Nathaniel Hawthorne and His Hester Prynne
Nathaniel Hawthorne was an excellent romantic American writer in 19th century. Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Salem, Massachutts. He is considered as the most renowned romance American writer of fiction. His romantic writing is a landmark of the romantic period in American literature. But the innovation of his works has surpasd the limits of romanticism, before his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter had been published; he created a lot of thought-provoking short stories and began to show his brilliant writing talents in American literature. He tried to explore the origin of the sin and the result, revealing the moral value and psychology’s effect to human’s innocence. He has written quantities of classic works, such as The Scarlet Letter, The Hou of The Seven Gables, The Blithedale Romance落枕怎么治>林徽因你是人间四月天, and The Marble Faun元宵情人节, besides there is also three stories collections: Twice-Told Tales, Moss from an Old Man, and 如何写散文The Snow-Image and Other Twice-Told Tales道家哲学. He is the first American writer to define his works as romance. Besides, Hawthorne is one of the forefathers of symbols. He was the creator of a new age of romantic novels and psychological analysis novels. The Scarlet Letter was his masterpiece,
which had been regarded as one of the greatest moral cultural allegories in America. And it also was the first symbolism novel in the developmental history of America, which, at the same time, was a masterpiece concentrated epitomized Hawthorne’s consciousness about “original sin”.
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The novel takes place during the summer in 17th-century Boston, Massachutts in a Puritan village. A young woman, named Hester Prynne, has been led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms and on the breast of her gown "a rag of scarlet cloth" that "assumed the shape of a letter." It was the upperca letter "A". The Scarlet Letter "A" reprents the act of adultery that she has committed and it is to be a symbol of her sin—a badge of shame—for all to e. But, at the beginning of this novel, their love story had already finished, and it focud on influences of sins caud by love. The main characters of this love story suffered so much in their spirits. One of them wore a letter “A”, which firstly symbolized “Adultery”, for her rest of her life, being suffered criticism and abu that came from other people; the other one gradually became weaker under his conscience lf-abu, and then died.神话故事女娲补天
There were four leading characters in this novel, they were Hester Prynne, the heroine, Chillingworth, Prynne’s husband, Dimmesdale, Prynne’s lover,and Pearl, daughter of Prynne and Dimmesdale. Hester Prynne, the heroine, was a woman brave enough to get up to struggle against her fate. She was a beautiful enthusiastic young woman. Hawthorne described as a perfect woman with slender figure, who is too beautiful, and would be mistaken as a rich madam in higher class. But she was unfortunate being born in an ancient declining aristocrat family. She was mostly loved by her family before her marriage with Chillingworth, who was a disabled aged scientist. They were just tied up by their parents, so they did not love each other. This young woman was nt to the colonies by her husband, who plans to join her later but is presumed lost at a. She is a symbol of the acknowledged sinner; one who transgression has been identified and who makes appropriate, socio-religious atonement. In her lonely life, Prynne fell in love with Dimmesdale, a handsome young minister. Then they had a daughter named Pearl. As the punishment of her betray to her marriage, she must wore a letter “A” in her dress. Hester Prynne had a strong female image of bearing insult and being full of resistance. H女性下腹隐隐痛
awthorne granted her with many identities, such as adultery Puritan, a wife betrayed her husband, a fully loved lover, and a single mum. She had undertaken the criticism from many sides, as society,religion and morality.
It’s no doubt that Prynne was firm and strong. Faced with difficulties and humiliations, she didn’t yield to them, but showed the public her shining smile. Hester is physically described in the first scaffold scene as a tall young woman with a "figure of perfect elegance on a large scale." Her most impressive feature is her "dark and abundant hair, so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam." Her complexion is rich, her eyes are dark and deep, and her regular features give her a beautiful face. In fact, so physically stunning is she that "her beauty shone out, and made a halo of the misfortune and ignominy in which she was enveloped."What you saw from her only was her calmness, her natural dignity and strength of her individuality. She did do not give up to life, not retreat, neither humble nor pushy in action. It was the very lf-approval conviction that was holding her back to bear such pain and suffering. It was the very conviction that made her living under such kind of pressure. Prynne believed that she sho
uld do something to change this kind of situation, and she was brave enough to fight against the customs that never had been shook before. She was not let down by the letter “A” she wore, instead, she stand up to fight with her fate, and had made a new life all by herlf.
The scarlet letter “A” was a symbol of sin and shame in Puritanism. Over the ven years of her punishment, Hester's inner struggle changes from a victim of Puritan branding to a decisive woman in tune with human nature. Therefore, Prynne showed us her human nature charm and her dignity. Her arduous resistance and her pursuit of life were symbols of breaking the former moral chains. At the same time, people were touched by Prynne’s indomitable living will and her good nature. That is to say, many people would no longer regarded the scarlet letter “A” as the symbol of shame and sin, but instead, they thought it symbolized “Able” and “Angel”. It was her strong desire to a good life that made she realized her being values as a woman.
Hawthorne attributes this transformation to her lonely position in the world and her sufferi
ng. No friend, no companion, no foot crosd the threshold of her cottage. In her solitude, she had a great deal of time to think. Also, Hester has Pearl to rai, and she must do so amid a great number of difficulties. Her shame in the face of public opinion, her loneliness and suffering, and her quiet acceptance of her position make her respond to the calamities of others.
