美国文学

(3)Ambiguity含糊: In chapter sixteen even the small forest brook小河 by which Hester discards抛弃 the scarlet letter threatens Hawthorne's narration with the disclosure揭发 of meaning, and so, the surrounding "giant trees and boulders卵石 of granite坚 硬 seemed intent on making a mystery of the course of this small brook; fearing perhaps, that, with its never-ceasing停止 loquacity喧嚣, it should whisper tales out of the heart of the old forest whence it flowed, or mirror its revelations on the smooth surface of a pool." Hawthorne renders this beautiful passage to remind the reader, seemingly at every turn, that meaning, or truth, will be profoundly difficult to uncover.
character analysis
Hester: brave, strong-minded, warm-hearted, intelligen, sacrificing, decisive. Symbolic: beauty, kindess, strong will and endurance
Arthur Dimmesdale: timid, selfish, irresponsible, cowardly, weak-minded Symbolic: Adultery, weak and coward(懦怯的)
Roger Chillingworth: cold-blooded, dehumanzied Symbolic: heartless and merciless his misshapen body reflects of symbolizes the evil in his soul, which builds as the novel progresses.
Besides, compare and contrast, Analysis in heart and so on
His major works
Fanshawe: A Tale (anonymous, 1828)
THale Waihona Puke e Scarlet Letter (1850)
The House of the Seven Gables (1851) The Marble Faun; or, the Romance of Monte Beni (1860) Our Old Home (1863) (now in progress)
Adultery Amour（偷情） (love)
Writing style
(1) Narrator(解说员）: Hawthorne claims that he is merely "explaining how a large portion of the following pages came into [his] possession," hoping to offer "proofs of the authenticity of a narrative therein contained." Hawthorne proclaims himself only an editor, "
The theme
• The theme of this novel is depicting sin and its consequences, around which the moods created are those of remorse（同情）, sorrow, and despair. Moreover, all these Alienation（精神 feelings are woven so 错乱） completely and harmoniously into the story that its characters, action, and setting blend into a delicate but Able enduring work of art. • To escape the bondage(束缚） of religion either on people's Angel spirit or on peopel's nature desire
Nathaniel Hathorne
Enter Bowdoin college in 1821 Born July 4, 1804 First work Fanshawe in 1828
Marrying Sophia Peabody in 1842 The Scarlet Letter in 1850
The House of the Seven Gables Table in 1851 Died May 9, 1864
Indertify 1. The first great American writer of fiction 2. Short story writer 3.A central figure in the American Renaissance 4. Greatest Romance writer 5. Pioneering psychological 6. Moral novelist
(4) Setting: hapened on the small colonial town of Boston, Massachusetts马萨诸塞州; lies outside the town is a "black forest; color adeptly in his description of settings: black wilderness there is the gray of the village and its inhabitants;
(2) Symbolism: regarded as the first symbolic novel in America. The scarlet Letter "A"; In the first chapter the wild rosebush: symbolizes dissent（异议） in its reference to the historical figure Anne Hutchinson, who led a group of religious dissenters in colonial Massachusetts. Individuals symbol: Arthur Dimmesdale, with all of his profound pain and suffering, is symbolic of the high value of truth and the irony of its unattainability.
The Scarlet Letter
by Nathaniel Hathorne (纳撒尼尔· 霍桑)
Contents
The author → Nathaniel Hathorne brief introduction of The Scarlet Letter characters the theme writing style
brief introduction of The Scarlet Letter
The story is in Boston in 1650's, Hester Prynne, the heroin of this story, was found guilty of adultery and giving birth to Pearl when she considered her husband was died, and condemned to wear on the breast of her gown the scarlet letter "A", which stood for adulery. Later, her husband, Roger Chillingworth, came back. Shocked and sorrow, he learned Heaster's affair. More surprised, he found Hester's partner and Pearl's father is Arthur Dimmesdale who was the pastor of Hester.
Dimmesdale and Hester decided to leave in secret for The Old World. But finally, on platform where Hester had been shown for her adultery, Dimmesdale told the audience that he was the partner of Hester and father of Pearl, showing the stigma of the scarlet letter A above his heart. Chillingworth died within the year. Hester lived in her humble thatched cottage and did her best to alleviate the sorrows of local people by her deeds of kindness and mercy. She still wore the letter A on her breast, which was no longer the sign of shame, but an emblem of her tender mercy and kindness...