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) created quantities of classical short stories as well as great novels, and has been recognized as one of the most important figurers in writing moral and allegorical stories in the history of American literature. His works reflect a strong flavor of Puritan ideology due to the influence from the times and social background he was in, as well as family origin and life experiences he possessed. As a matter of fact, Puritanism generated a powerful influence on his inner consciousness, and the effects of invisible sin, guilt and conflicts in the inner world of the characters can be found in most of his works such as The Scarlet Letter and Young Goodman Brown. He was also the first American romantic who initiated a new tradition in American literature called Symbolic Romance, deeply affected by three systems of thoughts: Puritanism, Transcendentalism and Mysticism. Hawthorne#8217;s major works include four Romances: The Scarlet Letter, The House of the Seven Gables, The Marble Faun, and The Blithedale Romance. Hawthorne#8217;s The Scarlet Letter, a monument in the history of American Romantic literature, has often been considered to have a relation to European Romanticism and American 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, Puritans believed they should live by the Bible and that God drew the soul of man to salvation. They also viewed nature as "evil" or "corrupt". On the contrary, Transcendentalist/Romantics rejected Puritan religious attitudes and admired nature. They also believed in a higher knowledge than that achieved by human reason as well as saw a direct connection between the universe and mankind. Influenced by the times and social background, family origin and life experiences, Hawthorne#8217;s The Scarlet Letter reflects a strong flavor of transcendentalist ideology. On its publication in 1850, the novel The Scarlet Letter achieved instant success and made the once obscure author Hawthorne a household name. 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 society and events: a quiet, prosperous, middle class circle in provincial surroundings which she knows well from her own experience. As Eric C. Walker states ”Jane Austen, who ducks marriage in her own life, appears to write about nothing else” (193), whose matter is limited to the subject of getting married, but through her truthful and lively description, the triviality of everyday life becomes very interesting. Jane Austen#8217;s life was even and serene on the surface, but her work reveals a mind of enormous vitality and scope, and a powerful understanding of human behaviors. This is why she is regarded as the one of the most important pioneers in the English realistic novel. Among Jane Austen#8217;s six works, Pride and Prejudice is the most widely read. Since its immediate success in 1813, it has remained one of the most popular novels in the English language. Jane Austen called this brilliant work ”her own darling child”. The story happened in Britain in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, mainly about Elizabeth, Jane, Charlotte and Lydia, the four young ladies' marriages. Three kinds of motivations of or attitudes towards marriage are presented: Charlotte and Mr. Collins's marriage is just for money and social position; Lydia and Wickham's is for beauty regardless of personal morality; Elizabeth and Darcy#8217;s and Jane and Mr. Bingley#8217;s are for love and personal merits. Their love stories reveal different views on marriage among young women of the middle class and express Austen#8217;s own attitude towards 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 works of talent and enthusiasm. 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 hints at studying 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 care. Reviews on it can be roughly divided into two groups, i.e. themes such as Puritan thoughts and the writing skills like symbolism and romantic features. Puritan thoughts hold a very important position in the study of The Scarlet Letter. James R. Mellow (1980) draws on Hawthorne#8217;s letters and notebooks, as well as his fiction in recreating the details of Hawthorne#8217;s life, trying to show the influences of Hawthorne#8217;s changes in his puritan thoughts as well as his literary creation. Frederic C. Crews (1989) interprets the novel in Freudian terms and concept. In his view, the novel is a dark piece of psychological realism. D. H. Lawrence (1990) finds the novel puritanical and moral. In Lawrence's view, The Scarlet Letter is a particular American reworking of the myth of the Fall of Man. Chang Yaoxin (2008), an expert from Nankai University who is famous for his comprehensive study of American literature, analyzes Hawthorne#8217;s puritan thoughts and writing techniques in his book A Survey of American Literature, highlighting the dark side of Hawthorne#8217;s view on human nature and his mixed 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 great love stories of the world, a tragedy of the ”grand passion” rather than a tale of sinful passion. Wang Yi (2009) and Wang Junying (2014) offer some observations on Hawthorne#8217;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 divided into two major groups: views on marriage and writing techniques. Barntia Bagchi (2005) describes marriage as the highest ambition of Jane Austen. This is also the common acknowledgement to theme of Pride and Prejudice, for a great number of researches are concerned with this issue. James Syrie (2010) analyzes Austen#8217;s attitude toward marriage by comparing five different types of marriage in the novel. In China, scholars also show their enthusiasm over marriage in Pride and Prejudice. 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#8217;s view on marriage and points out its influence on today#8217;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. In A Preface to Austen, Sara Wootton(2007) talks about the well-knit structure of Pride and Prejudice by analyzing the writing style affected by Samuel Johnson and Francis Burney. Cui Lihua (2006) explores Austen#8217;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 Romanticism is "a literary movement, a profound and irreversible transformation in artistic styles, in cultural attitudes, and in the relations between artist and society" (Drabble 223). The Romantic Movement originated in Germany and quickly spread to England, France, and later on reached America around the year 1820. Having no simple definition, Romantic Movement, as generally agreed by most scholars, focuses on the individual, the subjective, and the spontaneous. Romantics encouraged contemplation and self-awareness, direct contact with nature, and a focus on and an exploration of inner feelings. 2.3.1 The nature of American romanticism Romanticism in America flourished along with the period of national expansion and the discovery of a distinctive American voice and identity. In America, as in Europe this new vision pervaded the art with an important difference: national identity and the surging idealism and passion of Romanticism nurtured the Romantic masterpieces. Kathryn VanSpanckeren（1974）notes that it stressed individualism, affirmed the value of the common person, and looked to the inspired imagination for its aesthetic and ethical values. Pre-1865 America went under industrial revolution which led to development in many areas. After the Civil War, the nation entered a period of vast commercial expansion. Factories were built. Cities grew bigger, and fortunes were made. Americans, whether native-born or immigrants, earned more than ever before. They had more opportunities and freedom. As a result, they felt patriotism, a trust in their country, which made them sure that the U.S. was the greatest nation on earth. On the other hand, there was dissatisfaction with the problems caused by the industrialization and urbanization. During the Revolution, an artistic, literary and intellectual movement gained strength, which is called Romanticism with subgenres. The subgenres comprise three trends as light and dark romanticism, and the transcendentalism. Francis E. Skipp (1992) draws five principal Romantic themes in American literature: 1. intuition (”the truth of the heart”) is more trustworthy than reason; 2. to express deeply felt experience is more valuable than to elaborate universal principles; 3. the individual is at the center of life and God is at the center of the individual; 4. nature is an array of physical symbols from which knowledge of the supernatural can be intuited; 5. we should aspire to the Ideal, to change what is to what ought to be. The last three themes will be detailed in the main body of this thesis. 2.3.2The nature of British romanticism According to Drabble, Romanticism took place in Britain and throughout Europe roughly between 1770 and 1848. The first noteworthy poem of the romantic revival is James Thomson's The Seasons. This poem written on the theme of nature has often been considered epoch-making because it is the first significant poem in the tradition 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 special qualities of romanticism are listed as such: imagination, nature, imagery, symbolism, nostalgia and melancholy 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. Between 1789 and 1830, they share the same literary concepts, beliefs in imagination, view of nature, and opinions on consciousness issue. Although chiefly one of poetic revival, the Romantic period produces two major novelists, Jane Austen and Sir Walter Scott. 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 brought the English novel to its maturity and her satirical fictions marked the transition from the 18th century neoclassicism to the 19th century romanticism in the English literature. Therefore, to study the romantic features in her Pride and Prejudice is of necessity. 2.4 Deficiency in previous studies 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 a very important position in the history of literature, and almost every work in that period has a romantic mark. So a study of romantic works is an absolute must if we want to better understand romanticism. 2.5 Significance of the study Comparative literature has sprung up like mushrooms after rain since liberation and today has been paid more and more attention to as the product of the world cultural exchanges. Both Hawthorne#8217;s The Scarlet Letter and Austen#8217;s Pride and Prejudice are characteristic of romantic features. However, when it comes to a comparison between the two novels, few scholars make an in-depth study. In this thesis, the proposed study may help the researchers develop a deeper understanding of romantic features as well as to provide some reference for the further research. Works Cited Austen, Jane. Pride and Prejudice. London: Penguin Classics, 2013. Bagchi, Barnita. ”Instruction a Torment---Jane Austen's Early Writing and Conflicting Versions of Female Education in Romantic-Era Conservative British Women#8217;s Novels.” Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net 40.1 (Nov. 2005): 11 pp. #233;rudit 26 Dec. 2015 https://www.erudit.org/. Branch, Watson. ”From Allegory to Romance: Hawthorne's Transformation of ”The Scarlet Letter#8217;.” Modern Philology 2 (1982): 145-160. Chen, Xinhua, and Li Zhiping. ”Irony in Pride and Prejudice and Its Rhetoric Effect”. 哈尔滨师范大学, 2010. Chang, Yaoxing. A Survey of American Literature. Wuhan: Hubei Education Press. 2008. Cottom, Daniel. ”Hawthorne versus Hester: The Ghostly Dialectic of Romance in The Scarlet Letter.” Texas Studies in Literature and Language 1 (1982): 47-67. Crews, Frederick. The Sins of the Fathers: Hawthorne's Psychological Themes. California: University of California Press, 1989 Cui, Lihua. [崔丽华]. 论简#8226;奥斯丁《傲慢与偏见》中的浪漫主义倾向. 辽宁大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2006, (6): 47-49. Glen, Creeber. ”Romance Re-Scripted: Lost in Austen's Comparative Historical Analysis of Post-feminist Culture.” Feminist Media Studies 4 (2015): 562-575. Hawthorne, Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter. London: Penguin Classics, 2015. Hu, Yeyan. [胡治艳], 《傲慢与偏见》中女性意识的体现. 语文建设, 2013, (17): 34-35. Huang, Jing. [黄静],《傲慢与偏见》中女性意识的体现. 兰州大学学报, 2002, (6): 125-128. Huang, Xiaoli. ”Love and Marriages in Pride and Prejudice.” Overseas English 23 (2013): 218-219. Jiang, Xiaonan. ”Analysis of Irony in Pride and Prejudice” Overseas English 14 (2011): 248-249 Lanser, Susan Sniader. Fictions of Authority. New York: Cornell University Press, 2001. Lawrence, David Herbert. Studies in Classic American Literature (The Cambridge Edition of the Works of D. H. Lawrence). London: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Li, Shiqiang. [李世强]. 论《红字》象征手法的运用. 云南民族大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2008, (3): 142-145. Luo, Lanlan. ”On the Tragedy of Love in The Scarlet Letter.” Studies in Literature and Language 1 (2011): 77-84. Mellow, James R. Nathaniel Hawthorne His Time. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1980. Meng, Xia. ”Jane Austen#8217;s Feminism Indicated in Pride and Prejudice.” Foreign Literature Study 1b (2011):146-147. Newton, Judith Lowder. ””Pride and Prejudice#8217;: Power, Fantasy, and Subversion in Jane Austen.” Feminist Studies 1 (1978): 27-42. Serrano, Gabriela. ”Three Approaches to the American Romantic Tradition.” Studies in the Novel 3 (2010): 340-348. Shang, Xiaojin. [尚晓进]. 清教主义与假面剧#8212;#8212;谈霍桑创作前期的宗教思想. 解放军外国语学院学报, 2008, (2): 89-93. Skipp, Francis E. American Literature. New York: Barron#8217;s Educational Series, Inc., 1992. Stubbs, John C. ”Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter: The Theory of the Romance and the Use of the New England Situation.” Modern Language Association 5 (1968): 1439-1447. Syrie, James. The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen. California: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2010. Tong, Yuxing. [佟玉鑫]. 《红楼梦》与《红字》中的象征意义比较研究. 大连海事大学, 2013. Walker, Eric C. ”The Internal Conflict of Romantic Narrative: Hegel's Phenomenology and Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.” Modern Language Notes 5 (1980): 183-203. Wang, Junying. [王俊英]. 霍桑的浪漫主义创作理念及其写作特征. 语文建设, 2014, (29): 52-53. Wang, Xueqing, and Liu Yan. ”Analysis of the Feminism in Pride and Prejudice.” Theory and Practice in Language Studies 12 (2011): 1827-1830. Wang, Yi. [王毅]. 爱在”红字”中永生#8212;#8212;论《红字》中海斯特与丁梅斯代尔的爱情. 河北师范大学学报(哲学社会科学版), 2009, (4): 88-93. Wootton, Sarah. ”The Byronic in Jane Austen's Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice.” Modern Language Review 1 (2007): 26-39. Zhang, Xiujuan. [张秀娟]. 简#8226;奥斯汀理性的浪漫主义倾向#8212;#8212;以《傲慢与偏见》为例. 现代交际, 2012, (10): 67-68.