The Living Scarlet Letter——on Symbolism of Pearl in The Scarlet Letter---开题报告

一、文献综述 (Literature Review)

Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864) is regarded as one of the greatest writers in the history of American literature. The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece of psychological romance, is a milestone in American literature history with its rich imagination, peculiar writing style and thought-provoking insight. It is The Scarlet Letter that permanently established his literary position.

The Scarlet Letter tells a story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. It has been admired by the readers all over the world ever since its publication. 

From the literature materials collected, we can find that The Scarlet Letter is regarded as the first symbolic novel to be written in the United States, and symbolism is the most remarkable feature of it. Most of the literary critics and scholars both at home and abroad hold that it is the use of symbolism in the novel that makes Hawthorne become one of the most distinctive and significant writers in the American literature history.

Although literary critics and scholars believe that symbolism is the most remarkable feature of The Scarlet Letter, the opinions on which protagonist can best demonstrate the symbolic significance of the novel are diversified. That is to say, Hester, the heroine of the novel, Dimmesdale, who had adultery affair with Hester, Pearl, the daughter of Hester with Dimmesdale and Chillingworth, husband of Hester, all of them can illustrate the symbolism of the novel to some extent, but no one has the priority. Furthermore, a few scholars think that the settings of the novel can also serve as conveyors of symbolism throughout the novel, such as the Puritan town, the forest and the weather. And also the letter ‘A’ is viewed as a significant medium of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter.

For Hester and Dimmesdale, critics and scholars hold that they are symbolism for Adam and Eve, sin and suffering. Just as Adam and Eve were expelled from their society and suffered from pain and joy of being humans after committing sin in the Garden of Eden, so were Hester and Dimmesdale in The Scarlet Letter. After their adultery, Hester was forced to wear a scarlet letter ‘A’ on her chest to symbolize the crime her committed, and also another ‘A’ scarred on Dimmesdale’s chest as symbol of guilt and suffering.

For Pearl, some critics and scholars believe that she is Hester’s symbol of guilt comes in the form of her daughter. While others hold that Pearl is the saver of Hester, it is Pearl that helps Hester to get rid of the evil in her soul and saves her from Satan’s snare.

For Chillingworth, critics and scholars regard him as the Devil, the Satan in human form. Chillingworth keenly set out to devastate Dimmesdale, as Hawthorne informs us when referring to Chillingworth’s unearthing of Dimmesdale’s secret.

For the settings of the novel, critics and scholars think that the Puritan town stands for lawfulness and purity, It serves as a contrast to Hester’s letter ‘A’. The forest is a symbol of lawlessness and desecration, It is shrouded in mystery and retains a dark and foreboding air. The weather is a prominent symbol. The first reference to weather in the novel occurs that ‘A blessing on the righteous Colony of Massachusetts, where iniquity is dragged out into the sunshine’. Here the sunshine is being referred to as a symbol of revelation.

For the letter ‘A’, it is a symbol that physically changes its form during the novel. At the beginning of the story, it stands for punishment for adultery. However, it evolves from meaning adultery to meaning ability, and finally transform to Angle as the plot goes on.

All above characters, settings of the story or the letter ‘A’ can reflect the symbolic significance of the novel to some extent. However, Nathaniel Hawthorne’s significance of symbolism fully lies in the character of Pearl after cracking the story.

Thus the thesis will expound the symbolic significance of the main character Pearl in the novel to conclude that Pearl is the living, breathing scarlet letter, a letter in another form, a scarlet letter endowed with life.

二、^范文提纲 (Outline)

1.Introduction

1.1. Research Background

1.2. Research Object

2. Definition and Function of Symbolism

2.1.what is symbolism 

2.2.the function of symbolism in the literature field 

3.Analyse symbolic significance of the figure—Pearl 

3.1 As the emblem of adultery

3.2 As the rescuer of Hester

3.3 As the passionate and natural love

3.4 As connection between Dimmesdale and Hester

4.Conclusion

三、参考文献(References)

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