1. Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864)

2.  best-known work: The Scarlet Letter (1850)  one of the first American writers to explore the hidden motivations of his characters.

3.  I. Life  II. Works  III. Points of view  IV. Themes  V. Aesthetic ideas  VI. Literary Achievements  VII. Style

4. I. Life  Emerson described his life with the words “painful solitude.”  Few intimates and little engagement with any sort of social life.  born in Salem, Massachusetts

5. II. Influences on Hawthorne  1. Salem - early childhood, later work at the Custom House  2. Puritan family background  3. Belief in the existence of the devil  4. Belief in determinism

6. III. Point of view

7.  Like Edgar Allan Poe, Hawthorne took a dark view of human nature.  He has a “black” vision of life and human beings.

8.  Evil is at the core of human life, “that blackness in Hawthorne”  Sin or evil can be passed from generation to generation.

9.  he believed that  human being are evil-natured and sinful  this sin is ever present in human heart sin punishment  “Whenever there is sin, there is punishment.”

10.  Hawthorne's works belong to romanticism or, more specifically, dark romanticism, cautionary tales that suggest that  guilt, sin, and evil are  the most inherent natural qualities of humanity

11.  His later writings would also reflect his negative view of  the Transcendentalism movement.

12. IV. IV. Major Themes  1. sin  2. the Puritan guilt  3. punishment  4. atonement  5. alienation

13. VI. VI. Aesthetic ideas  (1) He took a great interest in history. (historical novels)  (2) He was convinced  that romance was the predestined form of American narrative.

14. collections of short stories  Twice-told Tales 《重述集》,1837  Mosses from an Old Manse 《老屋青苔》,1846 III. Major Works

15. The Old Manse

16. Famous short stories  “Young Goodman Brown”: 《好小伙布朗》, Mosses from an Old Manse  “The Minister’s Black Veil”: 《教长的黑面纱》, Twice-Told Tales

17. Novels  The Scarlet Letter 《红字》, 1850  The House of the Seven Gables 《七角楼房》,1851  The Blithedale Romance 《福谷传奇》,1852  The Marble Faun 《玉石人像》,1860

18. VIII. Style  (1) the use of symbols  A black veil represents the wickedness of mankind.  The letter A in The Scarlet Letter takes on different layers of symbolic meanings as the plot develops.

19.  (2) revelation of characters’ psychology  He is good at exploring of  the complexity of human psychology.  He was anatomist of “the interior of the heart”.  His works remain notable for  their treatment of guilt  the complexities of moral choices

20.  (3) the use of supernatural mixed with the actual  (4) his stories are parable  to teach a lesson  e.g.: an Everyman named Brown.

21.  (5) use of ambiguity to keep the reader in the world of uncertainty – multiple point of view

22. The Scarlet Letter 1850

23. The Five Elements  1. Settings  2. Plot  3. Characters  4. Points of View  5. Themes

24. 1. Settings: Time and Place  17 th century, puritanical Boston  a prison setting: the novel opens there  the market place: scaffold scenes  the forest: meeting of Hester and Dimmesdale

25. 2. Plot  (1) Exposition:  Chap 1-3 setting, characters and conflict

26. (2) Climax  the second scaffold scene  Dimmesdale stands on the scaffold with Hester and Pearl, finally divulging ( 吐露 ) his secret, but still in the darkness of night.

27.  Ironically, while standing there, Dimmesdale notices a large meteor in the sky that appears in the shape of the letter A.

28.  Chillingworth sees it as well, for he has been watching the three of them on the scaffold.  Dimmesdale’s sin is a secret no more; Chillingworth will have his revenge.

29. (3) Denouement:  the third scaffold scene

30. 3. Major characters  (1) Hester Prynne  (2) Arthur Dimmesdale  (3) Roger Chillingworth  (4) Pearl

31.  the bearer of the scarlet letter in public  the central character of the book (1) Hester Prynne

32. a Boston settler  commits adultery  bears a child while awaiting the arrival of her husband from Europe

33.  Authorities require her to wear a piece of red cloth in the shape of an A (standing for adulteress) on her dress to identify her as a sinner.  She refuses to identify her partner in sin.

34.  Hester is named after the title character of an Old Testament book.  In that book, Esther is a Jew who marries the King of Persia, Xerxes I ([ l z ɜ :ksi:z] 薛西斯一世 ).  Her cousin Mordecai persuade the king to spare the lives of Jews previously singled out for annihilation. Mordecai ['m ɔ :dəkai] n. 末底改

35. Detailed Character Analysis of Hester At the trial  proud  strong-willed  sinless  motherhood  youthful & beautiful  passionate & spirited

36. The major changes after the trial  (1) sinner  (2) mother  (3) lover  (4) ex-wife  (5) member of the community

37. (1) as a sinner  penitent (['penitənt] 悔罪的 )  no woman any more  social outcast  stronger  a thinker

38. (2) as a lover  faithful  selfless

39. (3) as an ex-wife  a woman who keeps her words  never harbors any malice ( 恶意 ) towards Chillingworth  whom she considers responsible for her defamation

40.  If he had not deserted her, she would have remained his faithful wife.  In the end, however, she even tells him that he has been wronged by her.

41. (4) as a mother  loving and selfless  dressing Pearl with the brightest colors  suffering from the impishness of her daughter

42. e.g. Chapter 8, p.51: “She is my happiness. She is the torture. She is the scarlet letter. I will die first if you take her.”

43. (5) as a member of the community  sympathetic  charitable  a maternal figure to her community

44.  The townspeople who condemned her now believe the scarlet letter  stands for  her ability to her beautiful needlework  her unselfish assistance to the poor and sick  serves to wash away evil

45.  At last, Hester  overcomes the shame of her sin through  the purity and goodness of her soul  grows to be quite admirable amongst the people of the town

46. 2. Arthur Dimmesdale  a respected minister  the father of Hester’s child, unknown to townspeople  weak and cowardly but redeems himself in the end

47.  tortured by his sin and cowardice  Hawthorne still paints a sympathetic picture of him.  very human in his suffering  pathetic ( 凄惨可怜的 ) in the hands of Chillingworth

48. Contrast Hester’s scarlet letter with Dimmesdale’s scarlet letter  Unconfessed sin destroys the soul.  Hester's sin has been confessed.  As its symbol, she wears the Scarlet Letter A.