Symbolic Meanings of the Word “A” in the Scarlet Letter (《红字》中字母A的象征性意义)开题报告

1. 研究目的与意义

'The Scarlet Letter' is one of the representative literary works of Nathaniel Hawthorne. This thesis aims to analyze symbolic meanings of the word 'A' in the Scarlet Letter. Symbolism is a kind of artistic method of literary creation. It takes one specific object to represent the abstract meaning, which means it uses one thing to replace another one. Usually, symbolism makes the abstract things, such as the emotions, feelings or ideas etc. to be more concrete. In this essay, I want to analyze the symbolic meanings of the word 'A' in 'the Scarlet Letter' because symbolism makes the novel 'the first symbolism novel' in America. What''s more, Hawthorne is praised as the founder of the literal symbolism by a famous American literary critic and the novel is known as one of the literary classics all around the world. I hope the study can have the readers appreciate the novel in a different way. I choose to analyze the symbolic meanings of the word A in the aspect of different main characters and hope readers can have a further understanding of the various meanings of A according to the different characteristics of the main characters so as to better appreciate the novel.

2. 研究内容和预期目标

The thesis intends to give a detailed analysis to the symbolic meanings of the word 'A' in 'the Scarlet Letter' in the aspect of Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdale, Roger Chilling Worth and Pearl. It also gives a brief analysis of the contradict religion outlook of the author Hawthorne. This thesis mainly consists of four parts: introduction, a brief account of symbolism, symbolic meanings of A in different characters, contradictory religious outlook of Hawthorne and conclusion. Firstly, the introduction is concerned with the background of the author Hawthorne and the general plot of the novel 'the Scarlet Letter'. Secondly, it is a brief account of symbolism including the definition, the function and the comparison with metaphor. Thirdly, the analysis of the symbolic meanings of the word A in different characters is the main part of this thesis. It consists of four parts, concerning the analysis of people''s view on heroine Hester Prynne in different periods, the meaning of word A for Arthur Dimmesdale, the meaning of word A for Roger Chilling Worth and the meaning of word A for Pearl. At last, it''s the conclusion summarizing this thesis. The practical significance of this thesis is to help the readers have a further understanding of different characteristics of the main characters through the deeper analysis of the various symbolic meanings of A so as to better appreciate the novel.Why should we learn to use symbolism in writing? What are the differences and relations between symbolism and metaphor? Why people''s view on Hester Prynne changed during different periods? These types of questions would be discussed in my paper.

3. 国内外研究现状

There are some studies about the symbolism used in 'the Scarlet Letter' and analysis about the symbolism meaning of word A in the novel. But, they usually analysis the symbolism only from the point of the changing meaning of the word A in the aspect of the different characters. They usually choose to analyze the changes of the meaning of word A in the eye of public as people gradually find the advantages of the heroine Hester. Or, they may choose to analyze the meaning of word A for different characters.It is necessary for me to study these analysis of the novel from different aspects to have a full understanding of the it. However, more studies and comprehensive analysis are needed on the novel.So I want to gather information for my thesis from more aspects, including the analyses of the word A for different characters, the changes of the symbolic meaning of word A itself as the development of the story, as well as the changes of the meaning of word A for different characters. And all these aspects would be revealed logically in my paper.

4. 计划与进度安排

1.Introduction2.A Brief Account of Symbolism3.Symbolic Meaning of A in Different Characters3.1 People#8217;s view about A on Hester Prynne in different periods 3.1.1 A symbolizes Adultery, Alone and Alienate 3..1.2 A symbolizes Able, Admirable and Angel 3.1.3 A symbolizes Amour and Advance3.2 Arthur Dimmesdale: Ashamed and Anguished3.3 Roger Chilling Worth: Avenge3.4 Pearl: Abominate and Anticipate4.Contradictory Religious Outlook of Hawthorne5.ConclusionReferences

5. 参考文献

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