A corpus—based study of scarlet in Pearl in The Scarlet Letter

Abstract

THE SCARLET LETTER is one of American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne’s masterpieces which gave him a good reputation. Since its Republication in 1850s， it has drawn much attention. While reading the novel， the author noticed that several color terms are frequently used， especially the eye-catching color scarlet， it has been attached many kinds symbolic meanings which reveals different aspects of different characters and plays a key role in the tragedy atmosphere of the whole novel. In the paper， a DIY corpus is made on the basis of the novel.

Key words： The Scarlet Letter; corpus; symbolism

Introduction

Corpus made its first appear in 1940s but it is in 1980s that modern corpus linguistics came into being with the development of computer technology. Nevertheless，for some researchers， corpus linguistics is a research method rather than a branch of linguistics. This research method， based on a lot of actual words and sentences， can be used to answer many questions that are difficult to be answered in other ways. Corpus has already applied to the field of literature extensively. With the development of empirical studies based on corpus， this kind of methodology has become a new trend and an important tool for literature studies. A few changes has been brought to literature study by corpus， an important one is studies can be based on language facts not just on human intuitive， thus qualitative analysis and quantitative analysis can be combined together to discover more hidden meanings of literature works. So that literature study can be more objective and scientific.

The novel The Scarlet Letter is based on a theme that appears in Endicott and the Red Gross. This somber romance of conscience and consequences of concealed guilt is set in puritan Boston in the mid- 17th century. The story is simple but very moving. An aged English scholar sent his young wife Hester Prynne to establish their home in Boston. When he came over two years later， he found Hester in the pillory with her illegitimate child in her arms. She refused to name her lover and was sentenced to wear a scarlet letter“A”as a token of her sin throughout her lifetime. Minister Dimmesdale， the adulterer dare not admit openly the sin he committed but was constantly tortured by a sense of guilt. Doctor Chillingworth， Hester’s Husband， discovered who was the adulterer and made up a cruel plan of revenge---to torture the Minister mentally till his death. Nathaniel Hawthorne prefer to use the technique of symbol in his writings for the reason that he holds the opinion that the objective material world is just a 1 appearance， it’s the inner spirit that matters. So there are always some hidden meanings in the description in his works. Figures、movements and scenes in Scarlet Letter are always attached with symbolism， burdock、thistles and poisonous weed represent sins in the society， scaffold is the symbol of harsh religious taboo and confess of sins. However， what the paper focus on is the term scarlet， it penetrates in the whole novel and it’s symbolic meaning changes with the development of the story.

From the website http：//www.hjenglish.com， electronic documents of The Scarlet Letter was download and with the help of antconc3.2.0w， a DIY corpus was built which contains 69221words.

According to word list of antconc3.3.0w， the word scarlet is being frequently used among content words. Among all the content words， its frequency ranks the 9th， so the study of its symbolic meanings is meaningful and the corpus is representative.

Rank Freq words

1 378 Hester

2 236 Pearl

3 215 child

4 187 man

5 174 mother

6 173 minister

7 147 life

8 119 letter

9 99 scarlet

（frequency of scarlet in content words）

scarlet in Pearl

Scarlet is the main color of Pearl， when Hester was pregnant， Pearl is the symbol of her sin. When Hester fought for her daughter’s custody， she said Pearl is a scarlet letter， Nathaniel Hawthorne also compared Pearl to a scarlet letter in its nature meaning. What’s more， Hester always dressed Pearl in scarlet or some similar other colors like ruby、coral or the color of red rose. However， the eye-catching color of the little girl’s dress is not appropriate in the dark and gloomy new England. Why Hester was so in favor of scarlet though it is the color that brought her numerous tortures and shames？ Is it more reasonable if she dressed Pearl dark and gray so that they can live a quiet life？ One explanation is that this is her rebellion to the musty ideas and severe puritan dogma. As a young and beautiful woman， why should Hester married to an old and ugly man？ And why she had no rights to pursue her own happiness？ So scarlet in Pearl is a symbol of energy and hope， she is so pure and innocent as an angel， but she is not accepted by that gloomy world at first. The bright color in Pearl represents a bright future of the new world， just like her ending in the novel.

“Behold，verily，there is the woman of the scarlet letter;and，of a truth，moreover，there is the likeness of the scarlet letter running along by her side！Come，therefore，and let us fling mud at them！”（chapte8）

“What have we here？” said Governor Bellingham，looking with surprise at the scarlet little figure him.” I profess，I have never seen the like， since my days of vanity，in old King James’ time，when I was.....（chapter8）

.....through the chamber which these spectral thoughts had made so ghastly，glided Hester Prynne，leading along little Pearl，in her scarlet garb，and pointing her forefinger，first at the scarlet letter on her bosom，and then at the clergyman’s own breast.（chapter8）