摘　要

《德伯家的苔丝》与《红字》是英美文学中两部历经百年而不衰的巨著。海斯特和苔丝，是霍桑和哈代在各自作品中所塑造的优秀女性艺术形象。两部作品国别不同,时代各异,在题材和风格上也各有差异。但是通过比较,可以发现两者之间,尤其是两位女主人公—海斯特•白兰和苔丝•德伯之间，有着诸多的相似之处。本文中, 笔者将就两部小说中女主人公的命运悲剧进行比较和分析，归纳其异同之处，并探讨其原因, 意在揭露宗教和男权社会的丑陋、虚伪、和残酷的一面并体现女性在悲惨命运面前所表现出的伟大人格魅力。从而，我们看出女性在困境中也可以选择勇敢地面对命运，走出困境，追求幸福。

关键词：悲剧命运；相似；相异；原因

Abstract

Tess of the D’Urbervilles and The Scarlet Letter are two great works, which have come through hundreds of years not to fade in the British and American literature. Tess Durbeyfield and Hester Prynne are two excellent female artistic images respectively characterized by Hardy Thomas and Nathaniel Hawthorne in their own works. They are different in writers’ nationalities and living time, and have difference respectively in  theme and style. But through the comparison, we can find numerous similarities between these two works, especially the two heroines - Hester and Tess. In this article, the author is going to carry on the comparison between these two heroines' tragic destiny, including the similarities and differences as well as discussing the reasons, with the intent of exposing the ugly, hypocritical and brutal face of the religion and male-power society, which will also show the charm of the females’ great personality displayed in front of the pitiful destiny. Accordingly, a conclusion turns out that women could choose to confront their fates and get out of the difficulties, striving for their own happiness.

Key words: tragic destiny; differences; similarities; reasons

1 Introduction
In general, this paper carries out a discussion which centers on a comparison of tragic destinies of Tess and Hester and its reasons, which would be analyzed in details from three aspects: two authors' thinking, characters' living environment and their own characters. The different endings of these two women are the results of many factors. This paper is to give a relatively comprehensive view into their stories and try to figure out the main reasons which attribute to their fate. Since many scholars have studied theses two women as well, there are many theories can be used for reference but this paper puts forward a new perspective of view, with all necessary points considered, which is based on the discussed reasons, presenting in sequence in the following analysis.