霍桑在《红字》中的清教思想.docx

霍桑在《红字》中的清教思想.docx

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霍桑在《红字》中的清教思想

霍桑在《红字》中的清教思想

ThePuritanThoughtsinHawthorne’sTheScarletLetter

Abstract:

NathanielHawthorneisoneofthemostimportantnovelistsinAmerica.ManyofhisstoriesaresetinPuritanNewEngland,describingthedeepeffectofPuritancrueldoctrineofsinandpunishmentontheearlysettlersofNorthAmerica.TheScarletLetter（1850）shockedthenationbyboldlydiscussing“forbidden”topicsincludingsexualmisconductofsociety’sleader,themiserablelifeofasinglemother,theseparationofchurchandstate.Hisworknotonlyprovideatasteof19thcenturypuritanculture,butalsotakeaglimpseofHawthorne’smindashecomestotermswithhiswitch-huntingancestorsandhisvocation.Now,nostudyofAmericanhistoryiscompletewithoutthroughappreciationofNathanielHawthorne’stimelessworks.ThisthesischoosestoexplainHawthorne’spuritanthoughtsfrommyunderstandingofTheScarletLetter.W.CBrowelloncesaid“Hawthornesuccessonlywhenheisconcernedwithpuritanthemes”.Fromhisreligiousthoughtswecanfindhowhecriticizeshumannature.

Keywords:

TheScarletLetter;Puritanism;humannature;sin

摘　要：

纳撒尼尔•霍桑是美国最重要的小说家之一,他的许多小说都以清教徒为主的新英格兰作为背景,描述当时清教严酷的罪与罚的教义对美国早期定居者的深刻影响。

他在巨作《红字》（1850）中探讨了当时严禁的话题，其中包括上层社会人士的不端行为，单身母亲的悲惨生活，以及宗教和政治的争端。

他的作品中反映了他从参与政治迫害的祖辈和工作中得来的宗教思想以及十九世纪的宗教观念。

现在人们多说，缺乏了霍桑作品研究的文学是不完整的文学。

本文选择了从清教思想来解读《红字》。

正如布伦威尔曾经说的霍桑的成功基于他的清教主题。

从他的清教思想中我们可以开到他对人性的剖析。

关键词：

《红字》；清教主义；人性;原罪

Contents

I.Introduction…………………………….……………………..1

A.AbriefintroductiontoHawthorne…..………………….……………1

B.Hawthorne’sreligiousbackground………………..………………1

II.TheStoryandItsthemes…...……………….………………..2

III.ThePuritanMindofHawthorne…………….…...…………..3

A.ThedoctrineoforiginalsininTheScarletLetter…..………..……..4

B.GooddeedsinTheScarletLetter…………………...……………...5

C.HumannatureinTheScarletLetter…………….………………...7

IV.Conclusion………………………………….………………....9

WorksCited……………………………………….…………………………11

I.Introduction

A.AbriefintroductiontoHawthorne

HawthornewasbornontheforthofJuly,1804inSalem,Massachusetts.HewasbornwithpuritanthoughtsashisforefathersweremanofprominenceinthePuritantheocracyofseventeenthcenturyNewEngland.Oneofthemwasacolonialmagistrate,notoriousforhispartinthepersecutionoftheQuakers,andanotherwasajudgeattheSalemWitchcraftTrialin1962（Chang70）.Graduallythefamilyfortunedeclined.HisfatherdiedinaseavoyagewhenHawthornewasfive.Sotheboy’spoverty-strickenmothermovedherfamilytothehomeofrelativesinSalemnamedManning.In1821HawthornewenttoBowdoinCollegewherehehadLongfellowandFranklinPierce,whobecomethe14thpresidentoftheU.S.asfriends.Duetohisfootinjuryatageofaboutnine,Hawthornewasconfinedathomeforseveralyears,duringwhichhereadmanybooks,especiallytheworksofSirWalterScott,JohnBunyan,andShakespeare.AfterhisgraduationfromBowdoinCollege,hereturnedhometoSalemspendingallofhistimeperfectingtheartofwritingthere.Inhisearlywritingperiod,hedevotedmostofhistimeindoorstomainlywritingshortstories.In1837,hepublishedhisfirstcollectionofstoriesentitledTwice-toldTales,whichreceivedgoodcriticalattention.Andin1842thesecondvolumeofTwice-toldTaleswaspublishedandreceivedaverycomplimentaryreviewbyEdgarAllanPoe.In1847,hebegantowriteTheScarletLetter,publishedin1850,whichrecognizedbynumerouscriticsasoneofthegreatestAmericannovels.Lateron,hewrotemorenovels,suchasTheHouseoftheSevenGablesandTheBlithedaleRomance.HediedonMay19,1864whilehewasonatriptotheWhiteMountainsofNewHampshirewithhisfriend,FranklinPierce.

B.Hawthorne’sreligiousbackground

HawthornewasbornwithpuritanthoughtsashisforefathersweremanofprominenceinthePuritantheocracyofseventeenthcenturyNewEngland.Oneofthemwasacolonialmagistrate,notoriousforhispartinthepersecutionoftheQuakers,andanotherwasajudgeattheSalemWitchcraftTrialin1962（Chang70）.Hawthorneisamanofparadoxesandopposites.Livinginasociety,whichhispuritanforefathersbuilt,HawthorneismuchinfluencedbyCalvinism.ThefirstandmostimportantofCalvin’sdogmasis:

Godistotallysovereign;manistotallydepraved.InthisconceptofGod’somnipotenceandman’scompleteinabilityareimpliedthedoctrinesofpredestination（electionandreprobation）,thelackoffreedomofthewill,andlimitedatonement（Christdiedonlytosavetheelect）.Calvin’sclariondeclarationofGod’ssupremacyoverallhumanthoughtandactionandofGod’svastdispleasurewhichamountedtodetestationandabominationofmansinceAdam’sFallisthebulwarkofthisreformedfaith.ThefirstwordsoftheNewEnglandprimerstate:

“InAdam’sfall,wesinnedall”（Johnson27）.AfterthefallofAdam,theheartsandsoulsofhumanbeingswerebelievedevilfromthemomentofconception,nomatterhowkindorhowpioustheact,therealityinsoulwasthattheywerecapableofeverysin.

II.TheStoryandItsthemes

TheScarletLetter,NathanielHawthorn’smasterpieceofPscyho1ogicalromancesettingintheseventeenthcenturyNewEngland.HawthornesuccessfullypresentsthestrictnessofthePuritanismofthattimeanditscruelkillingofhumannaturebypresentingarealisticsettingandpuritanicalphilosophy.Hawthorne,however,aimsnotonlytoexposetheharshstateofthePuritansocietyofthattimebuttoexploreawayoutforpeopletotakeafreshair.Ittellsthepassionate,forbiddenloveaffairofamarriedwomanwhohasachildwithsomeelsebutnotherhusband.Shekeepsthechild,raisingitherselfinthecommunitywherehersituationisknownandsherefusestorevealthenameofherlover.Inordertopunishher,sheisshamed,publicly,bywearingaletter“A”whichmeansadulteryonchestatthescaffold.TheScarletLetterisanexampleofhowPuritansocietywillalwaysrememberthesin.Hawthorneusesthescarletlettertodepicthisfeelingsoftheexaggeratedemotionsofthepuritansandtheiroverlydramaticpunishments.Thisbookexplorestheconflictsbetweenprivatetruthandpublicappearances,andthechoicebetweensinandsalvation.

ThethemeofthisnovelhighlightsHawthorne’sdisplayoftheoppressionagainsthumanbeing’sphysicalpassionunderthereignofNewEnglandPuritanism.AlsoobservedmoralvalueisbasedonthedoctrineofPuritandualityofbodyandsoul,thatis,thephysicalpassionistherootofsinandisobstacleofhumanbeing’sspiritualpursuit.Humaninheritanceofsinfromtheirancestorsalsocontributestothis,becausefromtheverybeginningofhumanlifeEvecouldn’tresistthetemptationoftheSerpent,satisfyinghervanityattheexpenseofgoingagainstGod’sorder.Soit’safterhumanbeings’quietlyeatingtheforbiddenfruitthattheybegantoacquiretheknowledgeandallkindsofphysicalpassions.

Inthisnovel,hecan’tpubliclyopposethePuritancruelty.Instead,hepaysmoreattentiontohowthefemaleprotagonistdirectlyfacesherownsinofadultery,getstheforgivenessofthefellowtownsmenandfinallygetsacceptedbythePuritansociety.Inthisprocess,HawthorneadoptsthepatternofJesusChrist’sforgivingtheprostitutewhoabandonedwickednessintheNewTestamentoftheBible.However,byusingsymbolsandambiguities,HawthorneimplicitlyexpresseshisdissatisfactionwiththePuritanoppressionagainsthumanbeings’freewillandhumannature.

III.ThePuritanMindofHawthorne

Bythesympathyofyourhumanheartsforsin,yetshallscentoutalltheplaces—whetherinchurch,bed-chamber,street,fieldorforest—wherecrimehasbeencommitted,andshallexisttobeholdthewholeearthonestainofguilt,onemightyblood-spot.Farmorethanthis!

Itshallbeyourstopenetrate,ineverybosom,thedeepmysteryofsin,thefountainofallwickedarts,andwhichinexhaustiblysuppliesmoreevilimpulsesthanhumanpower...canmakemanifestindeeds...Dependingupononeanother’shearts,yehadstillhopedthatvirtuewerenotalladream.Nowareyeundeceived!

Evilisthenatureofmankind.

NathanielHawthorne,YongGoodmanBrown（Zhang41）

HawthorneisverymuchconcernedwiththeintoleranceandbigotryofhisPuritanancestors,inTheScarletLetter,hecreatescharactersandsituationstohelpprojecthiscomplexpointofviewaboutPuritanism.InregardtotherelationshipbetweenGodandman,HawthorneadherestosomeofthemainPuritandogmas,suchastheAbsoluteSovereigntyofGod,theInnateDepravityofmanandconceptofGod’sSalvation.TheTranscendentalistdoctrinesthatmanwasessentiallygoodinnature,illimitableinabilitiesandthatmancouldgetaccesstoGodthroughone’sinnateinstinctweretotallyunacceptabletoHawthorne.AccordingtoHawthorne,onlywhenmanacceptedthefactofman’sInnateDepravitycouldheatoneforhissin.OnlybymeansofpenancerepentanceandatonementcouldmangetclosetoGod.

A.ThedoctrineoforiginalsininTheScarletLetter

Allhislife,Hawthorneseemstobehauntedbyhissenseofsinandevilinlife.Readinghistalesandromances,onecannotbutbeoverwhelmedbythe“black”visionwhichtheseworksreveal（Chang71）.InPuritandoctrines,therelationshipbetweenGodandmanwasofprimeimportance.TheybelievedinGodwithabsolutepower,controllingeverything.Godhastotaldominantpoweroverman;whilemanhadnorealdecisiontomakeconcerningtheworldaroundhim.InPuritans’eyes,God’sSovereigntywasabsolute（Johnson50）.ThedoctrineofGod’ssovereigntyledtothePuritandoctrineofInnateDepravity,whichmeantthatallhumanbeingswerebornwithsin.ManinheritedthesinfromAdamandEve.

InTheScarlet