2021年1月23日发(作者：千米的英文)
班级：
08
英本
4













姓名：


郭

燕

妮














学号：


北
京
城
市
学
院
语
言
学
部
考核试卷答题纸

2010--2011
学年第二学期期末

课程名称：英美文学选读




使用班级：
08
英本
4





考试时间：两周












考核方式
①
：



论文








题

号

得

分

格式

（
10
）


语法

（
30
）


内容

（
60
）


总分

（
100
）



阅卷人

签字


------------------------------ -------------------------------------------------- -----------------------
Give your own comment on the use of symbolism in
The
Scarlet Letter
.
—
The Scarlet letter “A” and The Scarlet
“
five-stroke armband
”

I
．

Introduction

As
a
great
romantic
novelist
in
America
in
the
19
th

century,
Hawthorne
was
outstanding
in
handling
the
application
of
symbolism,

he
used
the
symbolism
so
skillful that it enhanced the artistic effects of his work greatly. This paper researches
the
symbolism
in
this
novel
from
the
following
aspects:
the
changing
symbolic
meaning
of
the
scarlet
letter
and
the
effect
of
the
symbolism
to
the
real
world
by
comparing it with t
he Scarlet “
five-stroke armband
”
of the time .
II.
The
changing
symbolic
meaning
of
the
scarlet
letter
and
the
Scarlet
“
five-stroke armband
”
and the effect of the symbolism to the real world
After I read the novel
—
《
The Scarlet Letter
》
, it occurs to me
that the “
five-stroke
armband
” event happened a month ago , which
arose a heated topic on the internet . In
the novel of
《
The Scarlet Letter
》
written by Hawthorne , the letter A , as a symbol ,
was
added
to
Hester
,
whi
ch
represented
“adultery”

.
While
in
the
“
five-stroke
armband
” event , “
five-stroke armband
”
, like the letter A , which also had a symbolic
meaning , was awarded to the young Huang Yibo who was born in WuHan in HuBei
province .
But
the
big
difference
between
them
was
that
“
A
”

was
regarded
as
a
1

班级：
08
英本
4













姓名：


郭

燕

妮














学号：


symbol of humiliation ,
while the “
five-stroke armband
” was thought
of as an honor
by the relevant sector
in WuHan . “ Honor” and “
Disgrace
”
, when they were looked
as
two
signs
playing
the
role
of
“
example
”
and
“warning”

respectively
to
define
a
person , what effect it had brought to the people of the society ?

Hester
,
under
the
control
of
Puritan
colonists
,
became
a
example
of
admonishing
evil and was forced to wear the scarlet letter A before the chest . However , Hester
chooses
to
stay
though,
which
shows
a
lot
of
strength
and
integrity
,
She
lived
a
humiliated life all her life .
After many year’s abuse and
persecution , she naturally
accepted a traitorous mind . In the end , she even persuaded the priest to escape with
her .

From
some
details
of
the
novel
,
we
can
see
Hester
kept
the
secret
forever
without submitting to the humiliation from the letter A and the threat of the ruler . At
the same time , in these years , Hester , enduring all difficulties in an adversity and
keeping chaste , won a good reputation . People in the town also saw Hester trying her
best to help somebody who needed help , including those who said jeers at her aiming
at her letter A before the chest . When the town had a disaster , she comforted these
families suffering a lot without hesitation , which made these rulers also realizing the
fine
characters
in
Hester
and
gradually
changing
their
strong
attitude
toward
her .
Because of Hester’s kindness and accommodating to the people in th
at society , they
were no longer to understand the letter A as before . In other words , at that point
“
A
”

was obviously not a symbol of disgrace , the scarlet letter
“
A
”
changes its meaning
into being able, angel and admirable. Her excellent needlework for the rich allows her
to
maintain
a
fairly
stable
lifestyle.
After
years
of
Hester
’
s
helping,
serving,
and
sympathizing with them, many of the townspeople refuse to interpret the scarlet letter
by its original signification, and now they believe that the scarlet letter stands for her
ability
to
her
beautiful
needlework
and
for
her
unselfish
assistance
to
the
poor
and
sick.
At
this
point,
a
lot
of
townspeople
realize
what
a
noble
character
Hester
possesses.
Therefore , the way of using A to define Hester’s b
ehavior , even to define
her
,
was
in
effect
meaningless
,
because
A
was
not
functioning
as
the
ruler
had
thought
of
to
warn
all
people
forever
,
except
brought
endless
difficulties
and
2