On Symbolism in the Scarlet Letter

On Symbolism in

THE SCARLET LETTER

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to avail myself of the opportunity to express my gratitude to Miss Zhang Ping, my tutor, who has taken her precious time off from her tight schedule, reading my thesis carefully and offering me constant encouragement, valuable suggestions and enlightening instructions, which contribute to the completion of my thesis.

I would also like to acknowledge my indebtedness to all the instructors who have contributed their time, thoughts, skills and encouragement to this thesis.

I am also grateful to all the classmates and friends who have given me generous support and helpful advice in the past few years.

Finally, I wish to devote this paper to my beloved family, who have given my life and love, and have been supporting me since 22 years ago.

Abstract

THE SCARLET LETTER is regarded as the first American symbolic novel for the vivid using of symbolism in this novel. HawthorneЎЇs use of symbolism in this novel is one of the most significant contributions to the rise of American Literature. This paper attempts to expound the features of symbolism use in this novel through the analysis of three aspects: the multi-connotational feature, the systematic feature and the metaphorical feature.

Firstly, the multi-connotational feature is perfectly shown by the scarlet letter ÐŽoAÐŽ±, which symbolizes ÐŽoadulteryÐŽ±, ÐŽoaloneÐŽ±, ÐŽoangleÐŽ± and some other special characteristics. Meanwhile, Pearl is another symbol of multi-connotation. Secondly, from matters, details, characters to backgrounds or even actions, they are all, without any exception, possessed of symbolic meanings, which is the other feature of the symbolism use in this novel i.e. the systematic feature. In addition, Hawthorne broke the rule of traditional symbolism and directly expressed his own subjective feelings, which made this novel metaphorical.

In conclusion, the various features of symbolism using in THE SCARLET LETTER makes the novel a work of the world.

Keyword: THE SCARLET LETTER, symbolism, multi-connotation, systematization, metaphorization

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements----------------------------------------------------------I

Abstract-----------------------------------------------------------------------II

1. Introduction--------------------------------------------------------------1

2. The Multi-connotation of Symbolism-------------------------------1

2.1 Multi-connotations of the Scarlet Letter ÐŽoAÐŽ±----------------------2

2.2 Multi-connotations of Pearl------------------------------------------4

3. The Systematization of Symbolism----------------------------------6

3.1 Custom House---------------------------------------------------------6

3.2 Prison-------------------------------------------------------------------6

3.3 Ann Hutchinson & Rosebush ---------------------------------------7

3.4 Forest--------------------------------------------------------------------8

3.5 The Small Brook------------------------------------------------------9

3.6 Other Characters-------------------------------------------------------9

4. The Metaphorization of Symbolism--------------------------------10

5. Conclusion---------------------------------------------------------------10

Bibliography----------------------------------------------------------------11

On Symbolism in

THE SCARLET LETTER

1. Introduction

Nathaniel Hawthorne was one of the greatest romanticism novelists in 19th Century America. Meanwhile, as the founder of American novel, Hawthorne, together with Henry Wadsworth Longfellow and Washington Irving, were regarded as the three immortal great minds in 19th Century. However, only Hawthorne survived in the storms of transvaluations in 20th Century. To a great extent, the survival of Hawthorne is due to his THE SCARLET LETTER. THE SCARLET LETTER is regarded as the most outstanding masterpiece of Hawthorne and the most prestigious authoritative work among all the American romanticism novels. There are various artistic features in THE SCARLET LETTER. This novel described the fantastic romantic atmospheres as well as the specific mental activities, while the most important feature is the symbolism used in this novel. Therefore, THE SCARLET LETTER is regarded as the first American symbolic novel. This kind of artistic form imposed great influence upon the development of American novel. This paper attempts to expound the features of symbolism use in THE SCARLET LETTER.

2. The Multi-connotation of Symbolism

Symbols are objects, characters, figures, or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts. No matter what characters or places, actions or objects they are, they are all endowed with the meanings which may be beyond their own so as to obtain concrete or material forms of those thoughts or emotions of characters and those abstract concepts. ÐŽoHawthorne wanted to ÐŽ®spiritualizeЎЇ the issue and have his tales say that matter doesnЎЇt matter, spirit is all, the body is mere clay, and passion is poison. He said that all things have spirits, just like the relation between soul and body. This point of view decided that Hawthorne lay emphasis on using symbols to disclose the obscure meanings behind objective matters rather than relied on the actual descriptions of objective matters when creating his works.ÐŽ± There are many symbols used in THE SCARLET LETTER, some of which are obvious while some others are obscure. Hawthorne endowed almost every character, circumstance, action in THE SCARLET LETTER with certain symbolic meanings. Thus the first feature is obvious, that is the multi-connotation of symbolism. There are two symbols throughout the novel. The scarlet letter ÐŽoAÐŽ± is a typical