浅析《红字》中海斯特的性格摘要作为世界著名作家之一和“美国的莎士比亚”，霍桑将浪漫主义推向了高峰。
他的《红字》是美国19世纪文学史上的经典作品，也是女性追求真爱，挑战清教社会中神权父权的代表作。
《红字》更是吸引了无数学者研究海斯特的性格，对她的各种分析也屡见不鲜。
本篇著作的背景是在波士顿的一个小镇上，介绍了这个地区的居民是如何被清教主义深刻影响的。
其中女主人公海斯特白兰和镇上受人尊敬的牧师丁梅斯代尔通奸并生下女儿珠儿。
作为惩罚，她被带上红字A-”Adultery”的象征。
同时，论文分析女主人公海斯特的性格。
例如勇敢坚强，叛逆，还有红字A 的转变对她性格的影响。
论文的主要目的是展现了清教法规的苛刻无情地刑法，在清教社会中，不管是谁犯罪都要接受惩罚。
本文还涉及了霍桑的清教价值观，他对清教值价值观和思想的肯定以及对其消极方面对人民思想控制的批判，这也是决定海斯特最后的命运是在通过自身的努力实现了对真爱的追寻并且自身也得到救赎，也改变了人们对红字的看法。
霍桑描写的海斯特的性格向人们展示了他的清教观，以及清教思想对他的影响。
海斯特最初是勇敢坚强的，最终却在清教社会的压迫下，承认了自己的罪过并通过救赎得到了社会的认可。
通过红字A的象征意义的变化也体现了海斯特的性格变化。
关键字；清教主义，海斯特，性格，通奸AbstractAN ANALYSIS OF HESTER’SPRESONALITY IN SCARLET LETTERAbstractAs one of the world’s most famous writers and “the Shakespeare of American” Nathaniel Hawthorne played a critical role in the highlight of romantic novel. The Scarlet Letter,Nathaniel Hawthorne’s representative work, is a classical novel in American literature in the 19th century. The novel is concerning how feminine pursue true love, challenge theocracy, patriarchy and political power in Puritan society. This thesis introduce how the communities in the town are deeply influenced by Puritanism. The heroine Hester Prynne and Arthur Dimmesdale, the town’s reverend priest, engages in the act of adultery baby girl named Pearl. As punishment Hester forced to wear “Adultery”. And Scarlet Letter has wined the world-wide attention. Especially the female Hester Prynne has attracted large numbers of scholars to analysis her personality.Meanwhile, The novel describes the heroine Hester Prynne who shows us some personality such as strong , brave, rebellion, compromise and hypocrisy in the transformation of her. The thesis aims at presenting the harshness and the strict punishment in Puritan society. In puritan communities, no matter who commits a sin will be punished. On one hand, he appreciates the puritan thought and value; on the other hand, he condemns the negative impact of puritan society on people’s spirit. And this thought influences Hester’s final fate-to get salvation through self-improvement and hardworking. Hester is brave and strong but with the force of puritanism she admitted her sin. And with analysis the transformation of A’s meaning reflect Hester’s personality.Key words：Puritanism; Hester ; Personality; AdulteryCONTENTSCHAPTER I INTRODUCTION (1)CHAPTER II INTRODUCTION OF THE AUTHOR AND HIS WORKS (2)2.1 Author (2)2.1.1 Puritan Influence On Hawthorne...................................................................,.2 2.1.2.Hawthorne’s Own Thought on Puritanism (3)2.2 Works (5)2.2.1 His Main Works (5)2.2.2 Introduction of The Scarlet Letter (6)CHAPTER III ANALYSIS HESTER’S PERSONALITY (9)3.1 Hester’s Personality at the Beginning of the Novel (9)3.1.1 Personality of Graceful and Beautiful (9)3.1.2 Personality of Rebellious (9)3.2 Hester’s Personality after wearing “Adultery” (10)3.2.1 Personality of Fearless (10)3.2.2 Personality of Compromising being a Mother (11)3.2.3 Personality of Brave and Strong (13)CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF THE LETTER “A” -ADULTERY (14)4.1 Being Shamed for “Adultery” (14)4.2Transformation of A’s Meaning; Alone, Alienate, Able, Angel, Admirable (16)CHAPTER V CONCLUSION (18)5.1 The Summary of the Research (18)5.2 The Significance of the Research (18)5.3 The Limitations of the Research (18)REFERENCE (19)CHAPTER Ⅰ INTRODUCTIONThe Scarlet Letter represents Nathaniel Hawthorne’s most successful and popular novel, which was published in 1850. It is an outstanding work, which is full of profound intention, complicated plots and sincere emotion. It also shows its unique artistic charm and literary values. Hester Prynne is a famous figure in American literature. Hester Prynne is the main character of Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel The Scarlet Letter. This novel happened in Boston, which was a colony of England in 17th century. At that time and at that place, the doctrine of Puritans was looked as the rule of people’s daily life. Hawthorne was born in a puritan family, whose grandfather was an authority. That made him was deep influenced by Puritanism. On one hand, he received the doctrine of hard working and thrifty, on the other hand, He thought that the Puritan religion was too strict and harsh.Hester Prynne is a woman, who has great courage to pure the real love and a woman who experiences hard life and longs for freedom. She loves her life no matter how difficult it is. She tries her best to struggle against the adversity. She is a beautiful, virtuous, brave and tough woman. Because of adultery, she is forced to wear an “A” on her breast to shame her. She showed extreme strength and courage to resist the bias of the Puritanism by her good deeds and finally is received and being respected by the society and get salvation through hard working.CHAPTER II INTRODUCTION OF THEAUTHOR AND MAIN WORKS2.1 Introduction of the AuthorHawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts. Some of his ancestors were men of prominence in the Puritan theocracy of seventeenth century New England. One of them was a colonial magistrate, notorious for his part in the persecution of the Quakers, and another was a judge at the Salem Witchcraft Trial in 1692. Gradually the family fortune declined . His father, a sea captain, died in Dutch Guiana, leaving the widow and the child behind to shift for themselves. Young Hawthorne was intensely aware of the misdeeds of his Puritan ancestors, this awareness led to his understanding of evil being at the core of human life , to “that blackness in Hawthorne ”.In 1821 Hawthorne went to Bowdoin College, where he had Henry Wadsworth Longfellow as a classmate. He also developed a friendship with Franklin Pierce who was to become the fourteenth President of the United States. In 1825 to 1837 Hawthorne lived in solitude and seclusion. He was, during the four years (1853-1857) when President Pierce was in office, the United States consul in Liverpool, England and later traveled in Italy. He died in 1864.2.1.1 Puritan Influence On HawthorneThe story tells about the life of the resident under the surrounding of persecution derived from the ineradicable religion in Massachusetts of Boston in New England in public. Boston, which was a colony of England at that time, the local Boston people was the representative of puritans. From the political authorities to the kids playing before the church, their characteristics are the same. The thesis aims at any differences from others are hereto. At the early cultures of Boston, ages and experience are emphasis; there is no culture of younger. That’s why Hawthorne makes the story happens there. To the puritans, any person or thing which is different from them will be punished or be banished. To the puritans, the laws are sacred; anyone who breaks the law should be punishedstrictly, that’s the special environment which Hester lived in.All his life, Hawthorne seems to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life. Reading his tales and romances, one cannot but be overwhelmed by the “black”vision which these works reveal. Evil exists in the human heart as is evident, for instance, in the short story, “Earth’s Holocaust,”which tells us that, though all symbol of tradition and the past have been burned in the bonfire of the life of the New World, the source of evil—the huAman heart—remains intact. Everyone seems to cover up his black veil (“The Minister’s Black Veil”). Evil seems to be man’s birthmark (“The Birthmark”). A. H. Quinn perceptively states that Hawthorne is at his best when dealing with sin, the supernatural, and New England past, The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century. （Barlow，2000,3）It is en elaboration of a fact which Puritanism ruled. Hester was sinned adultery, which cannot be forgiven and must be punished at that time, this reflects Hawthorne’s thought of sin, everyone has sin and they must use their whole life to expiate themselves. But he also thought the punishments are too harsh. Thus why he made Hester sinned, but didn’t admit her sin.2.1.2 Hawthorne’s Own Thoughts on PuritanismIn this novel, Hawthorne uses the repressive, authoritarian Puritan society as an analogue for humankind in general. The Puritan setting also enables him to portray the human soul under extreme pressure. Hester, Dimmesdale, and Chillingworth, while unquestionable part of the Puritan society in which they live, also reflect universal experiences. Hawthorne speaks specially to American issues, but he circumvents the aesthetic and thematic limitations that might accompany such focus. His university and his dramatic flair have ensured his place in the literary canon, tolerant and cruel. He thinks that the Puritan religion was too strict and harsh. Readers can see how he disliked them by the way people act, talk, and live.Meanwhile, he also shows how he thought the Puritan people would react to the manner in which Hester stitched the “A”, and he d oes not make them look very pleasant. By showing them as being ruthless, and evil, Hawthorne is able to reveal his views of the Puritan people, and how he dislikes them through thetownsfolk (the woman in particular). He makes them come across as people you would love to hate. Throughout the entire book, Hester is looked down upon though slightly less as the story progresses, and is treated like a second class citizen. Hawthorne shows his distaste of the Puritan culture by expressing himself through the characters and their actions. Not one person in this novel is truly good, and all the characters sins. It is impossible to have a perfect society, and Nathaniel Hawthorne explains to us in The Scarlet Letter, that one is ruled by the Puritan religion, proves this true.(Gao,2000,4)Nevertheless, although he is shocked by the Puritan injustice, he is convinced that there is both good and evil in Puritanism. He thinks a lot about the conflict of God as omniscient and omnipotent on one hand, and vengeful and cruel on the other. He sees that religion is able to produce evil. Things like the witch trials, where innocent people have to die, can happen in his Puritan hometown of Salem, which leads him to the opinion that the fusion of religious dogma and political authority is the worst evil. His ancestors and all the other Puritans maybe think to have found the devil when prosecuting witches, but Hawthorne is of a different opinion. Hawthorne’s answ er is that devil existed in everybody. It makes people blind so they are not able to recognize the evil in themselves.In a whole, Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism is split. There are things he is absolutely in favor of and things he condemns from the depth of his heart. And to some extent, Hawthorne is a Puritan because of his Puritan origin. It is Puritanism that has led to today’s American achievement oriented society. But Hawthorne describes the Puritan society of the 17th century as narrow and relentless. He does not share the dogmas and delusions of the people who are condemned, because he has little interest and less belief in doctrines and theological debate. His imagination is repeatedly drawn the subjects of temptation, guilt and shame. He seeks the depth of the human things.Of course Hawthorne’s point of view is that of the 19th century, not that of 17th century, where his short stories are settled. He is aware of his roots and history, but he questions these roots and history from his modern point of view. Back to his attitudes towards the Puritanism of ancestors, when Hawthorneread the accounts about his first American ancestors, he was reported to have readthem with fascination and horror. He was different from his ancestors.The way Hawthorne makes Hester’s fate goes with the Puritans. She sins, isforced to wear a letter “A”on her breast, is isolated by the townspeople, butfinally is respected because of her kind-hearted. This can be assigned the origin toHawthorne’s experiences that he has isolated from the outside after he graduatesfrom university. Hawthorne has ever said to Longfellow, the most fearful thing isthat you can not share your happiness or sorrow of your daily life to others. Onewho is deprived the right of join the society, is an audience but not a participant,Max said that one is a social man because man has to live in the society, or hewill lose the meaning of exiting. （Chang，2009,76）Hawthorne thinks Hestershould resign the punishment of Alienation, which is seen as the cruelest one.Hester should turn over a new leaf by expiating herself.Hester’s fate is designed; she has no choice because she lives in a puritansociety and Hawthorne’s puritan thoughts also determine her fate.2.2 Works2.2.1 His Main WorksThe House of the Seven Gables is an appalling fictional version Hawthorne’sbelief that “the wrong-doing of one generation lives into the successive”, and thatevil will come out of evil though it may take many generation to happen.ColonelPyncheon takes by force the land of Matthew Maule, and condemns him as awizard. He builds a house on the land while Matthew Maule is sent to thescaffold. Before he dies, the “wizard” curses the colonel, saying “God will givehim blood to drink”. Retribution does come. The house seems to be haunted. Thescion of the colonel wither and die out, and eventually it is the descendant of thepersecuted wizard who gets the upper hand. The curse does, in time, materialize.It is true that the book concludes on a happy note, and that good triumphs overevil.The Marble Faun i s a good illustration. A young Italian nobleman, Donatello byname, falls in love with a beautiful Miriam whose happiness is, however,threatened by a monk and eventually gives himself up to a life-imprisonment while Miriam is resolved to lead a life of penance. Donatello lives through the tragic experience and attains maturity as a man.2.2.2 Introduction of the Scarlet LetterThe story begins in seventeenth-century Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter, Pearl, in her arms and the scarlet letter “A” on her breast. A man in the crowd tells an elderly onlooker that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester’s husband, a scholar much older than she is, sent her ahead to America, but he never arrived in Boston. The consensus is that he has been lost at sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester has apparently had an affair, as she has given birth to a child. She will not reveal her lover’s identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. On this day Hester is led to the town scaffold and harangued by the town fathers, but she again refuses to identify her child’s father.The elderly onlooker is Hester’s missing husband, who is now practicing medicine and calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He settles in Boston, intent on revenge. He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester, whom he has sworn to secrecy. Several years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and Pearl grows into a willful, impish child. Shunned by the community, they live in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston. Community officials attempt to take Pearl away from Hester, but, with the help of Arthur Dimmesdale, a young and eloquent minister, the mother and daughter manage to stay together. Dimmesdale, however, appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious heart trouble, seemingly caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth attaches himself to the ailing minister and eventually moves in with him so that he can provide his patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth also suspects that there may be a connection between the minister’s torments and Hester’s secret, and he begins to test Dimmesdale to see what he can learn. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, Chillingworth discovers a m ark on the man’s breast, which convinces himthat his suspicions are correct.Dimmesdale’s psychological anguish deepens, and he invents new tortures for himself. In the meantime, Hester’s charitable deeds and quiet humility have earned her a reprieve from the scorn of the community. One night, when Pearl is about seven years old, she and her mother are returning home from a visit to a deathbed when they encounter Dimmesdale atop the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and Pearl join him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refuses Pearl’s request that he acknowledge her publicly the next day, and a meteor marks a dull red “A” in the night sky. Hester can see that the minister’s condition is worsening, and she resolves to interv ene. She goes to Chillingworth and asks him to stop adding to Dimmesdale’s self-torment. Chillingworth refuses.Hester arranges an encounter with Dimmesdale in the forest because she is aware that Chillingworth has probably guessed that she plans to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale. The former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of release, and Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resume her charitable work. She receives occasional letters from Pearl, who has married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own. When Hester dies, she is buried next to Dimmesdale. The two share a single tombstone, which bears a scarlet “A.”CHAPTER III ANALYSIS OF HESTER’SPERSONALITY IN SCARLET LETTERHester’s entrance is an attractive and graceful lady like a lady of quality, which makes her different from people. Although she sins, she acts brave and dare to admit her sin, dare to get salvation through her acts.3.1 Hester’s personality at The Beginning of The Novel3.1.1 Personality of Graceful And BeautifulHester is attractive when she appears. She is a slender lady who herself with a deliberate grace. She has a beautiful face with deep black eyes. To most people, she looks more like a graceful lady from the upper class. But Hawthorne’s female characters tend to fall into two broad categories, the blond and effete, and the dark-haired and sensual Oriental type. To the latter belongs Hester Prynne, attractive, appealing, and mildly aggressive, she represents sexual guilt as love with her is fatal, but she is really pure and innocent. Young Hester borders on being licentious. Her drive is sexual. One needs to take just a casual look at her luxuriant head of black silky hair to understand this of her. But she lives a rigorous life; only once does she let loose her lovely hair. (Barlow, 2000, 21)3.1.2 Personality of RebelliousThe heroine in The Scarlet Letter, Hester Prynne is a beautiful and competent woman. Even though she is reduced to a prisoner, she is still “very slim with black silky hair. Her face is fair and charming which looks more moving with her moon-like eyebrow and deep black eyeball. She belongs to the group of noblewoman even if she is measured by temporary female style”. It is this young and beautiful woman that is married to an old and ugly scholar, Chillingworth. At that time, Hester is very young just like a newborn moss. Although the scholar is anile, he always accompanies her when she is down and out. It is hard to say whether there is love between them. But Hester and Chillingworth live harmoniously. In later years Chillingworth sends Hester to New England to settle down there and asks Hester to wait for him. Since then he has never been heard of since. Having heard that her husband has died, Hester and the priest, Dimmesdale, falls in love with each other and later Heater gives birth to a child named Pearl.Although the judge doesn’t put her to death out of mercy, she is still punished to wear a scarlet letter A with her three-month old baby in her arms in the scaffold. No doubt this punishment is a torture to her. The scarlet letter A on her breast is a symbol of evil. And the baby is a vivid evidence of the crime. What makes her feel shameful is other’s abuse and spurn. This rebellion against the world is sinful especially in the puritan society. Hester’s love to her husband is somewhat a betrayal, but her love toward Dimmesdale is sincere. There is no true love between her and her husband, but there exists between her and Dimmesdale. When the relation with Dimmesdale is revealed, she is brave to bear the accusation to maintain Dimmesdale’s reputation. When she is publicly exposed in the scaffold, Hester is forced to point out her lover. But she resolves not to do it. She says that “she wants to bear the pain of him like she does in herself”. In fact, she herself alone bears the crime for seven years. When she knows that Chillingworth has used various kinds of means to revenge on the unaware Dimmesdal and the latter has suffered a lot because of this, Hester makes up her mind to expose Chillingworth’s true identity and leave for other place with Dimmesdale. She gives a lot of comfort and support to him. Her female gentility, virtue and positive spirit have made their full expression in the people around her. She bravely faces the hardship in her life, and at key moment she can protect her baby Pearl from being taken away by puritans. As a mother and lover, Hester is sincere.3.2Hester’s Personality after Wearing “Adultery”3.2.1 Personality of FearlessHester Prynne leaves a deep impression to the readers. Hester is a woman, who has great courage to devote to real love and a woman who experiences hard life and longs for freedom. She loves her life no matter how difficult it is. She tries her best to struggle against the adversity. She is a beautiful, virtuous, brave and tough woman.Hester marries an unloved ugly old man, nothing but having great knowledge admired by all fools. However, when Hester goes to Massachusetts of Boston,She falls in love with Dimmesdale who is her true lover. It should be a good matter, so to speak, if she could divorce from the oldest Chillingworth and then marry Dimmesdale it would be a romantic love story. Unfortunately, it is disgraceful of a married woman to love another man even if that is her beloved one in that abnormal time. So, what a disgraced thing it is that she has to be set up to public shame and wore a mark of shame upon her bosom letter A stands for adultery that makes her bring sermon against sin, until the ignominious scarlet letter be engraved upon her tombstone .But that does not impact on her life even if all dwells give a wide berth to her and use the most incautious words to aggress her later. Because of her benevolence, the inhabitants accept her gradually though they insult her sometimes. Hester does not mind it, because what she concerns is Whether Dimm esdale’s life is good or not.3.2.2 Personality of Compromising Being A MotherHester is deeply influenced by the society. Although she is rejected by the society, she tries to return to it. She has distinctive characters of contemporary feminist. “The y have strength and virtue, but there are also shortcomings and evil. On the one hand they learn to obey and do something good; on the other hand, their minds remain independent and keep fighting. For Hester, she has to get close to Puritanism’s idea about human nature and its values. On the other hand, she refuses to repent and insists on true love. Maternal love plays an important role in Hester’s psychological process. In the society where religious theocracy dominates, although Hester knows she has the right to pursue love, she is still conscious that her betrayal of marriage offends the law. As a woman, she can alone bear all punishments and misfortunes. But as a mother, she worries about the cruel punishments will fall into Pearl. “Everyday she observes the child’s personality closely, for the fear that it may develop some gloomy or wired manners. She has suffered so much pain and loneliness, so she hopes her child not to recommit the same error, but to integrate into the society and live a happy life. Therefore, she silently endures the pain and maintains contact with the society through the needlework to gain comfort. As Pearl’s name suggests, she comes from sin, but she is pure. She is also a constant reminder to Hester and totownspeople of Hester’s sin. Hester dresses her with bright color and named her pearl, and that shows her love to her baby. Though Pearl is regarded as the result of Hester and Dimmesdale’s adultery, she is still a pearl to Hester. Hester give all hope to Pearl. She is still a brave mother.The compromise of Hester Prynne is related to Hawthorne's ideology. Hawthorne was born in New England dilapidated aristocratic family. There are two generations of his ancestors were in colonial politics and religion and authority figures, who persecuted by fanatical Puritan heresy. When Hawthorne was a child he lived in Salem town which was a famous place in American history. He deeply influenced by Calvinism, a region suffering from the infiltration of religious and cultural. Then in Hawthorne's later year he face the American capitalist economy of rapid development, social structure, the scene of major changes, it shows a very complicated ambivalence of his mind. On the one hand he dared to criticize Calvinism poisoning people's religious fanaticism and stifle the religious dogma in the pursuit of an abstract thought in the United States. In The Scarlet Letter, on the one hand, he criticized religious bigotry destroy people's position. He focus on the performance of the bravely and rebellion of Hester Prynne. On the other hand, and most importantly, he concept of original sin and Calvinism affirmed the seriousness of early Puritan, digestion of the Hester's courage and sense of resistance, so that to search for compromise in the Hester's life from the original sin in access to spiritual self-rescue. Hester Prynne of The scarlet letter, consciously or unconsciously reinforce compromise, this is the result of Hawthorne's religious contemplation. Compromise of Hester Prynne is began with the crimes. She gradually forced to compromise on the way to redemption. She and Dimmesdale's love sown the seeds of evil, therefore, she spent seven years to living shame.3.2.3 Personality of Brave And StrongHester is the only person who wears the “A” in the whole article. Puritan authority’s power forces her to wear it all day long after the punishment of three hours standing on the scaffold. Hester can leave the Massachusetts colony, but she does not flee. She regards the place as her home living as the type of shame.It is love, which is the only reason for her to live in that place. The kind of love is declared guilty according to the puritan religion, which takes the asceticism as the local law at that time. “There trod the feet of one with whom she d eemed herself connected in a union would bring them together before the bar of final judgment, and make that their marriage-alter, for a joint futurity of endless retribution (Hawthorne, 2009,489 ). Maybe at that time, Hester’s choice seems a little innocent. Just for the faith for love, which can also be regarded as the passion in a short while though wild nature as she has, she restrains her be behavior from then on for she thinks herself commit an offence. She swears of keeping the secret of the relationship between her and her husband Chillingworth shows that she is in blame at that time and puzzled with her love.When being put into prison, Hester refuses to confess who the father of the baby is, she protect Dimmesdale though Dimmesdale is too recreant to admit the sin. After Hester commits the sin, the Puritan society immediately enforces its law against her. “Hester betrayed her husband and went against the principle of honesty on Puritan, so she must accept the severe penalty in the Puritan society at that time.” Apart from wearing the red letter “A”, she has to suffer public shame on the scaffold.Though the love between Hester and Dimmesdale is true, Hester is a woman who is married. Both of them sin, they have to be punished and get salvation through their acts.CHAPTER IV ANALYSIS OF THE LETTER “A”-ADULTERYIn puritan’s doctrine, one should get salvation by hard working, Hester must be tortured until she receives forgiveness from God, and all that she can do is to bear until she gets salvation.。
