Abstract: The scarlet letter was written by American romantic writer Nathaniel Hawthorne in the 19th century, which tells the love tragedy under the background of puritan asceticism. The scarlet letter is an excellent work in American literary history. The hero and heroine are convicted with the exposure of their unwarrantable love at that time. This novel not only tells a love story, but also explores the “sin” of the human beings and tries to explore the dark side of human at the bottom in their hearts. Through this paper, we can understand Hawthorne’s confused and suspicious attitude about Puritanism from this work. At the same time, we can find that Puritanism has a profound influence on modern American value.
Key Words: Puritanism; Asceticism; Character; Value; The Scarlet Letter

摘要：《红字》这部小说是19世纪美国浪漫主义作家纳撒尼尔•霍桑写的。这部小说讲述了清教禁欲主义背景下的一段爱情悲剧，是美国文学史上的杰出作品。故事中的男女主人公在那个年代因为他们不被认可的爱情而受到惩罚。《红字》这本小说不仅讲述了一个爱情故事，更是探索了潜藏在人心底的黑暗面和关于“原罪”的探讨。通过这篇论文，我们可以看到霍桑在这部作品中对于清教主义怀疑和矛盾的态度。与此同时，我们可以发现清教主义思想对当今美国价值观的深渊影响。
关键词：清教主义；禁欲主义；性格；价值观；《红字》