Hester Prynne

HU Beibei

【Abstract】Nathaniel Hawthorne， an outstanding novelist in the 19th century， is deeply influenced by Puritanism. His works are often touched with complex and deep Puritan color. By The Scarlet Letter，Hawthorne wants to evoke peoples recognition to sin and punishment. Hester Prynne， the heroine who values private self， purses personal freedom and so on， the paper tries to analyze the authors contradictory view towards Puritanism.

【Key words】Hawthorne; Puritanism; Hester Prynne; The Scarlet Letter

【作者簡介】HU Beibei， Department of Foreign Languages， Nanjing Normal University Zhongbei College， Nanjing， Jiangsu， PRC.

“My name is Pearl， this is the story of my mother， Hester Prynne.”（Roland Joffé 1995） The above off-screen voice came from the film， The Scarlet Letter. With the publication of The Scarlet Letter in 1850， Nathaniel Hawthorne becomes famous as the greatest writer living then and his reputation as a major American author has been on the increase ever since. In the novel， Hawthorne remarkably handles the Puritan background， and carefully unfolds the deep shadows from which the grim tragedy naturally proceeds.

1. Contradictory to Tradition—Image of a New Rebellious Woman

Hesters first appearance is a striking contrast to the old and unbearable society. The Puritan society supports the monotonous and dull color， including gray， thrifty and asceticism， while Hesters fine and colorful image goes against the Puritans expectation. Hester takes “the first step toward a sort of Emersonian self-reliance， the kind of self-reliance that would come to replace Puritan ideology as the American ideal. She need to embrace her current situation implies a profound separation from the ideals of that ideological system.”（Martin et al 2003： 57）

In the eye of Puritans， the scarlet letter is a token of undisguised shame， but Hester uses it as a reminder of everyones original sin. Hester shows her personal charm and human dignity in front of the old stubborn power， which is a full expression of mans natural desire after struggling out of the moral fetters. Here， the literary typicality of a woman of Hester first appears before the readers in Boston， that is beautiful， noble， rebel， passionate and seemly holy and pure but full of illusion for her destiny.

2. Self-discipline—The Contradictory Psychologies of a Two-face Woman

From chapter 15， Hester changes gradually. “She could no longer borrow from the future to help her through the present grief.”（Hawthorne 2001： 25） She becomes a combination of a rebel and submissive follower. She does not change her original intention， the pursuit of true love and still resists the Puritan society but she begins to violate her innate character and presents some Puritan characteristics， which shows Hesters obedience and concession to the predominate power.

Accompanied with the change of Hesters appearance， theres also a transformation of her thoughts. She finds out that everyone has sin in his heart， which is an elevation of her consciousness. She revalues the relationship among people and mens merits and achievements in the old society. Hesters change is the result of social pressure. Her behaviour and manner is assimilated into the stubborn and grim society step by step. Contrast to her first appearance in Boston， Hester has changed toward a woman supported and advocated by Puritans.

3. Stage of Consonance—Probably an Advocator of Tradition

Hester comes back alone after many years and wears the letter “A” till the time of her death. Hesters final change to a traditional woman and her terminal submission to the Puritan society has a close relation to Hawthornes writing era， social and historical background， bourgeois revolution， feminist movement. He experiences the darkness of the Puritan society and witnesses mans greedy desire without self-discipline， morals， and ideal. On the problem of women， Hawthorne shows sympathy on female for social statute， family role and living environment. When Hawthorne writes this novel， he has revolutionary consciousness in mind， but himself is contradictory. His conservative traditional mind makes him distrust in womens self-revolution and disapproval of the change of womens family role.

The contradiction in The Scarlet Letter is that， on one hand Hawthorne criticizes the cold heartless of Puritanism， on the other hand he naturally uses the puritan view to deal with personal life. The Scarlet Letter is not merely a Puritan story. A spirit large than Puritanism， as large as the worlds experience， informs and ripens the book.

References

[1]The Scarlet Letter. Roland Joffé[J].1995.

[2]Hawthorne， Nathaniel. The Scarlet Letter[M].上海：上海外語教育社，2001.