优秀毕业论文（设计）剖析霍桑《红字》中红字A所暗含的象征意义 Hawthorne’s employment of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter摘要《红字》一书使美国作家霍桑誉满全球。

该书采用的主要艺术写作手法是象征主义，象征主义不仅贯穿了小说的始终，同时也为其增添了经久不衰的魅力。

本文拟从红字“A” 、人物及场景这三个方面来重点剖析霍桑《红字》所暗含的象征意义。

本文先阐述红色的象征意义及红字“A”的多重含义。

然后着重分析场景的象征意义，例如绞刑台、监狱、野蔷薇丛、阳光、小溪、森林等场景的象征意义。

最后探讨小说中人物的象征意义，并深入研究霍桑象征意义创作的技巧。

霍桑对文学的影响远远地超越了他所处的时代。

《红字》这部意义深远的巨作，是十九世纪浪漫主义文学的优秀代表。

对人类挣扎的灵魂的刻画使霍桑成为世界文学史上的杰出人物。

关键词：霍桑；《红字》；象征；象征主义AbstractThe Scarlet Letter makes American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne known all over the world. The main artistic writing skill in this novel is symbolism, which not only runs through the whole novel, but also adds long-lasting charms to the book. This thesis attempts to expound Hawthorne’s employment of symbolism in The Scarlet Letter through the analysis of the scarlet letter “A”, the characters and the settings. It first explores the symbolism of the color red and the multi-layered meanings of the capital letter “A”. Then it concentrates on symbolic meanings of the settings, such as the scaffold, the prison, the wild rosebushes, the sunshine, the brook and the forest. Finally, it analyzes the symbolic meanings of the characters and further explores Hawthorne’s techniques—symbolism. Hawthorne’s influence on literature is far beyond his time, The Scarlet Letter is an excellent representative work of romantic literature of the 19th century, a masterpiece of profound and long-lasting significance. His portrayals of the struggle of human soul have made him an outstanding figure in the history of world literature.Key words: Hawthorne; The Scarlet Letter; symbol; symbolismTable of ContentsAcknowledgements (I)摘要……………………………………………………………………………………………….错误！未找到引用源。

Abstract…………………………………………………………………………………………..错误！未找到引用源。

Table of Contents.............................................................................................错误！未找到引用源。

Introduction.. (1)Chapter One The Symbolic Significance of Colors and the Capital Letter “A” (3)1.1The Colors (3)1.2The Capital Letter “A”: the Spirit of the Novel (3)1.2.1 “A” for “Aged”, “Ancient” and “Authority” (4)1.2.2 “A” for “Authority”, “Alienation”, Shame and Human Nature (5)1.2.3 “A” for “Able”, “Angel” and “Arthur” (5)1.2.4 “A” for “Amazon” (6)1.2.5 “A” for “America” and “Aspiration” of New Life (6)Chapter Two The Symbolic Significance of the Settings (7)2.1 The Prison: Symbol of the Harshness of the Puritan Society (7)2.2 The Scaffold: Symbol of Redemption and Judgement (7)2.3 The Rosebush: Symbol of Passion and Promise (8)2.4 The Forest: Symbol of Nature (8)2.5 The Brook: Symbol of Separation of Two Different Worlds (9)2.6 The Sunshine: Symbol of Purity and Hope (9)Chapter Three The Symbolic Significance of the Characters (11)3.1 Pearl: A Living Scarlet Letter (11)3.1.1 Symbol of the Shame of Adultery (11)3.1.2 Symbol of Love and Passion (11)3.1.3 Symbol of Morality (12)3.2 Hester Prynne: Symbol of Strength and Independence (12)3.3 Roger Chillingworth: Symbol of Revenge (13)3.4 Arthur Dimmesdale: Symbol of Hypocrisy (14)3.5 The Symbolic Significance of Minor Characters (14)Conclusion (15)Works Cited (17)IntroductionNathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) was a great romantic novelist and short story writer of romantic period. Hawthorne was born in Salem and received his education in Bowdoin College. The early death of his father threw the family into great sorrow and solitude, which had an immeasurable influence on the boy.Hawthorne returned to Salem after his graduation from Bowdoin College. For nearly twelve years, from 1825 to 1836, he lived in virtual solitude in this beautiful town. During this period in Salem, Hawthorne read annals and chronicles of the puritan world, which paved the way to the creation of The Scarlet Letter. Then an instinct made him leave the Salem where his ancestors had dwelt for two centuries. In “The Custom House”, he remarks, “Human nature will not flourish any more than a potato, if it planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil” (Hawthorne, 15). In this novel, he reveals the depth of his concern with the dark side of Puritanism, the harshness and persecutions.Between the years 1825 and 1836, Hawthorne worked as a writer and contributor to periodicals. His first novel Fnshaw was unsuccessful, while the following short novels like Roger Malvin’s Burial and Young Goodman Brown brought him success. However, because of the insufficient earnings as a writer, Hawthorne began his career as a Boston Custom House measurer in 1839, but three years later, he was dismissed. By 1842, Hawthorne’s writing enabled him sufficient money to marry Sophia Peabody, and he moved to a house called the Old Manse in Concord, which was at that time the center of the transcendentalist movement. For a brief time of his life, he was a member of the transcendentalist community at Brook Farm. During these years he wrote a number of tales. In 1845, he was appointed as a surveyor of the Salem Custom House by President James Polk, but was dismissed from this post because of a change in political administration. Then Hawthorne devoted himself to his most famous novel, The Scarlet Letter, which was an immediate success. He left Salem for a short residence in Lenox, where he completed the romance The House of the Seven Gables in 1851. Hawthorne’s subsequent novel is The Blithedale Romance, based on his years of communal living at Brook Farm. In later life he went to Europe, first working at Liverpool, then in Italy he finished his last novel, The Marble Faun. Hawthorne passed away on May 19, 1864 in Plymouth, New Hampshire.The Scarlet letter tells us a tragic story happens in Boston, New England. An old English scholar sends his young wife, Hester Prynne, to set up their home in Boston. When he arrives two years later after a series of adventurous events and hardships, he finds Hester in the pillory with her illegitimate daughter in her arms. She refuses to name the father of the child and is sentenced to wear a scarlet letter “A” that stands for adulteress as a token of her sin. The husband concedes his real identity, assumes the name of Roger Chillingworth andsettles down in the town as a doctor, trying to find out Hester’s partner in sin. Hester, a woman of strong and independent nature, works hard to support her daughter and other unfortunate persons. She gradually wins the respect of Puritan society. Meanwhile, Chillingworth discovers that the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale, a seemingly saintly young minister, is the father of Hester’s child Pearl. Dimmesdale lives secretly with his guilt, is constantly tortured by his conscience and by Chillingworth and is eventually destroyed. Chillingworth’s life is also ruined by his preoccupation with his cruel revenge.Chapter One The Symbolic Significance of Colors and the CapitalLetter “A”By definition, a symbol is “a person, an object, an event, etc, that represents a more general quality or situation” (Feidelson, 692). It is commonly agreed that colors are used as symbols extensively in The Scarlet Letter. Chillingworth is dressed in black, which symbolizes his sinister character. Though the red color, worn by the mother and daughter, has no difference in itself, it expresses how differently Hester and Pearl are viewed by the Puritan society.The main symbol in the novel is the capital letter “A”, which symbolizes Hester’s adultery at the beginning of novel. But the letter “A” begins to represent different meanings as the plot develops.1.1 The ColorsHawthorne uses colors as a major form of symbolism. According to the book, he compares the prison to a black flower of civilized society. Outside the door of the prison, sprung a wild rosebush in nominal of the deep sympathetic heart of Nature. In his eyes, black seems to symbolize the dogmatic, harsh, and restrictive nature of human law and civilized society, whereas the red stands for the open freedom of Nature.In The Scarlet Letter, the most frequent employed color is red. Red most obviously represents Hester’s sin. The scarlet letter “A”, at first glance seems to represent evil, for it is related to immorality. In addition, Pearl is often identified with the color red. She is usually dressed in red, and called the names “Ruby”, “Coral”, or “red rose”, and “a little bird of scarlet plumage” (Zeng, 42). In fact, she is a living scarlet letter of Hester’s sin. In the novel, she is meant to relieve the sorrow and misery. For she is a reflection of her parent’s immorality and their love. The red color, along with images of bright glow, shows Pearl is the product of a moment of passion between Hester and Dimmesdale. In this way red represents open freedom of Nature.1.2 The Capital Letter “A”: the Spirit of the NovelIn The Scarlet Letter, the letter “A” builds up a framework of the novel and serves as a close link between the main characters. The novel begins and ends both with the letter “A” with its conspicuous symbolic significance. In the novel, the letter appears on Hester’s breast, on Arthur’s heart, in Pearl’s hands as well as in the evening sky. Its symbolic meaning changes with the development of the novel.The letter “A” has many implied meanings, it also has particular and explicit meanings. The first and most obvious is “Adultery” standing for the unpardonable love between Hester and Dimmesdale, then the meaning of letter “A” slowly changes into “Able” because of Hester’s charitable work in the community, into“Angel” when the community sees a scarlet “A” in the sky on the night of John Winthrop’s death (Chang, 77).Besides the particular and explicit meanings, the letter “A” has other implied meanings. “A” stands for “Arthur Dimmesdale”, for Hester’s “Art”, for Chillingworth’s black and magical “Art”. “A” can also stands for “Atonement”, which is what Hester is trying to do. It also represents “Avenger” or “Avenge”, which is the chief purpose of Chillingworh’s life. “A” represents the “Authority” of the community that hypocritically condemns Hester for the rest of her life. “A” stands for Dimmesdale’s “Ambition”, as well as his “Anguish” and “Agony”. “A” represents the community, which is frequently characterized as “Aged” and “Ancient”. The following contents are used to discuss the symbolic meanings of the letter “A” in detail.1.2.1 “A” for “Aged”, “Ancient” and “Authority”The conflict between youth and age, passion and authority, which has been discussed in the literary analysis of the novel, was developed by Hawthorne in his careful depiction of the Puritan leaders. The New World these settlers came to is an untainted place, untouched by the age-old wrongs of Old World Europe. However, the community’s leaders have brought much of the worst of the Old World wrongs with them, symbolized by that ancient, ugly building—the prison. So even though the colony is only fifteen years old, it has the aspect, as Hawthorne describes it, of the oldest town in the world. In the first two paragraphs, we can find such descriptive words as “bearded men”, “gray hats”, “heavily timbered”, “iron spikes”, “sepulchers”, “old”, “aged”, “darker”, “gloomy”, “rust”, “ponderous”, “iron-work”, “antique crime”, “ugly”, “black flower”, “condemned”, “doomed”, etc (Wang, 1).The leaders themselves are ancient men—authoritative, stern, grim, hypocritical, and overly intellectual. They are even involved in the minutest details of the least influential members of the community.The important things to note are, first, that the government and the Puritan religion were virtually inseparable, the clergy exercising tremendous political power as the chief advisor to the magistrates. The narrator describes them as the people amongst whom religion and law were almost identical, and in whose character both were so thoroughly interfused. Second, both magistrates and ministers held absolute authority. The Puritan leaders looked upon themselves as chosen people by God (Wu, 26). Third, even most of the women in the town, who express themselves with such authority on the day Hester is sentenced, are old and cruel. In fact, they want to see Hester executed instead of just being made to wear the scarlet letter.In conclusion, to the Puritan society, the capital letter “A” is a mark of just punishment and immortality. It represents “absolute authority” of “ancient and aged” Puritans.1.2.2 “A” for “Adultery”, “Alienation”, Shame and Human NatureThe novel begins with Hester being led to the scaffold where she is to be publicly shamed for having committed adultery. Here the letter “A” symbolizes shame and punishment (Wang, 72). For Hester, the “A” is not only a symbol of adultery, but also a symbol of alienation. She is an outcast from society and people often sneer at her in public. The familiar scene in the novel is that preachers will stop in the street and give sermons when they see Hester. The letter “A” therefore becomes an example of crime and shame for others in the community. In fact, the letter “A” is also associated with passion and sexuality which are natural to human nature. So in this sense, “A” symbolizes human nature.1.2.3 “A” for “Able”, “Angel” and “Arthur”The letter “A” contains a variety of meanings. It represents more than the sin of adultery.To Hester, the letter “A” is a symbol of unjust humiliation at the beginning of the novel. Subsequently, it also shows Hester’s skillful needlework in the way that she displays the scarlet letter on her breast. After years of Hester’s helping, serving and sympathizing with the town people, her letter “A” was viewed by the Puritans to mean “Able” rather than “Adultery”. In people’s eyes she was so strong with a woman’s strength that many people refused to interpret the scarlet “A” by its original signification (Mednick, 75). Furthermore she tries her best to help the poor and the sick although she is really poor too. Gradually, people begin to regard Hester as an industrious kindhearted and able woman. Thus the image of Hester turns to be an “Angel” in their eyes. Then the letter “A” symbolizes “Angel” and “Attribute”.For Arthur, the “A” is a piercing reminder of his concealed sin, but in Hester’s eyes, the letter “A” also represents her lover “Arthur”, so the scarlet letter can be regarded as the badge of the ardent love between Hester and Arthur.1.2.4 “A” for “Amazon”Readers are impressed by Hester’s attitude when she richly embroiders the scarlet letter with gold thread. The community is outraged that she has made a mockery of her punishment by making the symbol of adultery into a gorgeous decoration.She is a strong woman, which is known from the very beginning of the novel when she faces the people of Boston with her dignity. She always holds her head high and is able to accept her punishment with pride. Hester is also an able mother, who tries her best to defend her daughter’s custody.With the development of the plot, Hester begins to have the willingness to challenge Chillingworth. This is quite a dramatic shift in her personality, because she is afraid of what her husband might do to her before. After having seen Dimmesdale’s poorer health caused by Chillingwoth’s torture, she realizes that she must actquickly. This is a great change for her. She seems like a heroine in this situation. To some extent, “A” symbolizes “Amazon”.1.2.5 “A” for “America” and “Aspiration” of New LifeHester’s “A” reflects the meaning of “America” in various ways. For one thing, America is a melting pot of many peoples and ideas just as Hester’s “A” has many different meanings. For another thing, Hester’s “A” symbolizes America in that they are both shaped by past actions. No matter how Hester has changed, because of her act of adultery, she is forever doomed to be labeled as an adulteress. Similarly, America is shaped by everything that happened in its past. That’s to say, it’s a colony of England, and it’s deeply influenced by Puritanism.In the novel, Hester’s daughter Pearl shows great interest in the letter. One time when she plays alone, she weaves a letter “A” with the eelgrass and wears it on her breast in imitation of her mother. However the letter is freshly green instead of scarlet and full of vitality. The green letter symbolizes the aspiration to get free from conservative ideas and pursue a new life. The good ending of Pearl represents the bright future of America.Chapter Two The Symbolic Significance of the SettingsIn the novel, settings are one of the major elements of symbolism. The prison, the scaffold, the rosebush, the forest, the brook and the sunshine—all have their symbolic meanings in The Scarlet Letter.2.1 The Prison: Symbol of the Harshness of the Puritan SocietyThe Puritans are people who believe in Puritanism. They hold the belief that it is a sin to be born in the world and that one has to suffer and live in a life of simplicity in order to be prepared for a good situation after life. Puritanical doctrine is stern, harsh, and severe. The prison in the novel proves that Salem is a conservative society and also shows that the Puritan society punishes people within it for deviation from its laws. The iron on the prison is rusting and creates an overall appearance of decay. The prison is the symbol for Puritanical severity of law. The description of prison indicates it is old, rusted, yet strong with an unboken door. This represents the rigorous enforcement of law and the impossibility to break free of it, what’s more, the prison also serves as a metaphor for the authority of the regime, which will not tolerate deviation. Hawthorne directly challenges this notion by pointing out the name Ann Hutchinson in the opening pages. She was a religious woman who disagreed with the Puritanical teachings, and as a result was imprisoned in Boston. Hawthornewandered that whether it is possible the beautiful rosebush grows directly at the prison door sprang from her footsteps. This implies that the Puritanical authoritarian may be too rigid for the things of beauty to survive. 2.2 The Scaffold: Symbol of Redemption and JudgmentThe scaffold is symbolic of redemption and judgment. The entire chapter three, “The Recognition”, illustrates its symbolism. Hester is sentenced to stand atop the scaffold for three hours, to stand before God to receive his just judgment. At the end of the story, Dimmesdale is able to gain the strength and courage to finally confess his sin to the masses. In chapter six, “The Minister’s Vigil”, the three characters, Hester, Pearl and Dimmesdale, are standing there atop the scaffold. Pearl asks Dimmesdale when they will stand there together and he replies that they will stand on the Day of Judgment.The scaffold in The Scarlet Letter is extremely important. The most pivotal scene in the novel takes place on it. The scaffold is a place of public humiliation, where the lawbreaker must stand in front of all his or her peers with them fully knowing of his or her crime. The scaffold is not only a place of punishment but also a place of atonement. It makes the guilty persons to confess what they have done in the past. So it also represents redemption. It is here that both Hester and Dimmesdale acknowledge their sin. Only here can Dimmesdale finally make himself free from his inner bitterness.2.3 The Rosebush: Symbol of Passion and PromiseIn the first chapter of the story, the author describes the scene: outside the prison, next to the door, a rosebush stands in full bloom. The rosebush is a symbol of passion. Hester’s sin is one of passion, linked with the image of the rosebush. Hawthorne indirectly compares Hester with Ann Hutchinson via the rosebush. He also links the rosebush to the wilderness surrounding Boston, commenting that the bush may be a remnant of the former forest which covered the area. This is important, because it is only in the forest wildness that the Puritans’ laws fail to have any force. Thus the image of rosebush suggests some of the passionate wilderness. The rosebush in full bloom indicates that Hester is at the peak of her passion. She has just born a child as a result of her passion. The child is thus comparable to the blossom on the rosebush. Hawthorne comments that the rose may serve as a “moral blossom”, which is actually saying that Hester’s child will serve to provide the moral of the story. That also explains why Pearl replies that she was plucked from a rosebush when John Wilson asks Pearl who makes her. Unlike the dismal prison and cemetery, the rosebush lives wild with no bounds of society. It implies that passion is an aspect of nature that should be admired rather than be judged. Furthermore, the rosebush outside the prison is a promise that good things do emerge from bad situations. Pearl is symbolic of rosebush in that she was spawn from the same air of sin. However, her purity is just as realas that which comes from an origin of virtue (Jin, 249). She is also compared to a delicate petal that brings much beauty and hope into the lives of others.2.4 The Forest: Symbol of NatureThe forest is a free world as well as a dark world. First, it is a place where no Puritan law exists. Hawthorne uses the forest to provide a “shelter” for members of society in need of a refuge from daily Puritan life. The forest track leads away from settlement out into the wilderness where all signs of civilizations vanish. This is the escape route from strict mandates of law and religion. The forest is a symbol of Nature, where the strict morals of the Puritan community can not apply. In the forest, Hester brings about many hidden emotions and shows her love for Dimmesdale, who can also do this for her. The forest is the only place where both of them can have open conversation without the constraints of the Puritan society. Only there can Dimmesdale show his true emotions to Hester. Such emotion will not be allowed to display in Puritan society, however, the forest brings out the natural side of whoever is occupying it at that time. When Hester takes off her hat and unloosens her hair, it is as if we see another person appearing in the wilderness. She is the beautiful lady that is not afraid to show her beauty and her love. The forest also represents a dark world in Puritan’s eyes. The trees surrounding it allow for only minimal sunlight to penetrate, making the forest a place of gloom and darkness. Ironically, the forest itself is the embodiment of freedom. It brings out the natural personality of the individuals. It is there that individuals may do as they wish. That’s why Hester always meets with Arthur in the forest and later she makes her home on the outskirts of the city, directly on the edge of the woods.2.5 The Brook: Symbol of Separation of Two Different WorldsWhen the couple meets clandestinely in the woods, they have left Pearl by a sparkling, babbling brook. After everything is discussed, Hester asks Pearl to cross the stream, but Pearl refuses directly and determines that unless her mother wears the scarlet letter again. Therefore the brook seems to be an unapproachable boundary separating the couple from the child (Li, 45). As the minister says in the novel, the brook is the boundary between two worlds. The child and the parents, and the two lovers can never really meet their daughter.2.6 The Sunshine: Symbol of Purity and HopeHawthorne uses sunshine in the novel to symbolize purity and hope several times in the book. In one scene of the book, Pearl requests that Hester grab some sunshine and give it to her to play with. Hester replies, “No, my litter Pearl! Thou must gather thine own sunshine. I have none to give thee” (Wang, 104). Hester has no sunshine to give Pearl because she has committed adultery and is not pure. Another example is when Hesterand Pearl are taking a walk through the forest when a dark cloud comes over the sky and Pearl says, “Mother, the sunshine doesn’t love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Wang, 145). Pearl says this just innocently playing around, not having a clue of exactly how right she is. She says that the sun fears the “A” and avoids the impurity of it at all costs, even disappearing from the sky. Later in that walk, Hawthorne shows how the sun refuses to be around Hester again. Hester asks Pearl to catch the sunshine, the little girl seemingly catches it and stands right in the midst of it. Hester comes over and attempts to bask in the sunshine, but Pearl says while shaking her head, “It will go now.” Hester replies, “See! Now I can stretch out my hand and grasp some of it,” but “As she attempted to do so, the sunshine vanished” (Wang, 145). This shows how the sun, being pure, adorns Pearl in her innocence, while it shuns Hester for her impurity. Hawthorne shows the symbol of sunshine best in the chapter “A Flood of Sunshine”.Chapter Three The Symbolic Significance of the CharactersBesides settings, Hawthorne uses characters as symbols in The Scarlet Letter. The characters of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Pearl, and Roger Chillingworth are all associated with sin. Hester represents how sin can make one stronger, and Arthur symbolizes how hidden sins can cause harm. Pearl serves as a reminder of the scarlet letter to her mother, and Roger Chillingworth as an example of how many small transgressions can add up to a major sin. Moreover, the fate of characters can be appreciated much better when one is aware of the implication of their names.3.1 Pearl: A living Scarlet LetterThe scarlet letter “A”, worn by Hester, is a punishment for the sin of adultery she had committed. She named her illegitimate child Pearl. So the baby is a “child of sin”. From the beginning of the novel, we get the sense that there is some connection between the baby and the scarlet letter. Actually Pearl was the embodiment of the scarlet letter, because if Pearl had never been born, Hester would have never been found guilty of adultery, and thus never would have had to wear the letter “A” on her bosom. So Pearl symbolizes the living scarlet letter.3.1.1 Symbol of the Shame of AdulteryPearl is a constant reminder of her mother’s sin. One of the most symbolic scenes in the novel occurs in the forest as Pearl and her mother are traveling to meet Dimmesdale. Pearl answers to her mother, “The sunshine does not love you. It runs away and hides itself, because it is afraid of something on your bosom” (Wang, 178). This confirms that Pearl constantly reminds Hester of her sin and her punishment. In another scene, Pearl prevents Hester escaping her sin and shame by her refuse to cross the stream unless Hester wears the discarded scarlet letter again. So to Hester, Pearl is a persistent remembrance to the scarlet letter, the shame of adultery.3.1.2 Symbol of Love and PassionAlthough Hester has so much trouble with Pearl, she still feels that Pearl is her treasure. Pearl literally represents something of great value. The little girl Pearl is brought to the world at a great cost. She is brought to the world at the expense of her mother’s public condemnation. Hester chooses the name of Pearl to show her intense love. Pearl is the only object of affection that Hester has in life and if Pearl were not in Hester’s life, Hester would almost commit suicide. Thus, Pearl, who represents love, is more than her mother’s only treasure; she is her mother’s only source of survival. That’s why Hester go to plead Governor Bellingham to let her keepthe child. Pearl is symbolic of the ardent love, because she is also the product of love between Hester and Dimmsdale. What’s more, Pearl is wild and uncontrolled in character like the passion between her parents. Pearl, who symbolizes wild passion, can not be accepted by the Puritans. In Puritan’s eyes, she is compared to a witch in both the way she interacts with other children and the way she plays. Thus, we can see that the natural passion is regarded as evil in the Puritan society.3.1.3 Symbol of MoralityPearl, as a constant reminder of her parents’ sin, is a torturous reflection of themselves, gradually reinforcing Hester’s sad acceptance of her past and Dimmsdale’s torments and avoidance of confession. Little Pearl, like a mirror, allows her parents perceive and confront personal faults. Pearl reminds her mother of the shame all the time and eventually makes her father Dimmesdale admit his concealed sin. The morality she is meant to teach is that Hester and Arthur can not let their passion overrun them without regard for consequences.3.2 Hester Prynne: Symbol of Strength and IndependenceHawthorne’s book explores the concept of human sin through the development of complex, layered characters and by using plenty of symbolism. Hester, the main character of The Scarlet Letter, is a symbol of sinner in the Puritan society. Hester sounds like Hestier, Zeus’s sister in Greek mythology, who is a beautiful goddess. This gives the sense that Hester is a beautiful, spirited and proud woman. At the beginning of the story, she walks to the scaffold from the prison, with her head holding high and without shedding a tear in full public view. Hawthorne describes her as both a sinner and saint. Hester’s strength of character in public is in fact her way of steeling herself against her inner wound inflicted by her infamy and scourged by the scarlet letter. Furthermore, Hester Prynne, like Anne Hutchinson who was mentioned in the first chapter, is a woman of strength and independence. We can see it from her refusal to reveal the child’s father, which leads her to suffer the public humiliation, even though at that time she has the chances to escape punishment and shame; and from her rearing her child Pearl alone and doing the charity work willingly for the community that sneers her. She silently endures the humiliations given by the people she serves. Just as Dimmesdale says in the woods, “Think for me, Hester! Thou art strong. Resolve for me” (Wang, 187). We can get the idea that it is Hester who has the ability to make plan for the three of them to leave for Europe. Although Hester accepts her punishment and does charity work willingly in her innermost, she never accepts the Puritan interpretation of her act. For her, the act is inseparable from love, the love for Dimmesdale and Pearl. She survives her punishment with dignity and strength of character. Ironically, the penance imposed by Puritan community has。