霍桑矛盾的清教主义观在《牧师的黑面纱》中的体现_英语论文

Nathaniel Hawthorne's Ambiguous Attitude towards Puritanism in "The Minister's Black Veil"

摘要

纳撒尼尔•霍桑是十九世纪浪漫主义小说家的杰出代表。在其家庭背景，成长环境，以及社会因素的三重影响下，霍桑的小说带有鲜明的宗教色彩。一方面，在清教主义“原罪”、“内在的堕落”等观念的影响下，霍桑在他的作品中深入刻画人们内心潜伏着的罪恶本性，并主张通过善行和忏悔来净化心灵，以求救赎；另一方面，他又揭露批判清教统治的偏执，残酷与不近人情。霍桑矛盾的清教主义思想在他的诸多作品中都有所体现，本论文旨在分析霍桑的清教主义观在短篇小说《牧师的黑面纱》中的体现。通过对小说中的人物和写作手法的分析可知，正如在《牧师的黑面纱》中所体现的那样，霍桑对清教主义的态度是十分矛盾的。

除引言和结论外，本论文包含三部分。第一部分从家庭背景，成长环境，社会影响三方面分析霍桑矛盾的清教主义思想的形成。第二部分从《牧师的黑面纱》中的人物描写出发，通过对主人公胡珀先生和他的未婚妻伊丽莎白的分析来说明霍桑矛盾的清教主义思想在人物塑造方面的体现。第三部分从小说的写作手法出发，通过象征主义和圣经原型引用两方面来分析霍桑矛盾的清教主义思想在其写作手法方面的体现。

关键词：霍桑；《牧师的黑面纱》；清教主义；矛盾；人物描写；写作手法

Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne is an outstanding American novelist in the 19th century. Under the influence of his family background, growth environment and social factors, his writings convey a strong sense of religious overtones. On the one hand, impacted by the "Original Sin" and "Innate Depravity" of Puritanism, Hawthorne portrays the sins hidden in the human hearts in his works. And he claims that people should purify their minds and have salvation by kindness and confession. On the other hand, Hawthorne exposes and criticizes bigotry, cruelty and apathy of Puritanism. Hawthorne's ambiguous Puritanism is reflected in the majority of his works. This thesis aims at analyzing Hawthorne's attitude towards Puritanism in "The Minister's Black Veil" from two aspects: characters and writing skills. In this thesis, I argue that Hawthorne’s attitude towards Puritanism is ambiguous as reflected in his short story "The Minister's Black Veil". 

Except for an introduction and a conclusion, this thesis is composed of three parts. The first part explores the causes of Hawthorne's ambiguous Puritanism from three aspects: family background, growth environment, and social influence. The second part elaborates on Hawthorne's ambiguous Puritanism in the characters of "The Minister's Black Veil" by analyzing the two main characters, Mr. Hooper and his fiancée Elizabeth. The last part specifies Hawthorne's ambiguous Puritanism in the writing skills of this short novel from two aspects: symbolism and biblical archetypes.

Keyword: Hawthorne; "The Minister's Black Veil"; Puritanism; ambiguous; characters; writing skills

Contents

Introduction 1

1.1 Hawthorne, and His "The Minister's Black Veil" 1

1.2 Literature Review 1

1.3 The Purpose of This Thesis 2

2. Hawthorne's Ambiguous Attitude towards Puritanism 2

2.1 Family Background 2

2.2 Growth Environment 3

2.3 Social Influence 3

3. Hawthorne's Ambiguous Puritanism in the Characters of "The Minister's Black Veil" 4

3.1 Ambiguous Puritanism on Mr. Hooper 4

3.2 Ambiguous Puritanism on Elizabeth 5

4. Hawthorne's Ambiguous Puritanism in the Writing Skills of "The Minister's Black Veil" 5

4.1 Symbolism 6

4.2 Biblical Archetypes 6

Conclusion 7

References 7