摘 要

《红字》是一部以清教社会为背景创作的浪漫主义小说，罪与救赎是作品的一个重要的主题。因此想要研究海斯特的自我救赎必须考虑具体的社会环境。本论文以海斯特的自我救赎为研究主体，结合作品中具体的清教社会背景，从性别，道德观念和海斯特具体的救赎三个方面来探究海斯特的救赎，发现有助于海斯特自我救赎的因素，并进一步讨论海斯特女权主义者的形象。

关键词：海斯特；救赎；清教社会；女权主义者

Contents

1. Introduction 1

2. Demonstration 2

2.1 Puritan society and gender 2

2.1.1 Hester Prynne and paternity 4

2.1.2 Hester Prynne and feminism 5

2.2 Puritan society ethics 5

2..2.1 Hester Prynne and adultery 6

2.2.2 Hester Prynne and puritan ethical value 6

2.3 Puritan society and redemption 7

2.3.1 Hester Prynne and The A 8

2.3.2 Hester Prynne and the original sin 9

3. Conclusion 10

Works Cited 11

Bibliography 13

On the Redemption of Hester Prynne in Puritan Society

1.Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) is a great romantic writer in 19^th century. Though he’s not a puritan, he is deeply affected by his puritan family background. The Scarlet Letter is one of his classics which is created under the Puritanism background. Hester Prynne, the main character of the novel, is often considered as a fallen angel who redeems her soul from the hell. Meanwhile, controversy still exists on her image as a feminist who manages to redeem herself and becomes a heroine. Her strong independence and good deeds confirm her image as a feminist while her strong sense of guilt shows her compromise. Her image can be judged under the certain social background----the puritan society. The thesis tries to study the redemption of Hester Prynne under the social background of puritan society, which shows the religious theme of theme, and further discuss the image of Hester Prynne as a feminist.

There are abundant researches overseas on The Scarlet Letter with a variety of perspectives and contents. As for the image of Hester Prynne, most researches focus on her image as a feminist and her challenge to the patriarchy society. In "Nathaniel Hawthorne and The Scarlet Letter," D. H. Lawrence analyzes that Hester wants to revenge on the male chauvinism which force her to disobey her heart. In "Hester’s Revenge: The Power of Silence in The Scarlet Letter," L. S .Person claims that Hester is a passive feminist. Also, in "Mr. Hawthorne’s Headache: Reading The Scarlet Letter," D. Leverenz suggests Hester’s feminism is quiet radical. In terms of the theme of redemption, most of the researches overseas tend to regard Hester Prynne as a representative of the wake of women awareness, who becomes a noble woman after her redemption. D. Abel calls Hester Prynne heroine who dares to face the authority and society though she is sinful in "Hawthorne’s Hester." In "The Fuzzy Scarlet Letter," A. M. Pallas analyzes that Hester redeems herself through her humanity and good works. In "Citizen Hester: The Scarlet Letter as Civic Myth," B. Thomas claims that Hester is a fallen woman finds redemption by helping others.

Many domestic researches study the theme of sin and redemption in The Scarlet Letter. Liu Li study the theme of redemption from the perspective of original sin theory in Puritanism in the thesis "On the Theme of Redemption in The Scarlet Letter from the Perspective of Original Sin". In the thesis "Sin and Redemption: The Scarlet Letter from a Christian Ethics Perspective," Su Yuxiao suggests that the redemption is a typical characteristic of the religious theme of The Scarlet Letter. These researches study the redemption based on the religious theory. However, it’s rare to see the study of the redemption based on the religious background and social background of the novel.