The General Analysis of the Scarlet Letter 英语专业毕业论文.doc

The General Analysis of the Scarlet Letter 摘要 纳撒尼尔·霍桑是美国19世纪影响最大的浪漫主义小说家。其代表作《红字》被誉为美国浪漫主义文学的杰作，集中体现了他的思想意识和艺术特色。本文从四个方面对小说进行分析，分为五个章节。 第一章介绍霍桑及其作品在美国文学中的地位。 第二章分析作者的清教观。 第三章从小说中的主要人物入手，分析了他们性格。 第四章分析了小说《红字》中字母A的象征意义。 第五章总结全文。 关键词：纳撒尼尔·霍桑，红字，清教，《红字》字母“A”象征意义 ABSTRACT Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the greatest American novelists in the 19th century. His novel The Scarlet Letter has been considered to be a masterpiece of American romanticism, and as the mature embodiment of Hawthorne’s literary thoughts and writing techniques. This paper tries to analyze the novel from four aspects, and this article is structured into five chapters. 1. The introduction starting with the tremendous influence of Hawthorne’s works in American literature. 2. Great efforts are made to illustrate Nathaniel Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism. 3. Analyzing the main characters 4. Analyzing the symbolic meaning of the letter “A”. 5. Bringing the thesis to a conclusion. Key Words: Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, Puritanism, the symbolic meaning of the letter “A” INTRODUCTION Nathaniel Hawthorne used to be a controversial writer in 19“century America and attracted a divided critical audience． On the one hand，those who do not 1ike him criticize his works for being “not good for anything”(Emerson)On the other hand，those who appreciate his works praise him for his ability to explore the inner core of his characters．But The Scarlet Letter，Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpiece of psychological romance, has been admired by the readers all over the world ever since its publication．Although there were probably many other novels written during this period that are stylistically equally goodthis work has remained a mainstay．The vivid characters created by Hawthorne enduring topics that inspire thousands of commentators． Hawthorne and his Works in American Literature Nathaniel Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in Salem, Massachusetts, into a prominent Puri