摘 要

那撒尼尔·霍桑（1804-1864）作为美国小说家及短篇小说作家，是美国文学史上的一个重要人物。他的代表作《红字》讲述了一个简单而又富有戏剧性的故事。这篇论文试图分析该小说女主人公海斯特在痛苦的经历下所发生的一些变化。随着小说中红字A代表意义的变化，海斯特从被遗弃的通奸者变成了受人尊敬的天使；从传统的反抗者变成了清教的维护者，从而得出结论：正是清教思想导致了海斯特悲剧性的转变，从最初对清教社会的反抗变成了对清教社会的遵循和服从。

关键词：海斯特；变化；《红字》； 清教

Contents

1.Introduction.................................................................................................................1

2.Demonstration.............................................................................................................2

2.1. The function of Hester as a leading role…………..................................................2

2.1.1 As both an adulteress and an angel………............................................................3

2.1.2 As a pursuer of Puritanism…................................................................................3

2.2.The change of Hester…………………....................................................................4

2.2.1 Previous Hester......................................................................................................5

2.2.1.1 A despised adulteress…......................................................................................6

2.2.1.2 A rebel against tradition......................................................................................6

2.2.1.3 A fighter for her rights……................................................................................7

2.2.2 Changed Hester………………….........................................................................7

2.2.2.1 A bearer of insults and gird................................................................................8

2.2.2.2 An observer of simplicity and abstinence.........................................................9

2.2.2.3 A respected angel…………………………………………………………..…10

3.Conclusion.................................................................................................................11

Works Cited..................................................................................................................12

Bibliography.................................................................................................................13

An Analysis of the Change of Hester in The Scarlet Letter

1. Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Sales, Massachusetts. Some of his ancestors were big shots in the seventeenth-century New England, which was under the control of Puritanism. One of them was a colonial magistrate, notorious for his participation in the persecution of Quakers, and another was a judge at the Sales Witchcraft Trail in 1692. Gradually, the family fortune declined. Hawthorne’s father was a sea captain, who died in an accident and left his mother and him behind to struggle to live for themselves. Young Hawthorne was quite aware of the misdeeds of his Puritan ancestors, and his awareness made him believe that evil was at the core of human life. To some extent, Hawthorne wrote some of his books, such as The Scarlet Letter and The House of the Seven Gables, to try to make up for the sin of his ancestors.

Hawthorne is an extremely renowned American writer of fiction. As Richard commented, “his novels belong to the highest level of art, subject to a high level of artistic genius” (5). He not only has created quiet a few classic novels, but also has written quantities of thought-provoking short stories, including The Scarlet Letter (1850), The House of the Seven Gables (1851), The Blithesome Romance (1852) and The Marble Faun (1860). Until now, Hawthorne and his works have been the focus of discussion from the Chinese and foreign scholars.

In terms of the book The Scarlet Letter, literary historians believe that it is undoubtedly the first great American novel. It is a romantic work of fiction in historical setting. It is considered to be his magnum opus. Set in the 17^th-century Puritan Boston during the years 1642 to 1649, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who conceives a daughter through an adulterous affair and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. She was punished as a despised adulteress because she admitted all the sins. From then on, she had to wear the scarlet letter “A” throughout her life. In this case, Hester raised her daughter named Pearl and helped the poor family at times. With the passing time, people changed views of her and accepted her gradually. Then the scarlet letter “A” became the sign of Angel. But, Hester didn’t choose to continue her resistance. On the contrary, she bore the insults and eventually became a fighter for Puritanism.

The studies on the theme of The Scarlet Letter involve different fields. At home, some scholars focus on themes such as the symbolism used in The Scarlet Letter, the meanings of “A”, the ideas of marriage, moral problems and religious complex, sin and redemption, the loneliness diathesis of the novel and analysis of Hester and so on. What’s more, the scholars abroad concentrate on the persistence of theocracy, reforming American and the exclusion of the traditional villain from contemporary American literature. This paper makes an attempt to analyze the changes of the heroine Hester from a despised adulteress to a respected angel and from a rebel against tradition to a fighter for Puritanism. From the analysis of Hester, readers can gain a better understanding of the novel as well as the heroine.

2. Demonstration