毕业论文红字开题报告和文献综述.doc

精品文档，知识共享！ 毕 业 论 文 开 题 报 告 1. Literature review The Scarlet Letter is the representative work of Nathaniel Hawthorne, who was an American novelist in the 19th century. As a famous writer in American Renaissance, Nathaniel Hawthorne was deeply influenced by three thoughts, Puritanism consciousness, transcendental philosophy and transcendentalism . Novel The Scarlet Letter is Hawthornes most remarkable masterpiece. It thoroughly response to peoples spirit wreck of Puritanism and unbridled pursuit for happy life. Meanwhile, The Scarlet Letter also makes Nathaniel Hawthorne known all around the world. “Hawthorne uses the symbolism so skillful that it enhances the artistic effects of his work greatly. We need to research the symbolism in this novel from the following aspects; the changing symbolic meaning of the scarlet letter, the names of the major characters and many objects that are described in the novel to make the symbolism clear to the readers.”(苑文良 2005: 12) Aiming at analyzing the usage of symbolism in this novel, I am reading some papers and books which criticize the Scarlet Letter and its symbolism. Following is my limited viewpoints and some literature reviews about the novel and its symbolism. Symbolism in letter “A”. In this novel ,the scarlet letter “A” changes its meaning many different times. This change is significant. It shows growth in the characters, and the community in which they live. “The letter “A” begins as a symbol of sin. It then becomes a symbol of alone and alienation, and finally it becomes a symbol of able, angel and admirable.” (苑文良 2005: 12) The letter “A” is also be compared as a Biblical Archetype. It refers to sins. “The scarlet letter “A” also can be seen as the symbol of Adam. It tells us that Hesters sin is the original sin of human being, it is forgivable.”(陈素英 1997: 4) Symbolism in characters. There are four main characters in this novel. They all have their own symbolic mean