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3．The analysis of characters
3.1 Hester Prynne
Hester Prynne was a woman who committed adultery, which is representation of evil of human nature in Puritans’eye, and cannot be accepted by the puritans and the society at that time and. Hester betrayed her husband and went against the principle of honesty according to Puritanism, so she must accept the severe penalty in the puritan society, wearing a scarlet letter “A” on her breast all her life which means “adultery”. “At the least, they should have put the brand of a hot iron on Hester Prynne’s forehead.” “This woman has brought shame upon us all, and ought to die.” [7]P43 The women’s vicious curse was the supplement of the puritanical code of law. To the puritans, the civilized life was to throw the human nature into the prison. Here, we can see the writer’s negation to the Gail-the symbol of the Puritanism. But “And never had Hester Prynne appeared more ladylike, in the antique interpretation of the term, than as she issued from the prison.” [8]P45 “The door of the jail being flung open from within, there appeared, in the first place, like a black shadow emerging into sunshine, the grim and grisly presence of the town-beadle, with a sword by his side and his stuff of office in his hand” [9]P44 （科教范文网 lw.AsEac.com编辑整理）
In the whole story, Hester generally kept silent, accepted the insult from adults to children in the puritan society. In fact, she showed extreme strength and courage to resist the bias of the Puritanism by her good deeds. She was always the first one to help people in trouble; gradually she won people’s respect by her benevolence. She spent most of her time on embroidery and Pear, her fancy work was elegant and incomparable, which made people admire her ability. She didn’t only struggle for the right of her own but also for a new world where both men and women could possess the equal right to love. She was an Amazon against the Puritanism. Several times when they met in the forest, she encouraged Dimmesdale to escape together with her. “Hester never thought of meeting him in any narrower privacy than beneath the open sky.” [10]P154 “She took off the formal cap that confined her hair;” “Her sex, her youth, and the whole richness of the beauty, came back from what men call the irrevocable past.”[11]P171 In Hawthorme’s and Poe’s novels, women’s black long hair stands for romance and desire, while evil in Puritan society(在霍桑,爱伦·坡等许多作家的小说中,女人的长黑发象征浪漫和情欲,这在清教徒眼中就是罪恶) [12]P66 Her action itself is an affirm to the feudal regime and oppress. Here, we can see Prynne never give up her pursue for love and freedom.
At the end of the story, to the reader’s surprise, Prynne had returned to New England. “People brought sorrows and perplexities, and besought her counsel, as one who had herself gone through a mighty trouble. Earlier in life, Prynne had vainly imaged that she herself might be the destined prophetess” [13]P221 this is the bitterest satire to the Puritanism and its doctrine of total depravity.
3.2 Dimmesdale and Roger
“Dimmesdale was a man torn between human nature and the religious rules that formed civilization at that time.” [14]P27The puritans saw themselves as restoring the Christian tradition to its original purity by new faith but to restore an old one. They hoped to inspire whole communities with zeal for Christian living, mainly through powerful preaching and bible study. He represents many of their best virtues. He was conscientious, learned, and eager to serve. He also represents some of their common vices. He was hypocritical humorless, and a bit vain. （科教范文网 fw.nseac.com编辑发布）
“Unlike Hester and Roger who represented two poplars of passion and puritan doctrine, Dimmesdale struggled between the two extremes. The rigorous doctrine of puritan society got him stuck in his dilemma. Neither could he deny his love to Hester nor could he make a public confession about his sin because he was afraid of the consequence. This dilemma gnawed his heart till his final confession and death.” [15]P43
As a puritan representative, he suffered more from the guilt of his hypocrisy than from the guilt of his passion. He was a clergyman, meanwhile he was a man full of compassion and human nature, he loved Prynne very much, and he committed adultery which betrayed the puritanical code of law. Four decisions were thus forced upon him; he must assert his position in relation to man, God, his original sin and better self. In each case, he only added new falsity to his torment and suffering. “He was struggling on the edge of the spirit and flesh coming breakdown, and he was beat and lashed by the so-called articles of religion “the gory whip” at every moment. It must be considered that he continued to be engaged in the pure mission of a priest with the criminal body should be a great affront to god and a deception to god-people. Eventually, he told the secret in mind with divine courage, he obtains tranquil and the newborn of spirit.” [16]P48 this restraint from religion in human nature exposes the hypocrisy of Puritanism and its doctrine of predestination.
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