第4单元纳撒尼尔•霍桑
4.1 复习笔记
I. Introduction to author（作者简介）
wonderful lifeNathaniel Hawthorne (1804—1864) is a novelist.
成人高考英语单词
纳撒尼尔·霍桑（1804—1864）是一位小说家。
1. Life（生平）
Hawthorne was born in Salem, Massachutts. Some of his ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy. One of his ancestors was a colonial magistrate, notorious for his part in the percution of the Quakers, and another was a judge at the Salem Witchcraft Trial in 1692. Gradually, the family fortune declined. Hawthorn was intenly conscious of the wrongdoing of his ancestors, and this awareness led to his understanding of evil being at the core of human life, so he emed to be haunted by his n of sin and evil in his life.
霍桑出生于马萨诸塞州的萨勒姆镇，他的一些祖先是17世纪新英格兰清教神权统治中的显赫人物。他的一位祖先是殖民地行政官，因参与迫害贵格派教徒而臭名昭著。另一位祖先则是1692年萨勒姆审巫案的法官。家族渐渐走向没落。霍桑强烈地意识到他祖先的罪恶，这也让他明白了邪恶存在于人生命的核心部分，因此终其一生，他心中的罪恶感都挥之不去。
2. Writing style（写作风格）
(1) He is the most ambivalent writer, a consummate romantic in the American literature history. One salient feature of Hawthorne’s art is his ambiguity, of which the technique of multiple views employed in the last part of his masterpiece The Scarlet Letter offers a good illustration.
(2) He is good at exploring of the complexity of human psychology. He is anatomist of “the interior of the heart”. His works are full of mental activities.
(3) Allegory is ud to hold fast against the crushing blows of reality, the symbolism rves as a weapon to attack and penetrate it. Hawthorne is a master of symbolism, which he took from the Purit
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an tradition and bequeathed to American literature in a revivified form. The symbol can be found everywhere in his writing, and his masterpiece, The Scarlet Letter, provides the most conclusive proof.
（1）霍桑是美国文学历史上思想最为矛盾、写作手法娴熟的浪漫主义作家。矛盾性是霍桑写作艺术的一个显著特征，在他的代表作《红字》的最后一部分作家运用了多重视角的写作技巧。
（2）他善于探究人的复杂心理，是“人物内心的剖析师”。他的作品有着丰富的心理活动描写。
（3）寓言是对现实沉重的打击，象征主义则是揭露和抨击的武器。霍桑是象征主义大师，他继承了清教的传统并光复了美国文学。象征在他的作品中随处可见，尤其在他的代表作《红字》中能找到确证。
3. Influence（影响）
Hawthorne’s influence has been great. He was accorded due recognition by his contemporary James Rusll Lowell in the latter’s A Fable for Critics. He changed Herman Melville’s original schem
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e for his Moby Dick. William Dean Howells learned to u Hawthorne’s fiction as the ben chmark for their novel-writing practice. In this century William Faulkner and some Gothic novelists clearly show their indebtedness to him.
霍桑的影响可谓深远。詹姆斯·拉塞尔·洛威尔在《写给批评家的寓言》的末了给予他以应有的认可。他改变了赫尔曼·麦尔维尔《白鲸》中最初的创作意图。威廉·迪安·豪威尔斯学着用霍桑的作品作为他们小说创作的基准。在这个世纪威廉姆·福克纳和一些哥特式小说家对他也怀感恩之情。
4. Major works（主要作品）
教育部考试中心网站The Scarlet Letter(1850)《红字》
Twice-told Tales(1837)《故事重述》
Moss from an Old Man(1846) 《古宅青苔》
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The Hou of the Seven Gables(1851) 《带有七个尖角阁的房子》gendarme
The Blithdale Romance(1852)《玉石雕像》
The Marble Faun(1860)《福谷传奇》
Ⅱ. Selected works（作品选读）
◆The Scarlet Letter《红字》
(1) Theme—This novel assumes the universality of guilt and explores the complexities and ambiguities of man’s choices. Hawthorne does not intend to tell a love story nor a story of sin, but focus his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects or conquences of the sin on the people in general and tho main characters in particular, so as to show us the tension between society and individuals. To Hawthorne, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore indispensable for the improvement of human nature.
(2) Symbolism—Hawthorne portrays Hester as an aristocratic and nsitive young woman who meets her ntence with dignity and courage. When she is t free, she does not flee the community. She supports herlf and her child by doing fancy needlework, devotes her life to her child and helping the sick and the poor, and wins the admiration and love of her fellowmen again. So, The Scarlet Letter is a hymn on the moral growth of the woman. The scarlet letter at first is a tokvarnish
en of shame, Adultery, then the genuine sympathy and help she offers to her fellow villagers change it to Able. Later in the end, A appears in the sky, signifying Angel. Her life eventually acquires a real significance when she establishes a meaningful relationship with her fellowmen.
谀词（1）主题——这部小说展现了罪恶的普遍性并探究了人们面临选择时的复杂与矛盾心理。霍桑无意在讲述一个关于爱情或罪恶的故事，而是关注于罪恶感带给普通人或一些主要角色在道德、情感、心理方面的影响，从而展示了社会与个人之间的紧张状况。对于霍桑来讲，每个人都是潜在的罪人，道义上的勇气对人性的改善是必不可少的。
（2）象征主义——霍桑将海斯特描绘成一位仪态高贵并善感的年轻女子，从容勇敢地
面对判决。当她获释后，她并没有逃离社区。她带着孩子靠做精美的针线活自力更生，将爱奉献给自己的孩子并帮助老弱病残，重新赢得了同乡人的赞美和爱戴。因此，《红字》就是一曲歌颂海斯特道德成长的赞歌。红字最初是羞耻的象征，是“通奸”；然后因为她对同乡人真诚的同情和帮助使得红字的意义变为“能干”；最后，红字A出现在天空中，意味着“天使”。当她和她的同乡建立了深长的关系时，她的生命最终获得了真正的意义。
4.2 课后习题详解
1. Why is the prison the tting of Chapter I and what is the implication of the description of the ros?
Key: Becau the protagonist, Hester Prynne is expected to appear here as an infamous culprit. The description of ros carries such implication that Hester Prynne was remaining faithful to nature and morality. In the bottom of her heart, she is still a pure and gracious woman. The ros symbolize hope and future of humankind.
2. Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.
Key: Hester Prynne was a tall woman with perfect elegance, characterized by a certain state and dignity. She was lady-like, after the manner of the feminine gentility of tho days. She appeared so graceful becau that she possd true love, which she thought was something noble and worthwhile and for which she
was willing to sacrifice herlf. She was strong-minded and independent, and she had power and courage to endure renely and quietly the public abu, insult and hardness of reality.
In the crowd, different people had different attitude towards Hester. Some were sympathetic, and feel sorry for her. Some are very harsh and critical towards her, especially tho cold-hearted, middle-aged women. They expresd their hatred towards Hester becau they thought that Hester has brought shame on them. Even there were some people thought that the prent punishment was too mild, and death should be the just penalty.
3. What has happened to Hester? Why does she make the embroidery of the letter
A so elaborate? How does this tell us about her character?
Key: Hester has offended the Puritan rule, sinned, guilty of adultery. Condemned to wear on the breast of her gown the scarlet letter “A”, she was to stand on the platform before the meeting so that her shame might be a warning and a reproach to all who saw her.
She makes the letter “A” so elaborate out of her true love for Dimmesdale. She is loyal to her true lover, faithful to morality, honest to herlf. She becomes strong and independent in psychology, generous in action, living a life with dignity and great fortitude.
4.3 考研真题与典型题详解
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