Written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and published in 1850,the year in which the Clay Compromise postponed the American Civil War,The Scarlet Letter is a romance set in the years from 1642 to 1649,when Puritans were fighting the English civil war over the ultimate meaning of England,and Puritans in the Boston of Hawthorne's story were attempting to label Hester Prynne.A woman taken in adultery,she must wear the letter A on her chest for all to see,yet she surrounds it with beautiful stitching,so that it advertises not only her shame,but also her skill as a seamstress.She refuses to name her lover,the Reverend Mr.Arthur Dimmesdale; keeps her word not to reveal the identity of her husband,now calling himself Roger Chillingworth; and raises her daughter,Pearl,on her own,living at the edge of town,near the wild forest and the open sea.
As its title suggests,the book is about labeling,about the Puritan and later the American desire to eliminate ambiguity,to get the meanings right.The tale shows that even so simple a label as the first letter of the alphabet is full of burgeoning meanings dependent upon changing contexts.After Hester's competence and usefulness to the community become evident,some think the letter stands for "able." When an A appears in the sky at Governor John Winthrop's death,they think it stands for "angel." Since historical Puritans convicted of adultery were made to wear the letters AD on their sleeves,critics have noted that these are Dimmesdale's initials and concluded that the A also represents Arthur.Anne Hutchinson of the Antinomian Controversy is explicitly mentioned in the text,so the letter also represents Anne and Antinomian.Readers may well conclude that the A can mean almost anything,even America,where we still struggle to reinscribe the labels that others put on us.
Destroyed by his lie and guilt,Dimmesdale dies in Hester's arms,and some see a scarlet A on his chest.Destroyed by his single-minded quest for vengeance,Chillingworth bequeaths his vast estates to Pearl,who leaves America to live abroad,depriving America of all she represents.The book ends with an allusion to Andrew Marvell's poem "The Unfortunate Lover," in which the lover lives on in story.So does Hester Prynne,perhaps the first fully realized female character in American fiction,whose meanings continue to attract new readers.（400 words)
這個(gè)是我在www.answers.com上找到的內(nèi)容簡介和字母A的象征分析（寫得很地道,很專業(yè),估計(jì)你拿這個(gè)交差老師不會(huì)相信是你寫的,供參考）
Nathaniel Hawthorne is considered as the first greatest American fiction writer in the moralistic tradition.He is a writer with paradoxical thought—he criticizes the religious craze and the ecclesiastic false while he takes the views of Calvinism as the standard,and he depicts the battle of the colonials against England while he doubt the social reform and technological advancement.In the field of art,he is good at the description of the conflict of character’s inner mind,with lots of imaginations and symbolisms and explores the deep underlying significance.However,most of his works are related to religion.His wide spread work,The Scarlet Letter that is notable for its allegory and symbolism is regarded as the first symbolic novel in American literature.All through the history,American literature always has certain unique connection with religion,in particular,with the Christianity.American puritan ancestors considered themselves as the citizens selected by God in the new era and American continent as their New Canaan endowed by God.Therefore,Christianism is always regarded as one of the most important theme in American literature.For these causes,the author chooses The Scarlet letter which is closely related to religion as my starting point of exploration.The Scarlet Letter is set in the 17th century in Boston.These puritans were the first immigrants settled there who were persecuted by James I.Initially,these puritans were against with Roman Pontiff’s autarchy and social corruption.They advocated sense and refused sensibility.At the same time,they respected ideality and prohibited desire.Later,however,this trend went to extremes.Not only the heretics were persecuted but the woman’s smile in street and children’s curvet as well were not allowed.（283words)
這個(gè)是我自己寫的.是對霍桑和紅字的簡單介紹及分析.（我以前寫論文用的.貌似霍桑寫的有點(diǎn)多,紅字寫得少了點(diǎn),供參考）