From Adultery to Angel--An Analysis of Hester Prynne's Transformation in The Scarlet Letter from the Perspective of Feminism

Abstract Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most influential romantic novelists of 19th century and the first to write short stories on the history of American Literature。 His representative piece The scarlet letter is among the world literature classics。 It tells a story about a puritan women under the shackle of unreasonable marriage committing a crime of adultery and being publicly exposed。 The story reveals the darkness of the rule of the unification of the state and the church。 This thesis consists of three parts。 The first part is an introduction to the author Nathaniel Hawthorne and literature review of the novel。 The second part includes four chapters:the first chapter tells the creation background of The Scarlet Letter including Nathaniel Hawthorne’s family background concerning with feminism and the historical background of The Scarlet Letter。 The second chapter would be a brief introduction to feminism and the three waves of feminism movement in western history。 The third chapter is about the four roles of the heroine Hester Prynne。 Each of her roles focuses on different rights that feminists would care, the rights of discourse, education, free love and living。 The fourth chapter is about the transformation of the meaning of the scarlet letter from the prospective of feminism。 And then a conclusion is drawn that the heroine is a pioneer and fighter for feminism, who embodies Hawthorne’s feminism ideology that only by fighting can females’ equal rights be secured。  76281

Key words: feminism; equal rights; adultery; alienation; angel

从不洁到天使--对《红字》中海斯特的女权角度分析

摘  要纳桑尼尔。霍桑是十九世纪美国影响最大的浪漫zhuyi小说家，也是美国文学史上第一个写短篇小说的作家。他的代表作品《红字》已成为世界文学的经典之一。作品描述了一个受不合理的婚姻束缚的少妇犯了为加尔文教派所严禁的通奸罪而被示众，揭露了当时政教合一体制统治下殖民地社会中的某些黑暗。论文分为三个部分。 第一部分是作品介绍与文献综述。 第二部分分为四个章节。第一章写了作品有关女权zhuyi的创作背景， 包括作者的女权zhuyi家族史与创作当时的女权zhuyi社会背景。第二章对女权zhuyi进行了简单介绍，其定义与西方女权zhuyi的三波女权zhuyi运动。第三章写的是女主人公海斯特的各个角色，分别体现了女权zhuyi所争取的不同权利， 涉及话语权，受教育权，自由恋爱权和生存权利的平等。第四章写的是从女权zhuyi角度对红字“A”的意义变化的分析。 最后总结出女主人公海斯特是一个女权zhuyi的战士与先驱，她体现了作者 纳桑尼尔。霍桑的女权zhuyi意识：只有用行动争取，平等的权利才会有到来的一天。

毕业论文关键词：女权zhuyi；平等权利；通奸罪；隔离；天使 

Contents

1。 Introduction 1

2。 Creation Background of The Scarlet Letter 3

2。1 Historical Background of The Scarlet Letter 3

2。2 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Family Background Concerning Feminism 3

3。 A Sketch of Feminism 5

3。1  The Definition of Feminism 5

3。2  The History and Development of Western Feminism 5

4。 The Feminism Spirit of Hester’s different roles 7

4。1 As a citizen--Right for Discourse