Nathaniel Hawthorne
and The Scarlet Letter
Teaching Objectives
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Understand Hawthorne’s Creation
Study the main characters and theme in the
novel;
Study the main writing techniques in The
Scarlet Letter, esp. symbolism;
Understand the tradition of American
Literature influenced by Puritanism;
Teaching Procedure
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Brief Introduction to Nathaniel Hawthorne and
his Major Works
A General Introduction to The Scarlet Letter
Analysis of the main characters, symbols and
theme
Interprete Chapter V
Appreciate the film
Nathaniel Hawthorne(1804-1864)
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Romantic novelist,
short-story writer
First great American
writer of fiction to
work in the moralistic
tradition. Combined the
American romanticism
with puritan moralism
Life Introduction
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Hawthorne was born on the fourth of July, 1804 in
Salem, Massachusetts, into a prominent Puritan
family and a declined aristocratic family as well.
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His father, a sea captain, died of yellow fever in
1808, leaving at Salem a widow and three children
in poverty. With the financial support from his more
prosperous maternal relationships, Hawthorne
was able to read some books of those literary
master minds, such as Shakespeare, Spenser,
which were essential for his formation as a writer.
Major Works
The House of Seven Gables
《有七个尖角阁的房子》
 Young Goodman Brown
《好小伙子布郎》
 Mosses from an Old Manse
《古屋青苔》
 The Scarlet Letter
《红字》
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Hawthorne’s Sayings
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There is evil in every human heart, which may remain
latent, through the whole life; but circumstances
may rouse it to activity.
The wrong doing of one generation lives into the
successive ones.（因果报应）
A piece of literary work should show how we are
wronged and wrongers, and avenge one another.
Artistic Features
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the structures and the form of his writing are
always carefully worked out.
his novel is thoughtful, full of mental activities.
with his special interest in the psychological
aspect of human beings, there isn’t much action
while he is good at exploring the complexity of
human psychology.
Hawthorne is a master of symbolism. The symbol
can be found everywhere in his writing. .
Thematic Concerns
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evil, guilt, sin
Most of his works discuss the important issues that
concern the moral life of man and human history.
Hawthorne’s view of man and human history
originates, to a great extent, in Puritanism. He was
not a Puritan himself, but he had Puritan ancestors
who played an important role in his life and works.
He often wondered if he might have inherited
some of their guilt. This sensibility led to his
understanding of evil being at the very core of
human life.
Characters Introduction
The Connotation of the Name
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Hester Prynne: First, Hester reminds the reader
Hestier ---the Goddess of Beauty in Greek fairy,
showing the author’s praise to Hester’s beauty
and saint, Goddess-like beauty. Second, the
pronunciation of Hester is very close to hastier
(the comparative degree form of hasty), here the
author implies that her marriage is haste, her
love with Dimmesdale is haste, and to the
extreme, her joy with the priest is haste.
Arthur Dimmesdale
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First, Arthur reminds the reader of Adam, human
beings ancestor who committed the Original Sin with
Eve in the Garden of Eden, Arthur Dimmesdale, the
initials AD are the beginning of “Adultery”;
Secondly, “Dim” means lack of light,” dale” Means
valley, which symbolizes the minister’s dim-interior
world of his love and the shadow of sin and guilty of
his mind. Arthur Dimmesdale means someone who
committed adultery but dares cowardly to confess
his sin or crime, and has to conceal it in the shadow
and suffer it interiorly.
Roger Chillingworth
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Roger Chillingworth has two aspects. “Roger”
is the homonymic of Rogue (hoodlum,
scoundrel, bully), which expresses his act to
his wife; “Chilling” means chilly. “Worth” tells
us Roger’s act is, to some extend,
worth/valuable----the author’s contradictory
psychology to Puritanism.
Pearl
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“Pearl” has many symbolic meaning. First, it
means treasure--- the treasure to her mother.
Second, pearl is the homonymic of purl (stream),
Pearl’s fate and life is like the purl in the forest,
mysterious, can only flow in the forest, seldom
bathe the sunshine.
Characterization
Hester Prynne:
strong-willed, contemplative;independent;
maternal; intelligent
Arthur Dimmesdale
loving, conscientious, reluctant to repent,
Emotional and eloquent in preaching
Roger Chillingworth
cold; indifferent; revenged; evil; malevolent
Pearl
innocent, perceptive, insightful
Symbolism
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What are the symbolic meanings of the letter “A”?
Forest
Prison/ scaffold
Nights
Sun
Symbolic Meanings in The Scarlet Letter
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The novel started with the embroidery letter A Hester
wore and ended with the scarlet letter A engraved in the
tombstone. Thus, the letter A is penetrated through the
novel. The symbolic A is ambiguous. A critic analyzes its
meanings from the following five aspects:
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A1 = Adultery（通奸）→Apple(苹果) （文本意义）
A2= Arthur (情人亚瑟) →Adam(亚当) （情感意义）
A3= Angel (天使) → Able(能干) （审美意义）
A4 =Amicable (和睦友好的女人) →Admirable(可尊敬的
女人) 群体层意义
A5= America (政教合一时代的美国) →Authority (上帝的
群为) 政体层意义
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The scarlet letter is meant to be a symbol of shame,
but instead it becomes a powerful symbol of identity to
Hester. The letter’s meaning shifts as time passes.
Originally intended to mark Hester as an adulteress,
the “A” eventually comes to stand for “Able” or “Angel”.
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Besides Hester, Dimmesdale also ironed the letter A
on his body, which provoked his self-consciousness
and showed his repent for what he did.
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Pearl, their baby, wore a green letter A in a piece of
seaweed while playing on the beach. This green letter
A symbolizes vitality or new life, and also suggests her
inheritance from her mother.
The Symbolic Meaning of Pearl
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(vital spirit and passion that engendered from sin)
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Although Pearl is a complex character, her primary function
within the novel is as a symbol. Yet, even as a reminder of
Hester’s “sin,” Pearl is more than a mere punishment to her
mother: she is also a blessing. She represents not only “sin”
but also the vital spirit and passion that engendered that sin.
Thus, Pearl’s existence gives her mother reason to live,
bolstering her spirits when she is tempted to give up. It is
only after Dimmesdale is revealed to be Pearl’s father that
Pearl can become fully “human.”
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Other scenes with symbolic meanings
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Prison -- the black flower of civilized society (crime and
punishment of civilized society)
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Scaffold-- is not only a symbol of the stern Puritan
code for Hester accepted the punishment, but also
becomes a symbol for the open acknowledgment of
personal sin. It is the place to which Dimmesdale
knows he must go for atonement, the only place
where he can escape the grasp of Chillingworth or
of the devil.
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Nights--is used as a symbol for concealment, and
the day for exposure; Dimmesdale mounts the
scaffold to give out his pain at nights; and in the end
confesses his guilt and sin in the day.
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Forests--is a symbol of darkness and devil. It is a
place where witches gather, where souls are signed
away to the devil, and where Dimmesdale can “yield
himself with deliberate voice”.
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Sun-- is used as of untroubled, guiltless happiness,
or the approval of God and Nature. It shines on
Pearl, but flees away from Hester and from
Dimmesdale, even in the forest.
Analysis of the Themes
Sin
Hester Prynne
Pearl
Dimmesdale
Chillingworth
Puritanism (another theme)
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American Puritanism is a branch of the
Protestantism, and its teachings and principles
are based on Calvinism. Puritanism stressed
predestination, original sin, total depravity and
limited atonement from God’s grace. With such
doctrines in their mind, Puritans left Europe for
America in order to prove that they were God’s
people, who would enjoy God’s blessing on
earth and in Heaven; they felt that they were
exiles under the special grace of God to
establish a theocracy in the New World. Over
the years in the new homeland, they built a way
of life that stressed hard work, thrift, piety and
sobriety.
Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter
(Hatred and Respect)
Through challenging Puritanism, Hawthorne establishes
his own “Puritanism”:
1. Their religious doctrines VS he believes in men’s ability
to redeem themselves or advocates individuality.
2. Their rigid, inhuman attitude toward life and enjoyment:
suppress men’s all desires, live a hard, disciplined and
ascetic life, discriminate men’s rights for happiness. VS
stress men’s rights and desires for pleasure.
3. Their hypocrisy VS clergymen commiting crimes against
their preaching and beliefs.
Hester at her Needle (main plot)
Her term of imprisonment was over, Hester is now free
to go anywhere in the world, yet she does not leave
Boston; instead, she chooses to move into a small,
seaside cottage on the outskirts of town. She supports
herself and Pearl through her skill as a seamstress. Her
work is in great demand for clothing worn at official
ceremonies and among the fashionable women of the
town — for every occasion except a wedding.
Despite the popularity of her sewing, however, Hester
is a social outcast. The target of vicious abuse by the
community, she endures the abuse patiently. Ironically,
she begins to believe that the scarlet A allows her to
sense sinful and immoral feelings in other people.
Para 1
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To her sick and morbid heart, how did she look at the
sunshine when she went out of the prison-door?
The sun seems to her as though it has no other purpose
than to expose the letter A on her chest.
What are her complicated feelings toward the law?
To destroy her and encourage her as well.
Notice Hester’s worrying about her futute fate
She thinks about the future spread out before of her,
knowing she will become a symbol of female passion
and frailty for the entire town.
Para 2
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Did the condemnation( 判决词）force Hester not
to flee to other places after her term of
confinement was over?
Why is the narrator marvellous at Hester
Prynee’s decision? And how he convinces
himself?
The narrator gets a bit long-winded as he wonders why a
woman would remain at the scene of her public
humiliation. He philosophizes that humans are drawn to
the places where "some great and marked event has
given the color to their lifetime," and dark events are
even more "irresistible"
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这事说来令人不可思议：既然她的判决词中没有
限制她不得超越清教徒居民区的条款，那么在这
片边远偏僻的土地之外，她面对着整个世界，原
可以自由地回到她的出生地或任何其它欧洲国家，
改头换面，隐姓埋名，一切从新开始；她还面对
着通向阴森莫测的莽林的道路，也可以在那里逃
脱制裁她的法律，使自己不驯顺的本性在生活习
俗完全两样的民族中相得益彰。看来实在不可思
议的是，她竟然仍把这地方视作自己的家园；而
恰恰在这里，况且也只有在这里，她才会成为耻
辱的典型。
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但确实有一种天数，一种具有冥冥之力的如此不可抗拒和
难以避免的感情，迫使人们象幽灵般出汲并滞留在发生过
为他终生增色添辉、引人瞩目的重大事件的地方，而且那
事件的悲伤色调愈浓，人们也就愈难以背离那块地方。她
的罪孽，她的耻辱，便是她深扎于此地的根。她在这块土
地上好象获得了比她降生人世更具融熔力量的新生，海丝
特·白兰的这一新生把所有其他移民和飘泊者仍感到格格
不入的森林地带，变成了她自己荒凉阴郁但却是终生安身
立命之家。世界上别的景色，甚至包括她度过幸福的童年
和无暇的少女时期的英格兰乡村——象是早巳换下的衣服，
交给她母亲去保管了——，相比之下，那些地方在她眼里
那是它乡异地了。将她束缚在这里的，是源源傲进她心灵
深处的铁打的锁链，永远不可能断裂了。
Para 3
more descriptions of her inner heart
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Her affection for Dimmesdale makes her stay
here with no hesitation.
Here had been the scene of her guilt, and
here should be the scene of her earthly
punishment
The torture of her daily shame would at
length purge her soul, and…
Main idea of the following
paragraphs
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Hester, meanwhile, makes a home in a small cottage on
the outskirts of town.
She frightens children, because she is alone, shunned,
and wears this strange scarlet symbol on her breast.
She makes a living by needlework.
She is such a good seamstress that her work becomes
fashionable; her sinning hands embroider the details of
clothes worn by the Massachusetts Bay governor,
military men, ministers, and so on. Yet, she is never
called to make or to embroider a single wedding gown
for fear of symbolically staining the bride’s purity.
Perhaps as penance, Hester makes a lot of clothing for
the poor. But even the poor (like the rich) think that she
is beneath them because of her past.
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Everywhere Hester goes, she is met with reminders
of her adultery. If she enters a church, she may be
the subject of the sermon.
As she goes about town, children mock her. Young
women glance at the scarlet letter and then
haughtily glance away. This is all not so much fun.
Hester feels really sad and disheartened. But
sometimes, she wonders whether many more
people shouldn’t have scarlet letters attached to
their clothes.
Perhaps those who are the most judgmental should
suffer the same punishment she suffers.
However, at the same time, a part of her believes
that there is no greater sinner than herself.
Suggested Topics for Further
Research
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Characterization Analysis (Hester Prynne,
Dimmesdale)
Theme Study (Puritanism, Original Sin,
Archetypal Study)
Symbolism in The Scarlet Letter
Feminism in The Scarlet Letter
Group Discussion
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Who should be responsible for the adultery?
Hester Prynne, Dimmesdale or Chillingworth?
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Adultery, is elegantly called “extra-marital
love” nowadays. Should all the “extra-marital
love” be condemned? If you are involved in
the “extra-marital love”, what will you do?