【Abstract】American romantic writer Nathaniel Hawthornes masterpiece The Scarlet Letter has always catch critics attention. And many scholars show different opinions about the heroine Hester Prynne. She is courageous and kind-hearted； whose spirit has enlightened a generation of women. In fact， she is a beautiful woman with the pursuit of freedom.

【Key words】courageous； freedom； symbol

【作者簡介】李靜婭（1992.3.19- ），新疆人，新疆醫(yī)科大學(xué)厚博學(xué)院，碩士研究生，研究方向：英語筆譯。

Nathaniel Hawthorne is one of the most important romantic novelists in the mid 19th century in America， and he was strongly influenced by the thoughts of the Puritan， transcendental philosophy and mysticism. The “Shakespeare of American”—Nathaniel Hawthorne played a critical role in American romantic novel. In his representative novel The Scarlet Letter， he rolled with much psychology elements. The Scarlet Letter reaches the peak of American Romanticism and contributes greatly to Hawthornes reputation. Also， it is his masterpiece of novel. In the Scarlet Letter， Hester has long been the public point among number of literary critics. Hester “was tall， with a figure of perfect elegance... she had dark and abundant hair， so glossy that it threw off sunshine with a gleam”. Her face was “beautiful from regularity of feature and richness of complexion”.She is a beautiful， young woman who has sinned， but is forgiven. The heroine Hester Prynne， through the eyes of the Puritans， is an extreme sinner. She has gone against the Puritan ways， committing adultery. For this， she must wear a symbol of shame for the rest of her life—the scarlet letter “A”. As for Hester， she had so much in her inner mind， which enriched her to be kind， forgive and courageous. She helped Dimmesdale to hide the truth in order to protect her lovers fame. The evil letter “A” made Hester of great and massive burden on both her body and soul. To begin with， Hester is a courageous woman who pursued the true love of life. A combination of her and Chillingworth is a false because a marriage without love is like a flower without water， it will wither soon. When she met Dimmesdale， she bravely embraced the secret love with so many obstacles. In front of others， Hester seemed regretful， but in her mind， she still held an active and rebellious attitude.

Hester， in any time， treated others friendly in spite of other peoples opinions. After she decided to live in New England， she lived on by her beautiful hand-work to support herself and her daughter. In addition， she employed in making garments for the poor and did some charity. From that we can see， Hester had in her nature a rich， kind personality. As time went by， she won town peoples respect with her kindness and goodness. With strong determination and perseverance， she changed peoples concept of the letter “A”. People now say that “A” is a symbol of art， for she boasted a beautiful handcraft on it. She did so many good deeds， which won peoples forgiveness and respect. Finally， the scarlet letter “A” stood for adultery on her chest became a sign of angel.

Whats more， Hester had a strong sense of freedom. We know that adultery nowadays is pretty much a private thing. However， at that time， it was treated as great evil， especially crudely for women. But Hester， different from millions of women at that moment， realized that everyone is an independent individual. All should have the

right to have their own emotions and feelings. She held a strong conviction that sound relationship should be based on the foundation of each others understanding and justice. Of course， healthy love came from full communication and comprehension. So love and pursuit of freedom is indeed， the most powerful way for her to express disobedient against social oppress.

Pearl： Hesters child. As her name suggests， she is something good that came from sin. She is also a constant reminder–to Hester and to the townspeople–of Hesters sinfulness. At times， she is an unruly child， a burden to her mother. But Hester loves her just the same. In this extent， Hester is really a excellent mother with great power and love.

To sum up， Hester lived bravely in the society with deep gender differences. But， she still firmly chose the true love. Moreover， she was not only the representative of independence but also of happiness and happiness. at the end of the work， Hester expresses the hope “that， at some brighter period， when the world should have grown ripe for it， in Heavens own time， a new truth would be revealed， in order to establish the whole relation between man and woman on a surer ground of Mutual happiness.” The Scarlet Letter talks about the goodness and evil of society. The author strongly expressed that the power of bravery and kindness can overbear the social power only if you have great brief. In my mind， Hester is a model of brave and kindness， finally she influenced the God and made the letter “A” become the symbol of elegant moral spirit.

References：

[1]王雅琴.淺析《紅字》中人物的態(tài)度與命運(yùn)[J].山花，2010（04）.