分析《红字》中主要人名的象征意义

杨文丽　史澎海

【Abstract】Nathaniel Hawthorne is a representative of romanticism in American in the 19th century， his masterpiece is The Scarlet Letter. In the paper， the author bases on symbolism， adopts the association-analysis method， mainly analyzes the symbolic meanings of main characters naming， aims at revealing accurately their special naming and the symbolic meanings， to help readers grasp the themes more comprehensively.

【Key words】The Scarlet Letter； main characters names； special naming； symbolic meanings

【摘要】霍桑是19世纪美国浪漫主义的代表作家， 其代表作是《红字》。本文以象征主义为基础，采用联想-分析法重点分析《红字》中主要人物命名的象征意义，力图通过准确的揭示其特殊命名及象征意义，以便帮助读者更全面深入的把握作品的主题思想。

【关键词】《红字》 主要人名 特殊命名 象征意义

1. Introduction

Symbolism is the most lasting， far-reaching literary thinking and creative genre in western modernist literature and art. And the representative， Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most influential writer in the history of American literature. His masterpiece The Scarlet Letter describes a tragic love story in the 17th century， in which the heroine fights against religion and the evil society under the puritan colonial rules. The paper through association-analysis method， associate with some aspects such as lexis， Greek mythology and the plots of the novel so on to reveal the symbolic meanings of characters names， aims to plays a very important role in shaping vivid characters， highlights the novels theme， makes readers grasp the depth of work easier.

2. Analysis of the Symbolic Meanings of the Main Characters Names

2.1 Hester Prynne

2.1.1 Hester： Haste， beauty， enthusiasm， Esther

Hester is homophonic of hastier， Hesters marriage and love are very rash： an old man she hastily marries， makes her daily life in solitude and sexual repression. When Hester meet handsome priest， she felling in love with him， so she is love for Dimmesdale is out of passion， more exactly out of rash. In accordance with the provisions of the United States by puritan， female parishioners and the pastors are not allowed to love， while Hester loves the pastor cynically and born Pearl. Then Hester will be linked to Greek mythology， Zeuss sister Hestia， she is a beautiful goddess of the hearth. In fiction， Hester is also a beautiful woman as follows：

The young woman was tall， with a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale. She had dark and abundant hair…and a face which， besides being beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion， had the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes.

Hestia is the eldest child of Cronus and Rhea， sister of Zeus， also a nice goddess well respected both by heaven and by human world. She gives man a warm and welcoming feeling， this is also another meaning of Hester， that is enthusiasm. In fiction， Hester always gives everybody warm， raising her daughter Pearl and giving her extra income to others； whenever disaster coming， she would come forward and try to help others dutifully， make this indifferent community a little more warmer. Meanwhile， Hester as an English name， also variant of Esther， it comes from The Old Testament. Esther is queen of Ahasuerus， she by virtue of handsome appearance is selected by king， he puts the royal crown on her head， and appoints her as the queen. Smart Esther not only has handsome appearance， but after being appointed queen， through a series of efforts， avoiding the native Jews slaughter extinction. So does in the case of Hester in The Scarlet Letter： after she out of prison， she could left to another place to start a new life， however she stays under the punishment from the world to purify her sin.

2.1.2 Prynne： Pry， prurient， purification

Firstly， pry is the first syllable of prynne which means inquire too cautiously. The author not only wants to show Hester lives in the endless asking for her crimes by public， but tries to explore the evil of human nature through digging her inner heart. Secondly， Prynne has similar pronunciation with prurient which means sexual desire. Hester owes to cannot get sexual satisfaction from her frail elderly husband， so she turns to the young priest， they commit adultery. Using homophonic of prurient largely told readers the root of evil of Hester. Thirdly， Prynne is also the homophonic of pure which means purify， thus when Hawthorne in depiction of Hester， not only points out the causes of Hesters crime， but also convinces that she can stand up again in her later life， purify her guilt. When Hester comes out of the jail， she lives in a cottage by the sea， she stands lonely， self-reliance， to feed their children for two years， she also tries to help others， her behavior to certain extent relieve her crime and purify her soul.

2.2 Arthur Dimmesdale

2.2.1 AD： Adam， adultery

Arthur Dimmesdale is a learned theologian， this naming makes the readers associate with the biblical story of Adam who commits the original sin.It refers to the primordial sin， human beings born with the sin. And what crime Dimmesdale has committed？ If we take both his last name Arthur and the name Dimmesdales first letter of the word A and D together， we will find AD is exactly the two of initials of adultery. This reveals that Dimmesdale is a man who commits adultery. He contraries to the ten commandments in the Bible： no desire for others wife， although he is a pastor， proficient in teaching， totally understand the rules of the religion， but in the end， he breaks the precepts， commits adultery with Hester. He just like Adam allures the natural instinct of human， so he violates the precepts of Christianity and combines with Hester make him a special person who commits adultery.

2.2.2 Arthur： Author

Arthur makes us think of harmonic of author which means scholar， Arthur reminiscent of enlightened person， and he is a priest. Arthur Dimmesdale， a young faithful priest， highly produce in theology. In the hearts of people， reverend Arthur is a devout scholar， his preaching is revered and popular， his words are like angels between moving sound for listeners， even if unknown language， still make their hearts proceed accordingly with the cadence of speaking， his eloquence and religious enthusiasm has already make him famous in the world.

2.2.3 Dimmesdale： Dim， dimmer， dale， diddling

From the perspective of lexicology， the first syllable is dim in Dimmesdale， which means pessimistic and skeptical， revealing the living conditions of him after committing adultery： Dimmesdale lives with spiritual torment during Hesters atonement for seven years. In addition， dimmer is first half of the harmonic of Dimmesdale， it is the symbol of Arthurs role in the society as a priest， through his sermon， adjusting the brightness of the mind， making people heart get comfort. Similarly he is dimming deviation of himself， after committing adultery， he constantly self confession， eventually stands on the scaffold bravely， completes the sublimation of his soul. Besides， dale means deep river valley， similar to deep heart of Dimmesdale， the condemnation of conscience and confession from heart make him hold a feeling of pessimistic. He loves Hester and Pearl deeply， but he only dares to express his strong feelings to Hester in the forest. Finally， the word diddle（diddling） which means cheating constitutes the first and the last syllables of Dimmesdale. Under the evil society dominated by the puritan colonial rules， the revered priest dare not to speak out another accomplice is exactly himself， leave himself as a totally coward fraud hiding behind his noble identity， so its just a lie.

But Hawthorne still holds the positive attitude to Dimmesdale， because priests guilt is the original sin， and it differs from adultery in the secular， not to mention Arthur Dimmesdale finally overcomes his own cowardice and hypocrisy， it is also one of the themes in the novel. Hawthorne wants to express： to be a man， to be honest.

2.3 Roger Chillingworth

2.3.1 Roger： Rogue， revenge， understanding

Roger Chillingworth is a villain. He is a scholar with abundant learning and ability， but he is also a cruel demon. Firstly， Roger is pronounced similar as rogue which means scoundrel and immoral. In the work he is really an immoral person with physical deformities， but in order to get his spiritual consolation， he uses knowledge to cover physical defects. He marries beautiful Hester， but ignores her feelings， so he is the root of Hesters tragedy. Secondly， Roger will be reminiscent of Jolly Roger，who released unknowingly by little children， and the killings follows. In the fiction， Roger Chillingworth is just like the pirate who hunter treasures wholeheartedly， he sets the revenge as his life goal. When he finds accomplice is Arthur Dimmesdale， he pretends as a doctor， takes the advantage of his practice， makes friends with Dimmesdale to explore his secret in heart. He violates the Christian doctrine of sin， which harms the human soul. In fact， his offense is even more frightening than the pirate， because he is in the name of puritan ethics， constantly wantons to torture the pastors soul. Moreover， Roger has the meaning of understanding， it is a symbol of Chillingworth who has the ability to find out who is the adulterer， because the eyes of Chillingworth holding with peculiar insight， his great wisdom and intelligence lays a strong foundation to find out the adulterer.

2.3.2 Chillingworth： Chilly， chiseling， worth

This name is composed of two parts： chilling and worth. Chilling evolves from chilly means cold， indifferent， suggesting that Chillingworth is a cold-blooded person. He chooses to let Dimmesdale living death to revenge， and eventually makes mental breakdown of Dimmesdale， from this we can feel the ruthless of Chillingworth. Chilling is also evolved from chiseling which means Chillingworth just like a woodpecker to peck a tree to peck， he tortures Dimmesdale day by day， but makes himself a cold-blooded person which relate to chilly， the greatest difference between chilly and chiseling is that the center of se is disappeared. It just reflects that Chillingworth chisels his heart to be a cruel person. However， despite he is a heinous demon， Hawthorne still considers him having a side to worth affirmative. When he lures Dimmesdale to say the secret in his heart， he inadvertently reveals the hypocrisy of religious sharply. In addition， Chillingworth has left a considerable legacy in North America and the United Kingdom to Hester and their daughter Pearl after his death， it also shows an expression of his humanity reversion.

2.4 Pearl

2.4.1 Interpretation of the Bible： Preciousness

Pearl is the daughter of Hester and Dimmesdale. She is not only the product of evil but also the crystallization of love. First of all， the word Pearl comes from the Bible， which means a very precious thing. There are records in the Bible that the kingdom of heaven is like merchant in search of fine Pearls； on finding an invaluable pearl， he goes and sells all that he had and brought it. In the novel， Pearl is the only treasure of Hester， for which she pays everything. Pearl is all her wealth and her paradise， for Hester pays a high price， even her reputation and good life.

2.4.2 Literal meaning： Purl， peal， leader， mysteriousness

Firstly， Pearl is the homonyms of purl. Hawthorne intends to take Pearl as a creek， Pearl resemblances with creek， her life is gushing from a mysterious fountainhead， also flows through the same dark place. At the same time， Pearls mystery life experience is also destined to play in the vicinity of her only forest creek. If Pearl is combined with her fathers surname， Pearl Dimmesdale： Pearl is homophone of purl， purl means gurgling streams， dim means hazy， mess means chaos， dale for the valley. Not coincidentally， the story in The Scarlet Letter is happening in a colony of Britain， the northeastern New England in the United States. Therefore the name of Pearl can also be interpreted as babbling brooks in the dark chaotic valley. On the other hand， from the morphological aspect， Pearl is similar to peal which means sonorous and lasting ring belling. In a sense， the presence of Pearl always reminds Hester and Dimmesdale of crimes that they have committed， urges them to purify their souls. Secondly， Pearl has the meanings of distinguished persons， a leader. She is a masterpiece of nature， to uphold Gods mysterious and a flower which never fades when a desire fire burns once. Pearl has a perfect body， abundant energy， passion and imagination， wild habits and contempt for all the rebellious spirit， it represents a kind of spirit and hope of the United States， a symbol of happiness and better future.

3. Conclusion

Hawthorne integrates use of the Greek myth， the Bible story， and the methods of words harmonics， shows the four main characters different personality traits. The naming of characters reflects the work of plots and themes， makes readers understand the characters naming rich in deep meaning， meanwhile readers can understand what the author wants to express in The Scarlet Letter， the multiple significance and diversification of the topic. Actually， there maybe other associations in the naming of characters from Hawthorne， other scholars can also keep digging its symbolic meanings.

References：

[1]郝澎.古希腊罗马神话与西方名间小说[M].海口：南海出版公司，2004：49-50.

[2]Nathaniel H.The Scarlet Letter[M].USA：Bantam Books，1981：50，63，231，118，121，107.

[3]圣经[M].南京：中国基督教委员会，1995.

[4]王玲.《红字》中的人名寓意解析[J].开封：河南大学大学外语教学部，2010，（3）：90-91.