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摘 要

霍桑是世界公认的美国浪漫主义时期最伟大的小说家之一。《红字》是霍桑最受欢迎的作品，让他享誉全球。前人关于《红字》的研究不计其数，学者通常会研究红字A的象征意义，而本文则利用象征主义原理，对《红字》进行了全面的阐释。象征主义原理是文学创作的常用手法，它采用有形的物体来表达深层次的含义，以引起读者的想象和联想。本文在前人研究的基础上对文中的象征主义进行了深层次的研究，主要分析了四个主要人物，自然场景和颜色的象征意义。对文章象征主义的解读可以让读者更全面的理解《红字》，更好的了领略象征主义大师霍桑的文学风采。

关键词：《红字》 霍桑 象征主义

1. Introduction

• 1. About Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was a great novelist of romanticism in the nineteenth century of the United States. His novels were unique in thoughts and description. He combined solemn morality and history perfectly with skillful writing skills; moreover, his writing combines talented imagination with excellent language expression. He was a real master in literature with characteristic so as to be renowned all over the world.

Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. Salem town, in colonial period, was very important, because it is a momentous harbor for cross-country trade. His ancestors were mostly powerful Puritans in charge of something in New England, for instance colonial magistrate, judges at the Salem Witchcraft Trial in 1692. However, the family fortune declined. His father was a sea captain who died in Dutch Guiana, leaving the widow and the child behind to live on their own. Young Hawthorne was sensitive to this change, he himself had to be responsible for the family. From the shift of family fortune, He was fully aware of the crimes of his Puritan ancestors, which led to his understanding of evil in human life, that is “the blackness in Hawthorne,” as Herman Melville put it. Some of his famous works reflecting the evil and darkness of human beings, like The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables as an attempt at expiating the sin of his ancestors. With the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne gained reputation as the greatest writer all over the world.

The Scarlet Letter is one of the most famous novels of Hawthorne, which is a breakthrough in American long novel history with specific craftsmanship, which is very influential in American history. The setting is in the seventeenth century. It is an elaboration of a fact which the author took out of the life of the Puritans’ past. An senior English scholar sends his charming young wife, Hester Prynne , to create their new home in New England. He comes to New England for his wife after two years, but he sees his wife in pillory, wearing a scarlet “A” on her breast, holding her illicit child in her arms. Determined to find out who her lover is, Hester’s husband pretends himself to be a physician and changes his name to Roger Chillingworth. Gradually he discovers that the villain is no other than the much-admired brilliant young clergyman, Arthur Dimmesdale who is tormenting himself ruthlessly for his sin, He cuts himself off from community and withers spiritually as well as physically. Hester Prynne’s response to the scarlet letter A is a positive one. Though living on the fringe of the community, she does her best to reestablish her fellowship with her neighbors on a new, honest basis. She helps her fellow creatures as a sister of mercy of sorts or as a skilled embroiderer in an unobtrusive and undemanding manner, and finally wins their love and admiration. At one time she plans to leave America with Dimmesdale, but he refuses her help. He dies in the end in her arms while confessing his sin before the public. Pearl, Hester’s child, grows up to be married into a noble family of Europe.

1.2 Need for the study

Generally speaking, symbolism in literature always refers to using concrete or abstract things to express implied meanings, which adds endless glamour to the novel. In The Scarlet Letter, a symbolic novel, symbolic images runs through the novel, such as the scarlet letter A, the main characters, the natural settings and colors in the novel. These symbolic images are closely connected with the development of the whole story. Hawthorne put the characters into a peculiar surrounding and entrusted them with a special symbolic significance so as to convey his feelings freely.

Theoretically speaking, Hawthorne is good at exploring the blackness and evil aspects of human life and the inner world, for his life experience and his ancestors’ misdeeds make him feel guilt. Therefore, scholars and readers may attach more importance to the relation between symbolism and “the blackness in Hawthorne” that is fully displayed in this novel. This study of symbolism in the Scarlet Letter will assist readers have a deeper thinking about the theme of this book and the way how symbolic methods are applied as well as the significance of adopting this methods.

Consequently, a detailed study of the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter contributes to help readers in comprehend the author’s writing intention and having a profound understanding of his further theme in his work together with literary accomplishment as the literature master of symbolism.

2. Literature Review

When it comes to artistic style and aesthetic features, symbolic features in this novel deserves our attention. Previous studies on Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter will be discussed respectively in this chapter.

Over the years a good number of biographical and critical studies have been written, and almost all aspects of Hawthorne’s life and work have been treated with meticulous care. He is also becoming more and more popular with Chinese readers. Since Shi Heng’s Chinese translation of The Scarlet Letter appeared in the 1950’s, scholars and readers in this country have shown an ever-increasing interest in his works, which offers another testimony of Hawthorne’s power and permanence. Since then, a lot of domestic and foreign scholars began to do literary study from various perspectives. In the past, studies are mainly focused on the symbolism of the letter “A” and the main characters, but the Scarlet Letter is a masterpiece that every aspects are worthy of our study.

Many studies falls on the scarlet letter “A”, an example cited here is Fan Linlin’s paper “The Symbolic Diversity of Letter A in ‘ The Scarlet Letter’”(2013). In her paper, she points out the letter A’s implied meaning changes as the theme develops; first it appears as the symbol of guilt of adultery. It then changes into a symbol of alone and alienation, and later it becomes a symbol of able, angel and advance. She even thought the letter “A” stands for America and American dream. Her points in this paper can cover all the points on the letter A of the previous studies. The Scarlet Letter begins with A and ends with A; the various meanings of A serve for the ambiguity of the theme of The Scarlet Letter. Her paper really makes a comprehensive and accurate explanation about the meaning of letter “A”.

Apart from the scarlet letter “A”, another research perspective that interests scholars is the four main characters’ names. On the basis of the background of religion and ethics, many a work of Hawthorne explore the theme of human’s good and evil via symbolism. Hawthorne names each of the protagonists a special word during the creation of the novel, so as to reflect the personality and doomed destiny of the protagonists. Li Shiqiang (2008) and Zhang Dapeng

(2008)study the symbolic meanings of the four protagonists’ names in their papers, On the Symbolism in The Scarlet letter and An Analysis of the Symbolism in The Scarlet letter. Li’s paper is not so detailed in description and is lack of arguments in persuading the readers. While Zhang Dapeng gives readers a detailed analysis about the symbolic meanings of the main characters respectively. He wrote in his paper that the heroine’s name Hester Prynne contains the meaning of beauty, passion, rash, hasty, desire and so on. While the hero, Arthur Dimmesdate, whose initials AD, which also stands for adultery. Roger Chillingworth, Hester’s husband, is the symbol of religion and the producer of the scarlet letter.“Pearl” has three meanings, that is “very precious” in “Holy Bible”,“outstanding, crystal and elite”and a kind of spirit and hope of contemporary American and a bright future.

Besides, scholars also do many researches concerning the objects and settings. In the novel, settings are one of major elements of symbolism, such as the scaffold, which is the dominating point at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of the story. Jian Jie (2010) holds the view in Reflection on Hawthorne’s Use of Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter that the prison represents several different symbols, forest it is the symbol of the harshness of the Puritan Society and the rose bush is the symbol of passion and promise, Hester’s sin is one of passion, linked with the image of the rosebush. The brook is the symbol of the separation of two different worlds. The sunshine is the symbol of purity and hope. Zhang Dapeng’s view is much the same as Jian’s, he analyses the symbolic meanings of the forest, the prison door and the grass beside the prison. Li Shiqiang also has the similar statement in his paper.

There are studies on other aspects,too. Michael Ryan (2008), a scholar, explores the polemical context in which Nathaniel Hawthorne wrote in The Scarlet Letter. He pays particular attention to the Whig movement for moral reform in antebellum America, which sought to merge church and states. Democrats like Hawthorne took exception to this attempt to establish “moral government” in America. He points out the political and religious belief of Hawthorne and make argues for an ideal of personal freedom in moral matters. His paper mainly analyses contemporary religious debates in the novel that is easily ignored by scholars. Chen Rong (2007) analyses the symbolic meaning of the needlework in The Scarlet Letter, which has not received much attention. She points out that the image of needlework have a close relation with the gender and social status of Hester. To some degree, it has broken away from the influence of the masculinity ideology. The aspect she analyses is very special, but it just is very limited for both previous study information and limitations of this topic. Llewellyn Jones, a critic in the United States, mentions the Gothic romanticism in his paper, and analyzes the story from the social background of that time. It is an original and creative idea that few people tends to refer to.

3. Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter

Based on the background of religion and ethics, many a work of Hawthorne explore the theme of human’s good and evil via symbolism. His eminent novel the Scarlet Letter contains various kinds of symbolic symbols. Hawthorne applied symbolism in this novel mainly to express his complicated attitude toward Puritans and obliquely reveal the blackness of human. This chapter focus on the symbolic meanings of different kinds of symbols in the novel.

3.1 About symbol and symbolism

3.1.1 Symbol

Symbol, in definition, is a person, place, action, word, or thing that (by association, resemblance, or convention) represents something other than itself. In the broadest sense of the term, all words are symbols. In language studies, symbol is sometimes used as another term for logograph. While in literary, says William Harmon, "a symbol combines a literal and sensuous quality with an abstract or suggestive aspect". People, plants, settings, even different colors of the sky can be the symbol in a novel to express certain kinds of feelings to readers. There are lots of symbols in the Scarlet Letter, which play an inevitable role in conveying the connotations of the novel.

3.1.2 Symbolism

Symbolism is a late nineteenth-century art movement of French, Russian and Belgian origin in poetry and other arts. In literature, the style originates with the 1857 publication of Charles Baudelaire’s Les Fleurs du mal. The works of Edgar Allan Poe, which Baudelaire admired greatly and translated into French, were a significant influence and the source of many stock tropes and images. The aesthetic was developed by Stephane Mallarme and Paul Verlaine during the 1860s and 1870s, the aesthetic was articulated by a series of manifestos and attracted a lot of writers. The name “symbolist” itself was first applied by the critic Jean Moreas, who invented the term to distinguish the symbolists from the related decadents of literature and art.

Symbolism is a writing skill of creative literature by using concrete objects to express a much deeper meaning so as to arouse readers’ imagination and association. Just as what has been pointed out by the French literary essayist A. Edward that symbolism meets readers’ demand of describing and transcending reality. (Johnson, 1995). The obvious feature of symbolism is that the objective truth is unknowable, the world we live in is just full of suffering and deception and the essences of all the things and phenomena are hidden in the other world that science can not reach. The only beautiful place is the invisible world. Using this artistic technique can enrich both the connotation and the significance of the novel. Symbolism is a distinct artistic method that have growing significance and various implications.

3.2 Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter

3.2.1 The symbolic names

The most obvious symbolic method is reflected by the description of the characters in the novel. Hawthorne named each of the protagonists with special words during the creation of the novel, in order to reveal the characteristic and destiny of the protagonists.

Hester Prynne

Wearing the scarlet letter on her chest, Heater Prynne is the central character in the novel. “Hester” has two meanings. First, “Hester” is associated with “Hestier”, the elder sister of Zeus, a beautiful goddess who is in charging of cooking range. This indicates Hester is a beauty with both passion and love. Second, “Hester” is the partial tone of “haste”, which means “impetuous or light-minded”. Hester’s marriage with Chillingworth is imprudent, because there is no love between them, it is rather an adventure. Then, Hester falls in love with the pastor Dimmesdale in haste who is handsome and young, with fascinating voice. “Prynne” also has two meanings. First, it is the partial tone of “prurient”, indicating that a young pretty wife in a marriage without true love commits adultery for human natural desire, which reveals the root of evil. Second, “Prynne” is also the part tone of “prune”., which not only shows the root of Hester’s crime, but praises her courage for admitted the crime as well as doing good deeds to others. In a word, “Hester Prynne” is the symbol of both beauty and evil.

Pearl

Pearl, the evident of the crime of Hester and Dimmesdale, has three meanings. First, “Pearl” means very precious in “Holy Bible”. In the novel, Hester sacrifices her fame and whole life for Pearl, while Pearl teach her how to face the indifferent society. To Hester, Pearl is the most important things she owned. Second, “Pearl” means “outstanding, crystal and elite”. Just as Hawthorne puts it “ that little creature, whose innocent life had sprung, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, a lovely and immortal flower, out of the rank luxuriance of a guilty passion.”. On one hand, Pearl can also be seen as a contrast to Hester, who represent for shame. On the other hand, “Pearl” also shows us that Hester is longing for purity and beauty. Third, the born of Pearl is a kind of destruction to the the existing regulations, which also stands for a kind of spirit and hope of a bright future.

Arthur Dimmesdale

Serves as the pastor, Arthur Dimmesdale symbolizes the invisible scarlet letter for he dare not admit his crime. Arthur Dimmesdate, whose initials AD, which also stands for adultery, indicating he is a adulterer. It is easy for us to associate Arthur with Adam, who fails to resist the lure of Eva and commits “original sin”. “Dim” means “weak,dark and dull” and “dale” means “valley”. “Dimdale” symbolizes the inner world of the adulterer is like a dim dale. Dimmesdale suffers a lot from his inner heart. He can only show his love towards Hester in his inner world. He himself is a contradictory body. He is eager to admit Pearl as his daughter, but he is afraid of losing his fame and status in society. Compared with Hester, he is a coward, he is lacking of courage to admit his sin, even as a man who always spreads the will of God.

Roger Chillingworth

Roger Chillingworth is the symbol of religion. This name has two meanings. “Roger” is the partial tone of “rogue”, which means “dishonest or unprincipled man”. Roger Chillingworth is indeed a villain. He ruins the precious youth of Hester and leads to the tragedy life of Hester. Chillingworth consists of two parts: “chilling” and “worth”. “Chilling” derives from the word “chilly”, which means “cold, ice-cold, lacking mercy”. Giving his soul to devil, he carefully analysis the inner world of Dimmesdale, and eventually leads to Dimmesdale’s death. “Worth” can be understood as “valuable”, indicating the author’s positive attitude towards him. Chillingworth is criticized by many people, scholars, but he is the legal husband of Hester. He do nothing bad to Pearl either. From a more objective perspective, he is a cruel and revengeful person.

3.2.2 The symbolic natural settings

The novel is filled with light and darkness symbols, and the natural settings in the novel also have their own symbolic meanings.

The scaffold

Scaffold, one of the most important settings in the novel, is the dominating point at the beginning, in the middle and at the end of the story. There are altogether three scaffold scenes, which have different symbolic meanings. The first scene occurs when Hester is charged with committing adultery, she is sinned. Therefore, the scaffold symbols guilty. The second scene is when Dimmesdale sits beside the scaffold at night. He remembers the sin he has committed and feels sorry for not standing by the side of Hester seven years ago when Hester was accused. So the scaffold symbolizes public sin. The last scaffold scene happens when Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold and calls for Hester and Pearl. Then he admits his sin and dies. The scaffold here symbolizes revealing sin and releasing. The scaffold is a image that is associated with the structure of the whole story and affects the development of the story.

The forest

Forest also has symbolic meanings. On one hand, it is the very spot where witches, ghosts and devil gathers. Therefore, it symbolizes the darkness and evil. On the other hand, Pearl plays happily in this forest and makes friends with the animals and flowers here. And also, it is in this forest that Hester throws away the letter “A”, lets her hair down and becomes a real woman. The forest has two contradictory symbolic meanings, one is evil and darkness, the other is freedom and happy life.

The prison

In the first chapter of the novel, Hawthorne depicts the prison as a kind of black flower in the civilized society, which symbolizes the darkness and evil of the society. The wild rosebush near the door to the prison showing little sympathy to the criminals. Besides, the description of the prison indicates that it is old, rusted and yet strong with an “iron-clamped door”. This stands for a contradiction of the rigorous of the Puritan laws and the inability to break free of them. The prison and the wild rosebush represent a conflict between natural laws and the laws of human society.

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