prejudice by analyzing the writing style affected by Byron. Cui Lihua (2006) explores Austen’s romantic features by analyzing the hyperbole applied in the characterization of the novel. Jang Xiaonan (2011) analyzes how irony is used and discusses its merits and defects. By comparing the city life with the nature in Pride and Prejudice, Zhang Xiujuan (2012) tries to define comparison as one of the typical romantic writing skill.

All these researches make great contributions to the study on Jane Austen and Pride and Prejudice. However, there is no systematic research on romantic features of the novel.

2.3 Romanticism

Drabble puts in the prelude to Austen’s Sense and Sensibility, Romanticism is "a literary movement, a profound and irreversible transformation in artistic styles, in cultural attitudes, and in the relations between artist and society" (Austen 23). The Romantic Movement first appeared in Germany and quickly sweep across England, France, and later on reached America about 1820. Having no definite meaning, Romantic Movement, as generally agreed by most scholars, focused on the the rebellion of religion, value of individual, natural instincts and liberation of inner world.

Romanticism in American originated in the end of 18^th and sprung up with the period of rapid development of industry and rapid expansion. The whole nation was embarked on the development of high-speed train at that time. American, whether native or immigrant, made more money than ever before due to increasingly factories and opportunities. For one thing, people enjoyed the material comfort industrial development has brought to them. For another thing, a general suspicion was aroused by the industrialization and urbanization. As a result, a growing artistic, literary and intellectual movement has struck root in this fertile land. The movement consists three aspects: light romanticism, dark romanticism and transcendentalism. Francis E. Skipp (1992) draws five prominent Romantic themes in American literature:

1. follow your instincts;

2. to express inner feelings is more valuable than to repeat universal principles;

3. the individual is at the center of life and God is at the center of the individual;

4. an enthusiastic love for nature;

5. To pursuit the ideal and change what you want.

The last three themes will be detailed in the main body of this thesis.

According to Aidan Day (2001), Romanticism sprung from Britain and soon washing over Europe from 1770 to 1848. The first notable work of this period is James Thomson's The Seasons. The theme of ode to nature has often been considered epoch-making for the reason that it is the first momentous work in the history of pre-romanticism. Thomas Gray, Oliver Goldsmith, William Cowper are all great poets in the pre-romanticism period. Wordsworth, Coleridge and Southey are the first generation of Romantics, also called "Lake Poets"; Byron, Shelly and Keats are considered the second generation of Romantics. The representative features of romanticism are listed as such: imagination, nature, imagery, symbolism and nostalgia etc.

British romanticism was a poetry revolution which led by Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley, Keats. As the secondary focus of romantic literature research, romantic novel hasn't been paid much attention to by academics. In fact, the romantic novel is the same as the romantic poem and play, which are a part of the romantic literature. They share the same literary concepts, view of nature, and opinions on self-consciousness. At that time, Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott are the prominent novelists. Scott combines both romantic themes and realistic manners into a new literary form, the historical novel. Also, to categorize Austen as simply a critical realistic writer is foolish. She marked the maturation of English fiction and her novel about marriage and feminism built a bridge between neoclassicism and romanticism. Therefore, to study the romantic features in her Pride and Prejudice is of necessity.

Nowadays, numerous studies have been done both on The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice, and great achievements have been made. As regards The Scarlet Letter, the romantic features reflected in it have been studied and commented on by many scholars; however, this is not the case with Pride and Prejudice, for most of the researches just focus on the feminism and writing skills. Romanticism holds an extremely important position in the history of literature, most works in that period has a romantic mark. So a study of romantic works is an absolute must if we want to better understand romanticism.

3. Romantic Features in The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice: Similarities

Although The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice are written by authors from different countries, they actually share some common grounds in romantic ways. In this chapter, a comparison of the romantic features in The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice will be made in detail.

3.1 The pursuit of ideal love

Based on the pursuit of inner feelings, striving for the freedom, seeking for ideal love undoubtedly became a significant principle of Romanticism. In The Scarlet Letter, the heroine Hester pursues the ideal love with firm and tenacious spirit. Although she has been interrogated again and again and forced to brand the humiliated letter “A” on her chest, Hester still keep silent about the adulterer’s name all along. She tries her utmost to preserve Dimmesdale’s respectable identity even suffering a torrent of abuse and punishment. To protect their daughter Pearl, Hester launches a challenge to the society and religion, she addresses the petition tenaciously to the governor to ask for Pearl’s custody. To order to make a living, Hester has to sewing to make some money. As she meets Dimmesdale in the woods, sharing their inner feelings and planning to flee to a place where they will not be moralized and punished. It proves that Hester is always care to spend her whole life with Dimmesdale—the person she loved. Love make Hester keeps the secrete about her lover’s name, and love also bring Hester endless courage.

As the main character in Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth insisted on love is the fundamental of a happy marriage. Mr. Collins is the first person make a proposal to her. He feels omnipotent and capable of winning the beauty’s heart on account of the social position and a handsome fortune. To his astonishment, Elizabeth doesn’t spare a glance for his proposal for the reason that he can’t make her happy. Elizabeth’s refusal of Collins’s pompous proposal is a mirror, which reflects her attitude towards love. However, Elizabeth gives a shot at worldly marriage value again when she roundly refuses Mr. Darcy’s first proposal because she doesn’t fall in love with him. Although Mr. Collins’ and Mr. Darcy’s proposal offer Elizabeth many benefits, none of them has truly respect her, proven the sincerity, or captured her heart.

Both Hester and Elizabeth try their utmost to pursue ideal love which is not for money, appearance or social reputation. They have the chutzpah to fall in love with the person who truly appeals to them and never compromise their ideals to stoop to religion and secular society.

3.2 The pursuit of returning to nature

The pursuit of returning to nature is an eternal theme in the Romantic literature. Praising the power of nature, condemning the industrialization and advocating the harmony between human and nature are the prominent features of Romanticism. The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice, as two typical romantic works, provide a substantial ode on nature.

In The Scarlet Letter, with the description of Hester and her daughter Pearl’s attitude toward nature, Hawthorne logically presents that nature has the power to purify one’s mind and offer a shelter to avoid the brutal and dogmatic environment at that time. Hester is persecuted deeply by the letter “A”, the mark of adultery. As she senses that she is not accepted by the community, she returns to nature for a shelter.

“She had wandered without rule or guidance, in a moral wilderness; as vast and as intricate as the untamed Forest…Her intellect and heart had their home as it were in desert places where it roamed as freely as the wild Indian in his woods” (Hawthorne 1440).

For Hester, the forest helps her to flee from her sins and the humiliations of letter “A”. She can allow herself to relax herself completely here. Nature is more like a real “home” which can fully embrace her guilt. Her daughter Pear also explains that the power of nature is more capable than the stubborn community. In the novel, Hawthorne especially details the scene that the sunshine provides Pearl with lots of fun. Nature is the closest and the only friend of Pearl. Thus, sunshine, woods, grass and streams, all of them can light up Pearl’s smile easily. She even has ability to communicate with nature via the sunshine and forests,

In the Pride and Prejudice, Austen uses powerful imagery to create a peaceful and romantic scene of the English valley and reveals a strong sense of pursuing nature. At the beginning of the novel, Austen doesn’t mention any natural things until Jane is invited by Mrs. Bingley. In order to give Jane more time to stay with Mr. Bingley, Mrs. Bennet willfully arranges her daughter to ride a horse to the party when it’s about to rain. Thus the heavy rain creates not only more time but also a chance for Jane and Mr. Bingley. Nature seems to act as a matchmaker in this relationship. Through the description of Elizabeth’s psychology, Austen also exhibits the beauty and power of nature. When she talks about Catherine’s house, the emphasis is more on the nature and the surrounding scenery than on the house itself. Even Catherine herself also says that the scenery will be better in summer. In Austen’s view, nature and surrounding scenery are the key to beautify the house. Without nature, the house would be a building. Nothing else. Elizabeth’s visit to Pemberley, Mr. Darcy’s gorgeous estate, is one of the most detailed description of nature in the novel. “The boundless woods”, “the gardens”, “the streams”, and as much of “charming views” (Austen 242) that can make Elizabeth addicted herself to “wander” in nature. In this magic estate, her feeling about Mr. Darcy has also changed. She even takes being the hostess of the park into account. Therefore, in Austen’s vivid description, nature is portrayed as a magic existence which has great power to change everything.

3.3 The pursuit of individual values

In the romantic period, Romanticism is often linked with female conscientiousness for the impacts of individualism. In the last few decades emerge a band of women writers who began to pay attention to individual value of females’ in their works. Margaret Fuller is a prominent one who promotes sex equality by utilizing the theory of romanticism. The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice, recognized as a reflex of woman’s problems, plainly reflect the pursuit of the individual liberation of female and the equality of woman’s status.

For its social background, The Scarlet Letter is a progressive novel with the incisive view of the individual value of woman. In this novel, Hawthorne vividly portrays a miserable but brave character—Hester, a rebel against the traditional Puritanism. At that time, there is no guarantee of women’s legal rights. However, Hester does not follow this rule at all. She resolutely leaves the person she never loves and emotionally involves herself in the affair with Dimmesdale. She dares to purse love. The female consciousness can also be represented from the changed meaning of letter “A”. The letter first refers to a humiliating mark for adultery, which has brought to Hester endless agony. However, no matter how arduous the time is, the tough woman never stops offering help to anyone. With her unremitting efforts, the meaning of letter “A” has gradually changed into the mark of “Able” and “Admirable”. In addition, when asked about the name of the adulterer, Hester says Never! Hester uses individual rights and regards them as weapons to seek a respectable position.

Jane Austen is no doubt a representative feminist, whose appeal to women’s individuality can be easily discovered in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth was born in a substantial family with five sisters and no male heir. In her circle, the younger sisters cannot wait for her turn to get married. Her best friend goads her to try every effort to hook a rich husband. It’s a time in England where marrying for love hardly ever happened. But Elizabeth keeps unswerving in the face of the social position; neither the secular vision nor money can dictate her belief. She is determined to marry the person she truly loves and respects, so she rejects two wealthy men Mr. Collin and Mr Darcy’s proposal with no hesitation. Elizabeth has the inner strength; therefore, she doesn’t judge things according to the worldly view. That’s why Mr. Darcy makes a proposal to Elizabeth with persistence despite being repetitively rejected by her. Elizabeth has the courage to ask for her legal rights, follow her inner feelings and neglect the secular vision. That is why she strives only to express her own unique feminine individuality. With firm faith and inner strength, Elizabeth pursues being a feminist as well as individualist.

4. Romantic Features in The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice: Differences

Both of the two works have romantic style, for the writers focus on people’s inner world when they write them and express the characters’ pursuit of ideals. However, there still exist some different romantic features in their writing.

4.1 Symbolism

Symbols can be easily found in both The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice. However, in The Scarlet Letter, symbols utilized by Hawthorne are portrayed in romantic ways, particularly in the application of the letter "A". In Pride and Prejudice, symbols can help deal with social issues and strongly reflect a sense of realism.

In The Scarlet Letter, the letter “A” has been given multiple meanings. In the beginning of the story, the letter is a symbol of adultery which means punishment and shame. Hester has to bear the humiliated mark upon her chest through her whole life. She represents the outcast of the temporary community. In the mid of the story, the meaning of the letter has changed. The “A” does not refer to the symbol of sin anymore. For Hester’s unremitting efforts, people change their attitude toward this guilty woman. The sin committed by Dimmesdale represents another meaning of the letter “A”. Hester’s paramour and Pearl’s father, who used to be a respectable man, has to burden the sin all his life. As a result, the letter “A”, combined a concrete image with abstract meanings, ignites readers’ imagination.

In Pride and Prejudice, the symbols in Pride and Prejudice are more realistic than romantic. The story contains the marriage of four couples, each symbolizing different kinds of attitudes toward marriage, and three of them reflecting some realistic social phenomena. The first is Mrs. Charlotte and Mr. Collin’s marriage for money. Rejected by Elizabeth, Mr. Collin doesn’t feel any shame, and he immediately makes a proposal to Elizabeth’s friend Charlotte. There is no love foundation in this relationship, and their marriage is totally based on material basis. The second is Lydia and Wickhan’s marriage for appearance. As a spoiled girl, Lydia is attracted by Wickham’s good look without any thinking of inner quality. Wickham is an empty guy except for a good look. Their marriage is also based on something superficial. For most characters, money, appearance and some other material things are much important than love in Pride and Prejudice. Elizabeth’s visit to Pemberley, also a symbol, proves that money plays an invisible role at that time. Once she appreciated the gorgeous estate of Mr. Darcy, her feeling to Darcy has changed at the same time. She even thinks about being the hostess of this beautiful place. Money is not the first choice of Elizabeth but can still influence her immediately. Those symbols reveal the realistic social issues.

4.2 Irony

Irony, as a common technique in literature creation, has been used frequently in The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice. However, unlike Pride and Prejudice, irony in The Scarlet Letter is apt to criticize the stubborn community where puritan thoughts hold a dominated position, but they may not belong to the romantic category.

The “respectable” saint minister Dimmesdale is the most successful ironic image. After committing adultery, he remains an respectable, admirable, kind-hearted and nearly-holy clergyman in the community. Even after he confesses his sin, his followers revere him even more. It is a situational irony, a kind of irony which means the result is entirely contrary to the common sense or what you expect, because we know that Dimmesdale is far from a respected person; instead, he is so cowardly that he fears the punishment and then opts to keep silent. On the contrary, Hester who dares to confess her guilt and protect her lover has to face the accusation from the public. The attitude of the public towards Dimmesdale and Hester has formed a sharp contrast. Therefore, irony as a weapon can criticize those puritans who have blind faith in religion and no ability to figure out the truth.

Irony can show a strong contrast between the story and the truth in addition to presenting vivid characterization. However, irony in Pride and Prejudice is not so biting in The Scarlet Letter. The novel starts with a well-known but ironic statement: “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife” (Austen 3).

The quotation, typically ironic, delivers a false impression that every eligible bachelor wants a wife. But this is not the case, for it is the “wife” (ladies and their mothers in the story) who urgently wants a rich husband. Mr. Bennet, Elizabeth mother, is a typical case. She is eager to promote her daughters to the rich for the sake of material conditions. The presentation of Mr. Collins is of equal ironic effects. During his proposal to Elizabeth, Collins lists three reasons, i.e. the church parish; his own happiness; the advice from others, none of which is out of love. To him, marriage is just a compulsory task. It is therefore concluded that Austen’s use of irony has contributed to vivid characterization and a humorous atmosphere throughout the story.

5. Conclusion

Both The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice share some common grounds in terms of romantic features. In the view of composing thoughts, Nathaniel Hawthorne was deeply influenced by the puritan thought in his lifetime; marriage and love always run through Jane Austen’s works, with no exception to The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice.

This thesis has concentrated on the similarities and differences of their romantic features. On one hand, the similarities consist in the pursuit of ideal love, return to nature and the pursuit of women’s authority, both conveying the value of individualism and rebellion against the current society. On the other, the differences that can demonstrate the romantic features include the use of symbols and irony. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne’s symbols have many implications, thus able to enlighten the reader’s rich imagination. Austen’s symbols tend to express some social issues; therefore, it’s more realistic than romantic. Meanwhile, Hawthorne’s irony criticizes the stubborn Puritan society and enlightens the reader to reconsider religion. But Austen’s irony creates a humorous and dramatic situation and makes the characters of the story vivid.

The elaborative analysis of those romantic features manifest that Hawthorne and Austen not only successfully create those brilliant works but also make the readers appreciate the aesthetic value of their advanced romantic spirits. In The Scarlet Letter, the heroine Hester dares to fight for her faith against Puritan thoughts. Her firm pursuit of love and persistence of individual values make her inner world stronger than others, as represented by the letter “A”, a mark of adultery, whose meanings have changed from the meaning till the end of the story. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth dares to follow her inner world and pursue her ideal love. Despite the social vision and material conditions, Elizabeth successfully marries Mr. Darcy, a man falling in love with her sincerely. Both Hester and Elizabeth represent the images of romantic spirits. Influenced by different country background and ideology, the writing techniques of Hawthorne and Austen are diverse, but it doesn’t change the fact that both The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice are characteristic of romantic creation.

What’s more, comparative literature has sprung up like mushrooms after rain since the end of 19^th and today has been recognized as the product of the world cultural exchanges. Both The Scarlet Letter and Pride and Prejudice are characteristic of romantic features. However, when it comes to a comparison of the two novels, few scholars have made an in-depth study. In this sense, the study may help the researchers develop a deeper understanding of romantic features as well as provide some useful reference for further research into the two works and romanticism.

Works Cited

Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin Classics, 2013.

Austen, Jane. Sense and Sensibility (200^th anniversary edition). London: Penguin Classics, 2008.

Bagchi, Barnita. “Instruction a Torment---Jane Austen's Early Writing and Conflicting Versions of Female Education in Romantic-Era Conservative British Women’s Novels.” Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net 40.1 (2005): 11 pp. Érudit 26 Dec. 2015 https://www.erudit.org/.

Branch, Watson. “From Allegory to Romance: Hawthorne's Transformation of ‘The Scarlet Letter’.” Modern Philology 2 (1982): 145-160.

Chang, Yaoxing. A Survey of American Literature. Wuhan: Hubei Education Press, 2008.

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