Abstract

Nathaniel Hawthorne, an excellent novelist in American, was famous for deep thoughts and magical writing skills. His literary works and achievements had a powerful impact. The Scarlet Letter was his representative and published in 1850. Later, he became an famous writer .
Hawthorne's influence upon world literature is quite obviously magnificent. One is the skillful use of symbolism in his novel.  Hawthorne widely used symbolism in The Scarlet Letter and made four major figures connected with the word "A". This paper will explore the symbolism in The Scarlet Letter in performance. I will give an analysis of the symbolic significance of works.
The first chapter has different symbolic significance with the story's development; initially represented the "adultery", later evolved into "able, angel" and the "heroic warrior woman".
The second chapter is a detailed discussion of the four main characters’ symbolic significance.
The third chapter, an analysis of the four characters of the naming of the symbolic meaning.
In the conclusion part of this paper, I concluded that: This work’s success is largely due to the skillful use of symbolism. His symbolism opened a symbolic novels as an independent literary variety precedent.

Keywords: the Scarlet letter; the letter A; main characters; The main characters' names; Influence
 
摘  要

纳撒尼尔﹒霍桑是美国文学史上伟人的小说家之一,其深遂的思想和高超的写作技巧在文坛上久负盛名。红字是他的代表作。红字于1850年出版，之后霍桑凭接此作品而享誉全国。
霍桑对世界文学的影响极其重大,一是象征手法在小说创作中的巧妙运用。在《红字》中霍桑娴熟的运用了象征手法,用“A”字把四个相互牵制的主要人物编织在一起。本文以对《红字》的象征意义的探究为切入点,着重探讨象征手法在《红字》中的表现。从浪漫主义角度,详细解析了作品中的象征意义、《红字》所独有的象征风格,从不同的侧面暗示了《红字》的主题。
第一章分析了红色字母A随着故事情节的发展而具有的不同象征意义——最初代表 “通奸罪”,后来变成“能干,天使”和英勇善战的“女战士”; 第二章详细解读四个主要人物形象所暗含的象征含义,他们分别是海斯特, 丁梅斯代尔, 奇灵渥斯和珠儿;第三章对作品中四个主要人物的命名所包含的象征意义进行具体细致地分析。
本文的结语部分在总结全文的搞础上进一步得出:《红字》的成功最大得益于象征手法地巧妙运用和作者高超地驾驭能力,霍桑丰富而独特的象征手法开启了象征小说成为一个独立文学品种的先河。

关键词: 红字; 字母A; 主要人物形象; 人物命名;象征主义;