An Analysis of Hester as an Image of Witch in The Scarlet Letter_英语论文

摘要

纳撒尼尔•霍桑的《红字》十分受学者们的受欢迎，但只有很少学者把海斯特当作女巫形象来解读。本文主要解释《红字》里出现女巫元素的原因，以及海斯特如何与清教主义的女巫形象相符。

在对《红字》的研究进行了文献综述后，本文先是仔细研究了《红字》里的女巫形象。在第一章中，作者解释了女巫元素出现在《红字》里的原因。首先是由于《红字》的故事发生在女巫迫害的时代。其次，霍桑对新英格兰的女巫迫害史研究得很透彻，并且塞勒姆女巫审判对霍桑有着潜移默化的影响。在第二章中，作者把恶魔和女巫联系在一起并指出珠儿被作者称作“使魔”，被镇民称作“恶魔的后代”其实都是等同于把海斯特当作女巫。在第三章中，作者分析解释了海斯特像女巫一样与黑衣人联系，签订协议，拥有恶魔的印记。而这几个特点都是在当时女巫迫害时代人们被当作女巫的重要证据。事实上海斯特的这些与女巫相符的特征都与她反叛的淫乱的通奸行为有关，因此当时要是女性的行为淫乱并且反叛就会被当作女巫。

最后，作者得出结论：尽管霍桑从没公开表明海斯特是女巫，由于她与女巫形象相符，我们应该把她当作女巫。此外，霍桑潜意识地赋予了海斯特一些女巫特性也反映了阅读材料和家庭历史对于霍桑潜移默化的影响，并且通奸与女巫的内在关系反映了女巫迫害时代女性淫乱和反叛的行为是海斯特被当作女巫的重要背景。

关键词：《红字》 海斯特 女巫

Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter is popular among researchers. However, few of them analyze Hester as an image of witch. The present author tries to find out why elements of witches appear in The Scarlet Letter, and analyze Hester’s conformity with the witches in Puritans’ context.

Reviewing the literary studies of The Scarlet Letter, this paper starts with a close look at the image of witch in this novel. In chapter one, the author explains the reasons why elements of witches occur in The Scarlet Letter. First, it is because the story of the novel was set during the witch hunt era. Besides, Hawthorne studied the history of witch hunt era of New England well. Moreover, the Salem witch trials had subtle influences on Hawthorne. In chapter two, the author relates the Devil with witches and indicates that Pearl was labeled “imp” by Hawthorne and “demon offspring” by the townspeople which  means that they also regarded Hester as a witch. In chapter three, the author explains that Hester is similar to a witch because she contacted the Black man, signed his pact, and possessed his mark. Actually, all of those traits of were vital proofs of people being treated as a witch during the witch hunt era. In addition, Hester’s traits of witch were all related to her rebellious and lustful adultery. Thus, once a woman’s act was rebellious and lustful she would be considered a witch during that time.

Finally, the author reaches the conclusion that Hester should be treated as an image of witch because she conforms to puritan’s witch in many ways. What is more, Hawthorne’s unconscious depiction of Hester’s traits of witch reflects that the influence of a narrator’s readings and his family history was imperceptible. Furthermore, the internal relation between “adultery” and witch demonstrates that the lustful and rebellious behavior of women during the witch hunt era is the important background of Hester being treated as a witch.

Key Words:  The Scarlet Letter; Hester; Witch

Contents

1   Introduction 1

2   The Influence of Witch Hunts on The Scarlet Letter 4

2.1 The Era of Witch Hunts 4

2.2 The Salem Witch Trials and Its Influence on Nathaniel Hawthorne 6

3   Hester as Townspeople’s Witch 8

3.1 Christian’s Demonology and Witch 8

3.2 Hester’s Imp and Demon Offspring 9

4   Hester as the Black Man’s Witch 12

4.1 The Devil’s Pact, the Black Man and the Mark 12

4.2 Hester’s Pact and Mark 13

5   Conclusion 16

Bibliography 18

Acknowledgments 20