the christian influence on the creation of the scarlet letter【畢業(yè)論文】

1、<p>　　本科畢業(yè)論文(設(shè)計(jì))</p><p>　題 目：The Christian Influence on the Creation of The Scarlet Letter</p><p>　學(xué) 院：</p><p>　學(xué)生姓名：</p><p>　專 業(yè)：英語(yǔ)</p><p>　

2、班 級(jí)：</p><p>　指導(dǎo)教師：</p><p>　起止日期：</p><p><b>　　Contents </b></p><p>　　Abstract …………………………………………………………………………………………1</p><p>　　Introduction ……………

3、………………………………………………………………………3</p><p>　　1. Puritan and Christianity ………………………………………………………………4</p><p>　　1.1 Basic Doctrine of Christianity ………………………………………………………4</p><p>　　1.2 Main Fact

4、ions of Christianity—Puritan ……………………………………………4</p><p>　　1.3 Theory System of Puritan ……………………………………………………………5</p><p>　　2. Puritan Influence on 19th Century’s American Literature ………………………6</

5、p><p>　　2.1 Influence on the Formation of Americanism ……………………………………6</p><p>　　2.2 “New Adam” in American Literature ……………………………………………6</p><p>　　3. Reflection and Criticism on Purita

6、n in The Scarlet Letter…………………………7</p><p>　　3.1 Hawthorne and Puritanism……………………………………………………………7</p><p>　　3.1.1 Relationship Between Hawthorne and Puritan …………………………………8</p><p>　　3.

7、1.2 Hawthorne’s Inheritance and Inflection of Puritanism…………………………8</p><p>　　3.2 Influence of Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter from Characterization…………9</p><p>　　3.2.1 Characterization of Major

8、 Characters……………………………………………9</p><p>　　3.2.1.1 A Suffering Woman—Hester Prynne……………………………………………9</p><p>　　3.2.1.2 A Typical Puritan—Arthur Dimmesdale………………………………………10</p><p>　　3.2.1

9、.3 Rogge Chillingworth……………………………………………………………11</p><p>　　3.2.1.4 Little Pearl…………………………………………………………………………12</p><p>　　3.2.2 Characterization of Supporting Characters ……………………………………13</p>&

10、lt;p>　　Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………………14</p><p>　　Reference ………………………………………………………………………………………15</p><p><b>　　摘要</b></p><p>　　《紅字》是19世紀(jì)美國(guó)文學(xué)的代表作家納撒尼爾·霍桑

11、的代表作之一。它以17世紀(jì)北美殖民地新英格蘭為背景講述了清教對(duì)海斯特·白蘭等人的情感，生活和人性的壓迫。整個(gè)故事以海斯特與牧師丁梅斯代爾的通奸為導(dǎo)火線，講述了事發(fā)之后，新英格蘭殖民地清教徒對(duì)其行為的道德譴責(zé)和精神壓迫。</p><p>　　在19世紀(jì)的美國(guó)，清教對(duì)社會(huì)的影響雖然已經(jīng)非常薄弱，但是美國(guó)作為一個(gè)由宗教而建立的國(guó)家，清教的道德倫理和傳統(tǒng)觀念依然深入人心。它在推動(dòng)美國(guó)社會(huì)、文化和文學(xué)的發(fā)展的同時(shí)

12、，與資本主義經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展之間的矛盾也越來(lái)越明顯?；羯Ｗ鳛?9世紀(jì)文壇的代表人物，他的作品深刻地反應(yīng)了當(dāng)時(shí)文學(xué)家們對(duì)清教的批判和反思。</p><p>　　本文著力于通過(guò)分析霍桑對(duì)《紅字》中人物的性格、行為表現(xiàn)及其命運(yùn)方面的刻畫(huà)來(lái)探討研究清教對(duì)霍桑的文學(xué)創(chuàng)作和對(duì)19世紀(jì)美國(guó)文學(xué)的影響。通過(guò)對(duì)霍桑的清教觀的分析，我們可以發(fā)現(xiàn)霍桑本人非常認(rèn)同清教本身的一些基本真理。但同時(shí)，由于受到19世紀(jì)不斷萌生的新思想的影響，他認(rèn)為清教

13、的傳統(tǒng)統(tǒng)治亟待改革。清教的政治統(tǒng)治對(duì)人性的壓迫和思想的束縛不利于民主的發(fā)展和文化的創(chuàng)新，阻礙了社會(huì)的轉(zhuǎn)型。美國(guó)文學(xué)和美國(guó)社會(huì)在往后的發(fā)展中應(yīng)當(dāng)對(duì)清教批判性的繼承。</p><p>　　[關(guān)鍵詞] 清教；基督教；美國(guó)文學(xué)；新亞當(dāng)；紅字</p><p><b>　　Abstract</b></p><p>　　The Scarlet Letter

14、is a masterpiece of 19th century’s American writer Nathanael Hawthorne. It described a story happening in the colonial period in New England. Based on such a background, Hawthorne took Hester’s adultery as a major cause

15、for criticizing the puritan’s persecution towards humanity and people’s thoughts.</p><p>　　This paper starts with the introduction of Puritanism, its history, development and the influence on 19th century’s

16、American literature. The Scarlet Letter was based on the puritan background in 17th century. The story happened in New England, which was one of the biggest colonies that time in America. The puritan environment pushed H

17、ester and pastor Dimmesdale to accept the punishment of puritan government, both on morality and politics. Hester’s husband Chillingworth tried his best to take rev</p><p>　　In 19th century, the puritan impa

18、ct on American society was quite weak. But as a puritan country, the morality and traditional principles of value had been deeply rooted in people’s mind. Though Puritanism had once helped the development of the society,

19、 its conflict with capitalism became more and more obvious. As the representative figure of 19th century’s American literature, Hawthorne’s works reflected the critique and profound consideration to Puritanism. Based on

20、those, this paper mainly fo</p><p>　　[Key words] Puritanism; Christianity; American literature; New Adam; The Scarlet Letter;</p><p>　　The Christian Influence on the Creation of The Scarlet Lett

21、er</p><p>　　Introduction</p><p>　　In recent years, more and more people began to pay attention to the literature value of The Scarlet Letter, which was written by 19th century’s American writer

22、Nathanael Hawthorne. Many people viewed The Scarlet Letter from the symbolic meaning of characters and things in the story; others may focus on the critique of Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter. However, few investigation

23、 are convincing about both the side of Hawthorne’s inheritance and critique of Puritanism. In my perspective, Hawthorne </p><p>　　The purpose of this paper is to discuss both Hawthorne’s inheritance and crit

24、ique of Puritanism in The Scarlet Letter. The paper consists of three parts. The first chapter is the introduction and understanding of the Christianity and the theoretical system and development of the Puritanism from C

25、hristianity. The second chapter deals with the religion influence to the 19th century’s American literature. The third chapter focuses on the puritan influence on Hawthorne himself and his masterpiece, T</p><p

26、>　　1. Puritan and Christianity </p><p>　　Christianity is one of the most famous religions all over the world. It was founded two thousand years ago in Palestine. During these two thousand years, it now h

27、as turned out to be the most popular, the most important religion all over the world. The influence of Christianity in western countries is nonnegligible. Christianity today has played an important role in western cultur

28、e. We can easily know about this as we found The Bible to be the most popular book in western countries. </p><p>　　This part of the thesis will give some introduction of the Christian history and give a deta

29、iled view on one of its important factions—Puritanism. </p><p>　　1.1 Basic Doctrines of Christianity</p><p>　　During several thousand years of development, Christianism has built a complex and c

30、omplete system of religious doctrines. The basic ones mainly contain “the doctrine of God”, “Trinitarianism”, and “the doctrine of Christ”.</p><p>　　The Doctrine of God: The Apostles’ Creed says: “I believe

31、in God, Father Almighty, Creator of heavens and the earth.” This declares that Christians believe in a personal God. When describing God, The Bible uses words like “faithful”, “l(fā)oving”. This implies that we all come from

32、 God. God blesses us as father does his child. God creates us just as our fathers give birth to our bodies. In Christian doctrines “God creates the world” is an important part of the doctrine of God. Christians believe t

33、ha</p><p>　　Trinitarianism: It is one of the distinctive doctrines of Christianity. Christianism believes that God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost are an organic whole, thus the Father, the son of God, the Holy Gh

34、ost rolled into one. The Father is the only origin of God’s divinity. Jesus and the Holy Ghost are from the Father: Jesus begotten from the Father, the Holy Ghost proceeded by the Father. </p><p>　　The Doctr

35、ine of Christ: Jesus Christ who is the son of the Father is the founder of Christianity. He is the one to save the world and human beings. God makes himself truly appear through the Jesus and let Jesus exert His right an

36、d duty. </p><p>　　1.2 Main Factions of Christianity—Puritan</p><p>　　There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes. In the river of the history, Christianity and its doctrines have be

37、en explained by a great number of people and each had his own understanding. Viewing from the history of Christianity, we went through from the very beginning of Judaism to the modern Christianity. We once have the Roman

38、 Catholicism, the Orthodox Church, Protestant and so on. </p><p>　　As an English major, and a girl who has great interest in western religion, 16th century is a period that can never be ignored. Talking abou

39、t 16th century and religion, undoubtedly, what impressed us most is The Reformation. The 16th century’s Religion Reformation impacted most European countries, whatever society, culture, economy or anything else. The Engl

40、ish reformation is a typical one. </p><p>　　In that reformation, the Puritanism came to our eyes. In 16th century England has come to the era of the first industrial revolution. The bourgeoisie finally came

41、to the stage of the history. </p><p>　　With the development of capitalism, the unprecedented strong national consciousness and the necessity of the development of the economy, the British urge to have a free

42、 and democratic atmosphere. The society needed to get rid of the religion control of Roman Catholicism, and the King wanted to recapture the power and put the church under his control. Finally in 1534, Henry VIII announc

43、ed the Anglicanism to be the Church of England and he himself would be the highest chief of the Church. England </p><p>　　Puritanism was initiated by Oxford and Cambridge University. At the beginning, they l

44、ashed out at the hierarchy and Holy Communion in Anglicanism but were turned down by Queen Elizabeth I. What is more, all the puritans who refused to wear the required clothes were all dismissed from their posts. </p&

45、gt;<p>　　Under Queen Elizabeth’s fierce repression and persecution, most puritans had to flee to other countries. Among them, the famous ship Mayflower brought part of the puritans and their religion to the New La

46、nd—America. Since then, Puritanism started to create its new history on this free land. </p><p>　　1.3 Theological Ideology of Puritan</p><p>　　During the religion reformation in Europe, there fo

47、rmed a number of puritan factions, such as Martin Luther’s Lutheran, John Calvin’s Calvinism, the radical Anabaptism and so on. The one that set foot on North America was a branch under the influence of Calvinism. </p

48、><p>　　Calvin believed that when Adam was expulsed from the Garden of Eden, human nature had already fallen into the pool of evilness. The God only chose to save the elected people who believed in Him. (Ma, 200

49、3:293) The theoretical system of Calvin was mainly a process of Puritan self-salvation. It contained “Election”, “Vocation”, “Justification”, “Sanctification” and “Glorification”. </p><p>　　The idea of Elect

50、ion is based on the predestination. The elected people were chosen by God in the previous life. Their soul would be reborn after they received the vocation from the Holy Spirit. The chosen people who were justified need

51、to be pious, humble and thrifty. They should resist all the temptation in this life in order to be recognized by God. Glorification is the sign of the final judgment to puritans’ actions. This would make him surpass othe

52、rs in the world. </p><p>　　The puritan theory of Justification plays an important part in separating itself from the Roman Catholic Church. The idea of self-saving was the promoting power of the accumulation

53、 of capitalist wealth and offered material base for the development of North American colonies which finally lead to the independence of America.</p><p>　　2. Puritan Influence on 19th Century’s American Lite

54、rature</p><p>　　The American history began with the English colonial expansion. Large-scale immigration to America first started in 16th century. Because of the English religion reformation, a great number o

55、f puritans had to leave England. At that time, the whole Europe was under the influence of The Reformation. In order to get the religious freedom, they went to the New Continent to get their own way in their own churches

56、. </p><p>　　The early American literature, whatever the themes, objects or matters, was deeply rooted in Puritanism. We can say if one does not have a detailed understanding of puritan and its literature, he

57、 can never boast that he has a good study on American literature. </p><p>　　2.1 Influence on the Formation of Americanism</p><p>　　When it comes to Americanism, we usually mean individualism, li

58、beralism, democracy, equality and so on. Actually it is hard to define what Americanism really is. As professor Tang had announced in his Americanism that Americanism is a kind of elusive thing. (Nan, 1988: 247-248) For

59、me, the two most impressive characters are liberalism and the fanatic pursuing of wealth.</p><p>　　According to the history, it is not hard to find out that Puritanism had great influence on the formation of

60、 Americanism. In German reformation, Martin Luther put faith “Justification by faith”. That is, puritans can be righteous by believing. The God, which made it unnecessary to depend on priest or the church to transmit God

61、’s will. Each believer himself can communicate with God by reading The Bible. This saved the believers from the control of the Pop and freed their minds. What is more, the </p><p>　　The pursuing of wealth is

62、 another impressive character of American. American’s fanatical aspiration of treasure even finally helped her stood on the top of the world, above all other nations to be the superpower. Dating back to as early as colon

63、ial era of northern America, under the influence of Calvinism, puritans believed that the pursuing of wealth is a standard that God select his people. </p><p>　　2.2 “New Adam” in American Literature</p>

64、;<p>　　In 19th century’s America, as the capitalistic economy developed rapidly and science and technology continually improved, human being’s function in social production and development became more and more imp

65、ortant. The relationship between human being and God had a great change. Human being was no longer being described as the servant of God. In the relation between human and God, human being changed to be the object while

66、God to be the subject. The existence of God was more likely to save the pe</p><p>　　America, is always called the new world, for it is the refuge of the puritans who came to escape from the religious persecu

67、tion of Europe. In other words, if Europe is the world where Adam lived after being evicted from the Garden of Eden; then the American continent offered them another new Eden. New beginning and beautiful future can be fo

68、und on that land. All the punishment from God had been left at Europe; American people seemed to be able to live in this new Eden as happy as their Adam did.</p><p>　　The hero Natty Bumppo in James Cooper’s

69、Leather Stocking Tales was regarded as the first image of New Adam. Robert·E·Spiller commented “ Though little civilization was found from him, he owns the highest standard that can be found among those uneduca

70、ted.”(qtd. in Li, 2006:190) Another example is Rousseau, one of the representatives of transcendentalism. He lived alone alongside the Walden Pond, far from the madding crowd. He aimed to practice the liberty of individu

71、al in such an environment that</p><p>　　3. Reflection and Criticism on Puritan in The Scarlet Letter</p><p>　　To be a member of a puritan family and a pioneer of literature revolution in 19th ce

72、ntury America, it is undoubtedly that we can easily find puritan factors in Hawthorne’s works, especially in The Scarlet Letter. As the characters in one’s novels are the shadow of the author, the puritan influence on Ha

73、wthorne also reflect on the characters in The Scarlet Letter.</p><p>　　3.1 Hawthorne and Puritanism</p><p>　　Nathanael Hawthorne is one of the representative American writers in 19th century. At

74、 that period, puritan influence in America had gradually faded away. It was no longer the master of the society and morality as in 16th century. Hawthorne himself resisted strongly the cruel doctrines and social darkness

75、. But as a puritan country originally, the theories of value and its moral principles had been deeply rooted in every corner of America. To Hawthorne, his thinking became positive and advanced at</p><p>　　3.

76、1.1 Relationship Between Hawthorne and Puritan</p><p>　　Hawthorne was born in a traditional puritan family. His ancestors were among the founders of Massachusetts colony. He described one of his ancestors in

77、 the introduction of The Scarlet Letter—The Custom-House. “He was a soldier, legislator, judge; he was a ruler in the Church; he had all the Puritanic traits, both good and evil. He was likewise a bitter persecutor; as w

78、itness the Quakers, who have remember him in their histories, and relate an incident of his hard severity towards a woman of thei</p><p>　　But on the other hand, Puritan fight for freedom and democracy, they

79、 made great contribution to the independence of America. This made it hard for him to deny that there somehow existed many truths in the doctrines of Puritanism. What is more, his wife, Sophia who was a pious puritan led

80、 him even more close to Puritanism in spirit. Before meeting with Sophia, all of Hawthorne’s life was dark and hard; miserable childhood and the poverty and frustrated life made him suffered a lot. The woman to h</p&g

81、t;<p>　　3.1.2 Hawthorne’s inheritance and inflection of Puritanism</p><p>　　Due to the social background or the family background, Puritanism had a great influence on Hawthorne. So as he wrote in The

82、Custom-House, “though invariably happiest elsewhere, there is within me a feeling for old Salem, which, in lack of a better phrase, I must be content to call affection. The sentiment is probably assignable to the deep an

83、d aged roots which my family has struck into the soil.” (ibid: 6-8) His deep love to the old Salem was mainly due to his affection to the culture of the old</p><p>　　Certainly, the main part in Hawthorne’s w

84、orks is about the censure of the unfair religion regime and the persecution to pagan. The House of Severn Gables based on the story of the martyrdom of the witches, exposes the hypocrisy of puritan. Gentle Boy is a typ

85、ical one that condemns fiercely to the puritan’s persecution of pagan. </p><p>　　As a writer in 19th century, Hawthorn had once got in touch with transcendentalists. He once joined the Brook Farm which was h

86、eld by transcendentalists, but quickly he quitted. He found that the transcendentalist perspective too humanity was to optimistic. Their theory of individual and omnipotent spirit was something like Utopia. Some principl

87、es of Puritanism, otherwise, ask people to be kind-hearted, diligent, introspective and puritanical. Such a kind of acknowledgement let him finely accept </p><p>　　3.2 Influence of Puritanism in The Scarlet

88、Letter from Characterization </p><p>　　Puritanism had great influence on Hawthorne. This reflected most in his representive work The Scarlet Letter. We can easily find the sign of Puritanism from the charact

89、erization of the characters’ thinking, action and fate. </p><p>　　3.2.1 Characterization of Major Characters</p><p>　　In The Scarlet Letter, we have four main characters, Herter Prynne, Arthur D

90、immesdale, Rogge Chillingworth and little Pearl. Here, we are going to deep into these heroes one by one. </p><p>　　3.2.1.1 A Suffering Woman——Hester Prynne </p><p>　　Hester Prynne was one of th

91、e main characters in The Scarlet Letter. The story began with her first appearance before the prison door. Her husband Rogge Chillingworth was missing for almost two years after he sent Hester to New England. During thes

92、e two years in New England alone, Hester fell in love with priest Arthur Dimmesdal and gave birth to a daughter. Her immoral action was seriously punished by the Church government. That day was three months after her chi

93、ld was born and she was punished </p><p>　　3.2.1.2 A Typical Puritan Arthur Dimmesdale</p><p>　　Arthur Dimmesdale is a typical puritan image in The Scarlet Letter. He was young and promising, fu

94、ll of wit and highly esteemed by the people of the old Boston. But immorally, he fell in love with Hester who was a wife of other’s and gave birth to a girl. However, because of his position, his selfishness and cowardli

95、ness, he dared not to tell the truth. When in public, he was a highly esteemed pastor; when alone, he suffered much on his conscience which led to the torment both physically and psy</p><p>　　Dimmesdale dese

96、rved some sympathy. As a puritan, he had lost God’s blessing at the moment he fell in love with Hester. In puritan idea, he was not honest to God. He was tempted by devil and committed the guilt which happened in the Gar

97、den of Eden. This recognition made him suffer from his inner censure which burned him every time. Day by day, his face became gaunt and his health damaged. There was nobody but Hester with whom he could talk about his in

98、ner suffering. But unfortunately, she was the</p><p>　　Dimmesdale was abominable also. As a man, he did not choose to protect his beloved woman by his power, but let her alone be exposed to the public, suffe

99、ring from the scorn and hatred. As a puritan he dared not to tell the truth for his position. As a father, he can not admit his daughter, can not hug her. He kissed her only when no body around or no body noticed. What h