作者：纳撒尼尔·霍桑

                  2013年6月4日

                                             外语系10-2班李雪

              Comment on the red word

The Scarlet Letter attained(取得) an immediate and lasting success because it addressed (处理)spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint. In 1850, adultery（通奸） was an extremely risqué subject, but because Hawthorne had the support of the New England    literary（文学的）establishment（组织）, it passed easily into the   realm of appropriate （适当的，合适的）reading. It has been said that this work represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius; dense with terse（剪短生硬的）descriptions. It remains relevant（有关的，切题的） for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues  to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.[6] Another consideration to note having to do with the book's popularity is that it wasone of the first mass-produced books in America. Into the mid-       nineteenth century, bookbinders（活页夹） of home-grown  literature  typically hand-made their books and sold them in small quantities.   The first mechanized printing of "The Scarlet Letter," 2,500 volumes（册）, sold out immediately, was widely read and discussed to an    extent not much experienced in the young country up until that time. Copies of the first edition are often sought by collectors as rare    books, and may fetch up to around $6,000 USD.

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The Scarlet Letter

《The Scarlet Letter》written by Nathaniel Hawthorne is a novel concerns souls.Everyone has his own soul.Someone defends his soul,someone does damage to it,even there are people who lose their own souls.In consequence,this world is filled with human stories in thousands of postures.

“A” is the first letter of the alphabetic which means the beginning of one thing.However,inn Christians’ tradition, the beginning indicates deprivation and original sin that no one can get rid of.According to the Bible,we are all the seed of Adam.Nevertheless,Adam and Eve were punished by Jehovah for their stealing to eat love forbidden fruit.Owing to this,we,who are the descendants of Adam and Eve,are born guilty.In Puritans’ eyes,Hester Prynne is a dissolute and immoral woman.They take Hester into custody just to show the dignity of God. So foolish people they are!An ugly woman cries:“This woman has brought shame upon us all,and ought to die.Is there not law for it? Truly there is,both in the Scripture and the statute book.”(2009:56)From this description,we can easily find that people there are so indifferent that they seem to be captivate by the church. We see,Hester is so common a woman who is dying for love and does not want to be forced to compromise to reality.“She had dark and abundant hair,so glossy that it threw off the sunshine with a gleam,and a face which,besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion,had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes”.(57)Hester is such a good woman that she shows great love to her beloved--Mr Dimmesdale.This religious entanglement of emotions is difficult for people who have no religion belief to understand.I am such a person who can not understand.Religion has been part of the Westerners’s life and it must be very painful to leave the religious life.But I do not have a religious experience, so it is hard for me to understand the hero's psychology. These are the obstacles for me to understand the novel and I find it hard to overcome it.

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The Scarlet Letter offers an extraordinary insight into the norms and behavior of the 17th century if American Puritan society. The basic conflicts and problems of its main characters, however, are familiar to readers in the present. The female protagonist, has borne a child out of wedlock and has been jailed for over three months and sentenced to wear a symbol of her adultery, a scarlet “A” on her dress at all times. It concerns about the moral, emotional and psychological effect of the sin on people in general. It’s not simply a love story or a story of sin. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the scarlet letters to symbolize the harshness of Puritan society, showing how they brand sinners for life.

The story happened in Boston about 200 years ago. It narrates love affairs between three persons. The punished woman. Hester Prynne and his husband. Who called himself Roger Chillingworth . He is an old misshapen man and a doctor. Hester does not love him at all. Another man is a young minister, Dimmesdale, who has a high position among ministers and is highly respected among his people in town. Hester and Dimmesdale love each other. But their love is forbidden in that time . It is sinful. Due to this,Hester is punished by society with a letter A on her chest, which considered an evil, a shame.

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Review of The Scarlet Letter (1)

Mengyan Li, Oct 13

The story is based on the colony times of America. It shows the cruelty of the law and the deceit of religion. It happens in Boston about 200 years ago.

The author narrates love affairs between a woman and two men. The beautiful and intelligent young woman, named Hester Prynne, has been led from the town prison with her infant baby in her arms, and on her chest is a rag of cloth which has a scarlet letter “A” on it. The scarlet letter “A” represents a symbol of her sin and for all people to see. The husband of the punished woman, who called himself Roger Chilling worth, is an old misshapen man and a doctor. He is elder than Hester and no one knows his real name. Hester doesn’t love him at all.

He sends Hester to America but he does not arrive in Boston. While Hester is waiting for her husband, she fall in love with Dimmesdale and she lead a birth to their baby. Dimmesdale is a scholar and has a high position and is highly respected by people in that town. In that age, according the law and religion, their love is sinful and forbidden. Due to this, Hester is punished by the society with a scarlet letter “A” on her chest, which considered a big shame. Facing the terrible punishment, Hester refuses to give her lover’s name away to protect him. Hester is brave enough to face the cruel reality. She is always with a mind of courage. But Arthur Dimmesdale, his sin against Hester and Pearl is that he will not acknowledge them as his wife and daughter in the daylight. He keeps his dreadful secret from all those under his care in the church for seven years for fear that he will lose their love and will not be forgiven. He is too weak to admit his sins.

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The Scarlet Letter offers an extraordinary insight into the norms and behavior of the 17th century if American Puritan society. The basic conflicts and problems of its main characters, however, are familiar to readers in the present. The female protagonist, has borne a child out of wedlock and has been jailed for over three months and sentenced to wear a symbol of her adultery, a scarlet “A” on her dress at all times. It concerns about the moral, emotional and psychological effect of the sin on people in general. It’s not simply a love story or a story of sin. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the scarlet letters to symbolize the harshness of Puritan society, showing how they brand sinners for life.

The story happened in Boston about 200 years ago. It narrates love affairs between three persons. The punished woman. Hester Prynne and his husband. Who called himself Roger Chillingworth . He is an old misshapen man and a doctor. Hester does not love him at all. Another man is a young minister, Dimmesdale, who has a high position among ministers and is highly respected among his people in town. Hester and Dimmesdale love each other. But their love is forbidden in that time . It is sinful. Due to this,Hester is punished by society with a letter A on her chest, which considered an evil, a shame.

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《红字》英文读后感

The Scarlet Letter offers an extraordinary insight into the norms and behavior of the 17th century if American Puritan society. The basic conflicts and problems of its main characters, however, are familiar to readers in the present. The female protagonist, has borne a child out of wedlock and has been jailed for over three months and sentenced to wear a symbol of her adultery, a scarlet “A” on her dress at all times. It concerns about the moral, emotional and

psychological effect of the sin on people in

general. It’s not simply a love story or a story of sin. The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne uses the scarlet letters to symbolize the harshness of Puritan society, showing how they brand sinners for life.

The story happened in Boston about 200 years

ago. It narrates love affairs between three persons. The punished woman. Hester Prynne and his husband. Who called himself Roger Chillingworth . He is an old misshapen man and a doctor. Hester does not love him at all. Another man is a young minister, Dimmesdale, who has a high position among ministers and is highly respected among his people in town. Hester and Dimmesdale love each other. But their love is forbidden in that time . It is sinful. Due to this,Hester is punished by society with a letter

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The Impressions of Scarlet Letter Last week I finished Scarlet Letter, I like to talk about this book. The writer named Nathaniel Hawthorne, he is an American novelist and short story writer. His themes often center on the inherent evil and sin of humanity. His published works include novels, short stories, and a biography of his friend Franklin Pierce. The Scarlet Letter tells a story starts during the summer of 1642. A young woman, named Hester Prynne, has been led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms, and on the breast of her gown “a rag of scarlet cloth” that “assumed the shape of letter A.” Which is represents a badge of shame. Hester’s husband, who is much elder than her has sent her ahead to America whilst settling affairs in Europe. However, her husband does not arrive in Boston and the consensus is that he has been lost at sea. After I finished this novel I want to talk about Hester who is a glorious heroine, standing up to an unduly repressive society in the name of love and freedom, even though she is regarded as a sinner who has broken a basic law. For my personal sense, Hester is a magnificent woman fighting for her natural rights to love and freedom. She never gives up to the fate of her life. In the Scarlet Letter; passion justifies nothing, while its denial justifies all. Apart from that, writer uses many symbolisms which were used quite skillful. The technique he uses makes his novel more artistic.

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