美国文学史-霍桑与红字.docVIP

The Scarlet Letter by Nathanial Hawthorne His dismissal freed him to write The Scarlet Letter 《红字》, which was published in 1850 and brought him great fame as well as large fortune enough to make him financially comfortable. In the same year, he moved to Lenox for a temporary residence where he formed friendship with his not-too-distant neighbor, Herman Melville, who was writing Moby Dick 《白鲸》and later dedicated this book to Hawthorne. [6] The Scarlet Letter launched Hawthornes creation and success (带动了创作和成功). The following years saw his series of famous works come out one on the heels of another : The House of the Seven Gables 《带有七个尖角阁的房子》, The Blithedale Romance 《福谷传奇》and a Wonder-Book 《一本奇妙的书》and The Tanglewood Tales《丛林故事》. His last complete novel The Marble Faun 《玉石雕像》was published in 1860. BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE SCARLET LETTER Heste Prynne has shocked the Puritans of Boston by committing adultery. Two years before the opening of the story, she was sent to America alone by her husband to await his coming. As far as the world knows, Hesters husband, Dr. Prynne (an elderly scientist), has disappeared. All of Boston is anxious for Hester to tell the name of her secret lover, the father of her child named Pearl. Hester leaves the prison and walks to the market place where she mounts the step of a scaffold （登上绞刑台的台阶）. The magistrates （地方法官）have been merciful to her --she has not been condemned to death for her crime against society. However, she is to stand on the scaffold for several hours so that the townspeople may see her, the tiny, three-month-old baby, and the cloth scarlet letter A which she wears on her bosom. Governor Bellingham, the Reverend John Wilson, and the Reverend (神圣的) Arthur Dimmesdale try to get Hester to name her lover. She refuses, much to the relief of Dimmesdale. While Hester is trying to forget the horror of the present (by remembering the past), she sees a familiar figure on the edge of the crowd. This stranger is her husband Dr.