【英语论文】.doc

外国语学院学生毕业论文题 目 Pearl in The Scarlet Letter红字中的珠儿 专 业 英 语 班 级 02331 学生姓名 徐春娟 学 号 12 指导教师 方 文 开 2006年4月29日ContentsAbstract4摘要41. Introduction52. Pearls image62.1. Pearls beautiful, holy and pure image52.1.1. Her beautiful appearance6 2.1.2. Her willful, impish personality7 2.1.3. Her moody, mischievous spirit73. The live scarlet letter84. Pearls function in the novel94.1. Pearls relationship with Hester94.2. Pearls relationship with Chillingworth114.3. Pearls relationship with Dimmesdale125. Pearls effects on the structure of the novel136. The aim of Hawthorne writing about Pearl147. Conclusion17Bibliography18AbstractHaving been famous since the American Renaissance, American romantic writer Hawthorne was connected with the life of New England colonial period and most of his works derived from that historical time. The Scarlet Letter was his prominent representative work, which was famous for its symbolism and moral concepts. It had been labeled as the milestone of 19th century romanticism. Although it had attracted millions of scholars attention, most of them only paid attention to the main characters, namely Hester, Chillingworth, Dimmedale, while ignoring Pearl. The author actually spent all his efforts to describe Pearl to establish a perfect child. It is obvious that not only does Pearl play important role in the illustration of the other main roles, but also does she have great influence on the construction of the whole novel. Meanwhile, the author attempts to show his own attitude to the society through creating Pearl.Key words: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Pearl, The Scarlet Letter, Beauty摘 要 美国文艺复兴时期伟大的浪漫主义作家霍桑总是与新英格兰殖民时期的生活息息相关，他的绝大多数作品起源于那个历史时期。其中红字是他的代表作。该小说以象征主义和道德观而著名，堪称是19世纪浪漫主义的里程碑。尽管该作品吸引了成千上万的学者的关注，但大多数学者只关注主要角色，即海斯特，齐灵渥斯，丁梅斯代尔。事实上，他们忽视了珠儿。作者竭尽全力来描述珠儿，从而塑造一个完美人物。同时，描述珠儿的形象有助于衬托其他主人公，珠儿的存在影响了整篇作品的结构。同时，作者试从珠儿形象塑造的角度来表达自己的社会观。关键词：纳撒尼尔·霍桑；珠儿；红字；美丽Pearl in The Scarlet Letter1. IntroductionAlthough in the nineteenth-century there appeared a number of talented and spirited writers in America, undoubtedly Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the most distinguished writers. He loved writing and devoted himself to the career. He wrote many excellent novels in his life. Most of his works were famous for their abstract moral concepts and attracted many scholars attention. As a writer, most of his novels have been reading by the people all over the world since they were published. As a moralist, his works comprise profound moral meanings. As an artist, there are impressed artistic characteristics, such as symbolism. All in all, his gifts to the writing career are numerous. The Scarlet Letter, Hawthornes greatest accomplishment, tells us a story happened in 17th century in Boston, then a Puritan settlement. A married woman Hester gave birth to an illegal girl named Pearl. For this reason, the woman had been punished for adultery and required to speak out her lovers identity, but she refused firmly. As a punishment she would be doomed to wear the Scarlet Letter on her breast all her life. On the day Hester was led to the town scaffold and tortured by the townsfathers. there appeared an elder onlooker, who was Hesters missing husband in fact. He called himself Chillingworth and dwelt in Boston for revenge as a doctor. Dimmesdale, Hesters lover, was respected and loved by the townspeople because of his eloquent and persuasive sermons. Because of his timidity and cowardice, he lacked courage to confess the fact. At last, he couldnt bear the spiritual torments, then acknowledged his adultery publicly and died.Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth died a year later. Afterwards, Hester and Pearl left Boston. Many years later, Hester returned alone and Pearl had married a European aristocrat and established a family of her own.The novel aims to reveal such theme as the unconfessed evil destroys ones spirit. In The Scarlet Letter, Hawthorne uses the representative PURITAN society as an analogue for humankind in general. The Puritan setting also enables him to portray the human soul under extreme pressure. Since The Scarlet Letter is the milestone of the 19th century romanticism and Hawthornes masterpiece, we can label Hawthorne as a romantic writer conclusively.Since the importance of The Scarlet Letter in American literary history, was due to its profound meaning and symbolism, the novel had become one of the representative of symbolism. Literature would witness the excellent comments on the leading character, namely Hester, Dimmesdale, Chillingworth, but lacks comments on Pearl. Some professionals see Pearl as a subsidiary role. “In the matter of fact, Pearl plays an indispensable role in the novel.”(Wang Li-li1995: 79) Pearl is actively involved in virtually every aspect of the novel, such as the effect of displaying the symbolic meanings of The Scarlet Letter, establishing the image of three main protagonists, entrusting the authors moral dream, linking the whole story and etc.2. Pearls Image.2.1. Her beautiful appearancePearl was a beautiful and pure girl. The angelic beauty can be shown in the following points. The first is its beautiful features. “Its perfect shape, its vigor”(Hawthorne 2004:39) “Pearls rich and luxuriant beauty, a beauty that shone with deep and vivid tints a bright complexion, eyes expressing intensity both of depth and glow.” (Hawthorne 2004:87) The second is its gorgeous clothing Her mother, in contriving the childs garb, had allowed the gorgeous tendencies of her imagination in their full plays, arraying her in a crimson velvet tunic, of a peculiar cut, abundantly embroidered with fantasies and flourishes of gold thread. So much strength of coloring, which must have given a wan and pallid aspect to checks of a fainter bloom, was admirably adapted to Pearls beauty, and made her the very brightest little jet of flame dancing upon the earth. The third is its natural demon. “The child had a nature grace.” “There was an absolute circle of radiance around her, on the darksome cottage flair.” (Hawthorne 2004:69) All in all, Pearls beauty originated from her inheritance, inherent nature and dress.2.2. Her willful, impish personality“Pearl was Hester and Dimmesdales love-token, natural result of love, the representative of nature.”(Jiang Li-ping2001:63) The little creature, by the inscrutable decree of Providence, was a lovely and immortal flower, art of the rank luxuriance of a passion. Pearl was on birth to be refused by the society and suffered the abandonment of the puritan. She didnt pass through any restraint from Puritan, so she can naturally develop and grow up, wear colorful clothing, let her wild, desperate, defiant mood take their own course. Just as Chillingworth said that the child lacked a reverence for “human ordinances or opinions, right or wrong.” (Jia Rui-chong 2003:94) Pearl lived a free, natural life. All of her behavior stemmed from nature instead of any regulation. In the period when Puritanism is dominated the society, we can say she is a free soul in such rational, cold and false society.2.3. Her moody, mischievous spiritPearl was a wild, willing, stubborn girl. She didnt suffer any restraint and obey any regulation or rule. No matter what situation, she always showed her feeling and expressed her response without disguise. “If the children gathered about her, as they sometimes did, Pearl would grow positively terrible in her puny wrath, snatching up stones to fling at them, with shrill, incoherent exclamations, that made her mother tremble, because they had so much the sound of a witchs anathemas in some unknown tongue.” (Hawthorne 2004:75-76) “Even when her mother cried out with an agony, Pearl would turn her vivid and beautiful little face upon her mother, smile with sprite-like intelligence, and resume her play.”(Hawthorne 2004:79) At the brook-side, Pearl was angry because her mother didnt wear The Scarlet Letter, without paying attention to her mothers requirement, threat, suddenly bursting into a fit of passion, gesticulating violently, and throwing her small figure into the most extravagant contortion. This was because Pearl was born to be the token of sin and shame, with no right to gain baptism and decent religious education. This just established her nature and special position different from other children. This also lets her have the courage to face the society.Pearls identity and status contributed to serving a foil to other main protagonists to some extreme.3. The live scarlet letterThe Scarlet Letter apparently meant adultery, which was a kind of puritan punishment. As the title of the novel, it comprised profound symbolic meaning and tactfully displayed the theme of the novel, Pearl, Hester and Dimmesdales illegal daughter, functioned as their love-token, when the townspeople saw The Scarlet Letter on Hesters breast, they also saw Pearl always staying with her mother. Meanwhile, when Pearl was born, her first glance of the world was The Scarlet Letter, she saw the “A” as a part of her mother. When her mother didnt wear “A”, she didnt recognize her mother. Hester was doomed to wear “A”. At the same time, Pearl had become the scarlet letter in another form, the scarlet letter endowed with life! It only after Dimmesdale was acknowledged to be Pearls father that Hester had her own identity. Until then she functioned in a symbolic capacity as the reminder of an unsolved mystery. 4. Pearls function in the novel4.1. Pearls relationship with HesterHester is a beautiful, exalted, graceful lady who has a face which, besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion, had the impressiveness belonging to a marked of the feminine gentility of those days. But after Hester, wore The Scarlet Letter, It had the effect of a spell, enclosing her in sphere by herself(Hawthorne 2004:11). Her own dress was of the coarsest materials and the most somber hue, with only that one ornament-the scarlet letter, which it was her doom to wear. Pearl is birth to a pretty girl. Besides, the childs attire, on the other hand, was distinguished by a fanciful, or, we might rather say, a fantastic ingenuity, which served, indeed, to emphasized the airy charm that early began to develop itself in the little girl. “In this one child there were many children, comprehending the full scope between the wild flower prettiness of a peasant-baby, and the pomp, in little, of an infant princess.”(Hawthorne 2003:69) Hester was a strong-willed and impetuous young woman with an impulsive and passionate nature. Although her scandal was exposed, she firmly faced the cruel punishment and hardship of life. The contempt of all the mankind was summoned to point its finger. Furthermore, being shamed of getting along with the rest of the community, Hester became more and more firm and brave.Pearl seemed to be inherently at odds with the strict rules of puritan society. She had inherited all of Hesters moodiness, passion and defiance, but she constantly made mischief on her mother. Take the afternoon of a certain summers day for example, Pearl gathered handfuls of will-flower, one by one, hit at her mothers bosom. Pearl also said “Mother, the sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom. It will not flee from me, for I wear nothing on my bosom yet!” (Hawthorne 2004:222) Pearl was rebellious girl. When Reverend Wilson wanted to test the three-year-old childs knowledge of religious subjects, Pearl refused to answer even the simplest questions.The name “Pearl” evoked a biblical allegorical device-the “pearl of great price” Hester named the infant “Pearl” as being of great price-purchased with all her had-her only treasure! (Hawthorne 2004:67) Hester had bought Pearl so dear that she was all her world (Hawthorne 2004:73). Pearl had given a thread of hope to Hester in the puritan inhabitation. On whatever occasion, when Hester was insulted, Pearl was always together with her. For example, at the prelude of the novel, when Hester should stand a certain time upon the scaffold and suffered the townsfathers severe torture, Pear, an infant was hold in her mothers arm.4.2. Pearls relationship with ChillingworthPearl, just as her name, was of no physical defect with perfect shape, beautiful face. In addition, her mother had bought the richest clothes to dress up Pearl and made good use of her imaginative faculty in the arrangement and decoration of Pearls dress. In this one child there many children comprehending the full scope between the wild-flower prettiness of a peasant-baby, and the pomp, in little, of an infant princess. (Hawthorne 2004:69) Compared with Pearl, Chillingworth was an ugly old man. He was small with a furrowed visage and slight deformity of the figure. His shoulders rose higher than the other. Meanwhile, his arrangement was seemingly careless.Pearl was a naive girl, and she observed the world with her innocent heart. On the other hand, Chillingworth, just as his name, was cold and inhuman and this brought a “chill” to Hester and Dimmesdales lives. In Pearls eyes, Chillingworth was just the right Blackman. Chillingworth was interested in revenge instead of justice, and he sought the deliberate destruction of others rather than cured them. When he was treating the minister, he wanted to use his scientific knowledge to dig into the poor priests heart, like a miner searching for gold, or, rather, like a sexton delving into a grave, possibly in quest of a jewel that had been buried on the dead mans bosom. As for Hester, He ignored his wife for much of the time, yet expected her to nourish his soul with affection. After Dimmesdale dying, Chillingworth no longer had a victim.4.3. Pearls relationship with DimmesdalePearl was Hester and Dimmesdales illegal daughter. As the saying goes, “Like father, like son.” In common peoples eyes, there must be some similarity between Pearl and Dimmesdale, including appearance, personality and so on. In fact, although they were both pretty in appearance, they were completely different in nature. Pearl was a brave girl. She had the courage to speak out her true feeling But Dimmesdale was timid and cowardly. This comparison was reflected through the whole story. For example, in Chapter 12, when Dimmesdale was mounting the scaffold, he invited Hester and Pearl to join him. Pearl innocently asked” Wilt thou stand her with Mother and me, tomorrow noontide?” (Hawthorne 2004:173) But he refused her requirement, she asked him to name that time