美国文学 Hawthorne
Answers to Hawthorne TEM-8 reading comprehension
Passage 1
ABDDDCB
1.Why did the sunshine seems to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast on purpose?
Hester has a sense of guilt with her sick and morbid heart.
2.What does it refer to in “and she must either sustain and carry it forward by the ordinary
resources of her nature, or sink beneath it.” in Para. 1?
The daily customs(the daily life)
Chapter 15 Nathaniel Hawthorne
I. Nathaniel Hawthorne纳撒尼尔.霍桑
1 Contribution
Push American Romantic fiction to its summit.
ample use of symbols in fiction
With Poe, he creates psycho-analytic Romantic fiction in Am. Lit.
Poe—irrational or abnormal people;
Hawthorne—the hidden evils in human heart.
2. Life
1）prestigious New England family. overly protective Mother; loss of his father, lameness, sensitive, solitary, shy and bookish;
2) Sense of the past
His ancestors were involved in the persecution of protestants , such as Quakers and a judge at the Salem塞勒姆Witchcraft Trial in 1692. Criticize it; not a puritan; rebellious and contradictory; add “w”to his name Hathorne at 21
3. Major works
Short story collections: Twice-Told Tales《故事重述》, Moses from an Old Manse 《古屋青苔》
Novels: The Scarlet Letter《红字》The House of Seven Gables《七个尖角阁的房子, The Blithedale Romance福谷传奇》, The Marble Faun《大理石神像》
Short stories: Young Goodman Brown《好小伙儿布朗》, The Minister’s Black Veil, 教长的黑面纱》Dr. Rappacini’s Daughter”拉普齐尼博士的女儿》
4. The Scarlet Letter (1850)
1) Setting
The town of Boston, a colony of the Massachusetts Bay Company,
in the years not long after the town's settlement in 1630.
Their government was theocratic, and they emphasized divine guidance over human reason.
Their moral code was strict and rigid.
2) Plot
It tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity.
3) Themes of his works
A. the sin / guilt of human nature
Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”
Whenever there is sin, there is punishment. Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation
He is of the opinion that evil educates.
(Bothagainst Transcendental optimism, Melville agrees with Hawthorne’s Blackness-- the evil at the core of life
--“To scale攀登great heights, we must come out of the lowest depths. The way to heaven is through hell. We need fiery baptism in the fierce flame of our bosoms.”
-- Melville )
Major theme of Scarlet Letter
the moral, emotional and psychological effects of sin on people and its redemption.
(Every body is potentially a sinner. Need great moral courage to improve human nature. The Scarlet Letter is not a praise of a Hester Prynne sinning, but a hymn on the moral growth of the woman when sinned against.)
B. the head’s conflict with the heart (scientific alteration of human nature)
science –one source of evil is self-conceited intellect. His intellectuals are villains, dreadful and cold-blooded.
4) Language:Refined, Soft, flowing, feminine, never vulgar, few dialogue, Musical
5) Subject matter:
过去interest in history and antiquity;
想象more from imagination than experiences; create neutral territory between real world and fairy land. Supernatural elements;
心理Concern feeling, emotion, inner heart problems;
Main ideas of the selected reading P176
P1. She had more torture this time than the last time
P2-3 The reasons why she stay here rather than flee away.
?Reason 1 fatality
?Reason 2 Dimmesdale, one with whom she deemed herself connected in a
union
?Reason 3 Redemption, the torture can purify her soul
6) Characterization
●圆形人物（Round character）
The character is complex and increases in complexity throughout the story. emotional and psychological development.
Hester Prynne海斯特普琳：brave, strong-minded, warm-hearted, intelligent, sacrificing, decisive, pure, able to reconstruct her life and win a moral victory
Dimmesdale, the lover, the minister丁梅斯代尔：timid, selfish, irresponsible,
cowardly, weak-minded
physical and spiritual disintegration. But dies an honest man
●扁平人物（Flat character ）：a character who boasts no mental or emotional
development and exhibits strong defining characteristics, speech habits, and the like.
Chillingworth, the husband丈夫齐灵渥斯:cold-blooded, dehumanized
morally degraded by his pursuit of revenge, the real evil
Pearl, the daughter珠儿: Pure and innocent, the rising nation
7) Structure:
24 chapters are closely knitted together by the scaffold断头台scenes appearing three times. each time bringing the four major characterstogether.
?blic torment and humiliation of Hester
?
?
8) Symbolism and ambiguity
Symbolic meaning of Letter A
1) For Puritan society, it just means punishment.
2) For Hester, it means unjust humiliation. first Adultery, then able, finally angel
3) For Dimmesdale, it’s a reminder of his own sin that he is too cowardly to confess.
4) For Chillingworth, it’s a request for revenge, for finding the wrong d oer,
5) For Pearl, it’s nothing but a beautiful cloth.
Symbolic meaning of Characters’ names:
Hester—from Esther. In the Old Testament, the Jewish queen of Persia who saved her people from massacre; virgin Goddess in Greek Mythology, showing her beauty and virtue;
Arthur Dimmesdale—dim valley, dark heart (dale means “valley”) AD—Adultery; dale—valley
Roger Chillingworth__ chilly, to cheat people’s worth;
Pearl__ precious, out of ugly shell, torturing process
Ambiguity--different interpretation
9) Binary Opposition
Influence of Puritanism and Transcendentalism
As America's first true psychological novel, The Scarlet Letter would convey these ideals contrasting puritan morality with passion and individualism
II.Question:
1. Please choose the appropriate words to describe each character.
Affection, Able, Amazon, Angel, Adultery, Agony or Anguish, Alone or Alienation, Art, Arrogance, Admirable, Avenge
1)Hester Prynne2) Chillingworth4) Dimmesdale 5) Pearl
III. Assignment
Whitman: Song of myself Dickinson: Because i could not stop for death, I am Nobody