摘要

本文的主要目的是从宗教角度，探讨清教主义思想对《红字》女主人公性格的影响。众所周知，宗教与文学有着千丝万缕的联系，所以从宗教角度研究英美文学，有助于挖掘文学作品的深刻内涵和蕴意。
清教主义对于《红字》女主的影响主要体现在以下两个方面：第一，她所体现的奉献精神，禁欲朴实的生活作风，致力于终身的救赎态度，强调个人主义和远离人群的性格反映了海斯特对于清教主义的妥协与服从的一面；第二，从她的不充分的救赎，对于爱情的执着追求，和她极力争夺女儿抚养权，奋斗一生洗刷自己红字耻辱，勇敢摆脱婚姻的枷锁，力求平等所体现的女权主义精神说明她也有反抗清教主义压抑人性的一面。所以，从清教的角度研究《红字》女主的性格，更能挖掘女主人公性格，更能够理解宗教对于人性格的影响。
 
关键词：《红字》； 女主人公性格； 清教主义；影响

Abstract

This thesis will pay close attention to the Puritanism's Influence on heroine's Character of The Scarlet Letter. It is widely acknowledged that religion exerted a great influence on literature; therefore it is a rewarding task for us to study English and American literature through religious perspective. The impact of Puritanism on Hester can be divided into two parts. Firstly, Hester's compromise to Puritanism, which can be seen from her devotion to charity, her lifelong redemption, her asceticism in nature and plain in her life style and her individualism and independent in predicament; secondly, she also demonstrates her rebellion against Puritanism by her half-way salvation, her perseverance towards love, and her awareness of feminism embodied in her path of pursuing equal right, such as her endeavor for her daughter's custody and her audacity to break the shackle of marriage. Thus, we can come to a conclusion that religion has a great impact on people’s character.

Key words: The Scarlet Letter；heroine’s character; Puritanism; influence